today APDC Macau

science and practice confirm. We need a different per- sonality type to fill the position at the front office than that for a labo- ratory technician or an accountant. Hiring the wrong person for a posi- tion only brings frustrations; we can train a person to perform a cer- tain task, but we cannot change his or her personality. One essential common characteristic is being a team player, since it only takes one self-centred individual to destroy the hard work of the entire team. It is necessary to pay attention to the appearance of staff, such as uni- form and hairstyle. They should be taught the proper manner to adopt in their interactions with patients. This is an area in which we can learn from top-rated five-star hotels; they know how to train their staff regarding proper manner and be- haviour to make their guests feel comfortable, important and relaxed. Finally, it is necessary to handle complaints properly. Complaints are inevitable in any service industry. It is important to prevent complaints, resolve any complaint to the custom- er’s satisfaction and learn from com- plaints. It is essential to adopt a rou- tine of regular staff training sessions to cover different areas of customer service. Establish what we expect of our staff and communicate this so that they understand what they are expected to do. Conclusion Creating a five-star dental prac- tice takes a great deal of planning and training. Office design and proper equipment so that we can de- liver high-quality treatment are im- portant. Leadership comes from the practice owner. Success requires a team effort. Expectations should be communicated clearly to all of the staff, encouraging them to work to- gether as a team with the common objective of serving patients so that they have a positive experience ev- ery time they come to the practice. Needless to say, we dentists have to do our part to ensure clinical ser- vices are of high quality and ren- dered to our patients’ satisfaction. That is why they come to us in the first place. 7 Editorial note: During APDC 2017, Dr Cheung will be holding a lecture titled “Creating a 5-star dental practice” on 24 May from 11:00 to 12:30 in Hall B. AD Sign up FREE – weekly e-news delivered to your inbox – latest industry developments – event specials – exclusive interviews with key opinion leaders – product information – clinical cases – job adverts the person who answers the call is important. This leads us to import- ant management advice regarding staff. There should be a job descrip- tion for every position in the prac- tice and the type of personality that fits the respective job description must be determined. There are plenty of tools available to establish an individual’s personality type. We use the DiSC (dominance, influence, steadiness, conscientiousness) as- sessment tool in our practice to as- sess the personality type of appli- cants before we interview them to Dr William Cheung Dr William Cheung maintains a multi- specialty prac- tice in the central business district of Hong Kong. He served as the Continuing Education Programme Director for Asia Paciﬁc of the FDI World Dental Federation from 2007 to 2016 and is now an elected member of the FDI Edu- cation Committee. In his work, his goal is to practise high-quality pre- ventive dentistry based on sound evidence gained through lifelong learning. He can be contacted at wcheung@dentalmirror.com.hk. Sign up to the ﬁ nest e-read in dentistry www.dental-tribune.com 39th Asia Paciﬁc Dental Congress 2017 7 © Odua Images/Shutterstock.com, Vectorphoto/Shutterstock.com

today APDC Macau

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