Higher profits- that’s the goal, isn’t it? According to Gallup research, a highly engaged staff can increase your business profits by 21%. There are many ways to engage and empower employees, we’re going to highlight the four that you can implement with your front desk staff today so you can begin to reap the rewards of an empowered front desk team.

1. Provide Feedback

Giving feedback is one of the easiest ways to empower your front desk. According to Officevibe, 69% of employees say they would work harder if they felt their efforts were better recognized.

We recommend owners/managers conduct, at least, quarterly reviews for front desk specialists. This provides you with an opportunity to highlight accomplishments and goals as well as areas that need improvement. Real-time feedback is equally important so your staff is always aware of their challenges and how their performance is measuring up to expectations.

2. Offer Incentives for Accomplishing Goals

Did you know that organizations that offer incentive programs have a 79% success rate in achieving established goals? Rewarding your front desk for their hard work can boost confidence while helping the company succeed.

There are tons of goals you can set for your front desk staff that will help with when and how to use incentives. For example, you could offer them free lunch every time the practice has a 100% patient arrival rate for the week or a gift card for 100% weekly patient copay collections at time of service. Lack of recognition is one of the main reasons employees look for new jobs and offering rewards is a simple method to empower your front desk and improve company culture.

3. Secure Backup

If you’ve never worked a day at the front desk, you might not realize how hectic it can get. From interacting with patients to calling insurance companies to verify benefits, your front desk specialist is constantly moving. This can quickly lead to burnout if the workload is too much for just one person.

Before you hire another front desk specialist, determine how much work is being missed to help identify whether you need a full or part-time employee. For example, if your front desk is constantly missing collection of patient money or missing phone calls and possibly losing new patients you may need 2 people at the front desk at all times or a part-timer to overlap just the afternoon hours. Your front desk employees will have better productivity knowing they are part of a team that has their back and everyone working towards the same goals.

4. Encourage Innovation

Owners and managers should encourage employees to offer solutions and suggest ways the practice can improve. Just because something has always been done a certain way doesn’t mean it’s the best way to do it. Actively listen to your employees and implement changes if you feel the solution is valid. A great way to get feedback from employees is to create a suggestion box for employees who may be hesitant to offer any suggestions face to face. If you’re employees feel like their opinion matters, they will trust you more and more likely to give you their best work.

An empowered front desk employee is one of the most important roles for your practice to grow and be successful. Administrative Power Center in your practice. If your front desk is displaying poor productivity and low motivation, use these tips to keep them engaged and remind them that they are a valued member of the team.  Account Matters Inc. is the #1 resource for training and development of all medical front desk administration with our one-of-a-kind training of The Administrative Power Center If turnover at the front desk is a problem in your practice, check out this guide.