Optometric Management April 2013 : Page 2

o.d. to o.d. BY SCOT MORRIS, Chief Optometric Editor O.D., F .A.A.O. The One Resource for Any Optometric Practice The key difference between the great and not-so-great practices comes down to its people. T his month, OM features the topic of human resources. After all, you and your staff are who your consumers come to see. Your staff is an exten-sion of you. They create a part of your practice’s image. and became a technician in a large ophthalmology clinic. While at IU, I continued working for an ophthal-mology practice 20 to 30 hours a week for spending money. to look for them, how to hire them and how to train them to build your perfect team. Is this easy? No . Is it something to take lightly? No . Is it the most crucial part of your busi-ness? Absolutely . A personal history in stafﬁ ng Let me explain why I have such a strong connection to this topic. Step back to 1991 — my undergradu-ate years. I decided to take a year off after graduation to establish my in-state residency so I didn’t have to pay out-of-state tuition at Indiana University (IU). I also decided that I might want to do a little on-the-job training to make sure that I really wanted to go into eye care. I moved to Southern Indiana and worked across the river in Louisville. I “cold called” the largest optical chain in the area and, fortunately, they had a dispensing optician position open. It was defi nitely an education. I got the crash course on dispensing, opti-cal sales and lens manufacturing. Then I decided that I probably needed to really try out the clini-cal side. While looking for oppor-tunities, I followed around a guy named Larry Alexander for a few days. I was hooked. I switched jobs Your staff is an extension of you. Are you happy with what you see? The key to success Those experiences taught me that the key to success is the staff. Throughout the years, I have worked in an array of practices. I have been part of great and not-so-great practices. The difference was clear: Some had well-trained and respected staffs, while others treated their staff less than acceptably. Returning to the present, we need to spend some time talking about the most critical and often most challenging and frustrating asset you have — your people. In this is-sue, we cover how to recruit the ide-al staff person for your team, where Points of coverage We also cover technology that helps you better manage and train staff. One of our H.R. columnists, Trudi Charest, who has made a career out of recruiting and train-ing staff for multiple companies, brings to light the importance of job descriptions as well as how to use them. Her Personnel co-colum-nist Rebecca Johnson, a past AOA Paraoptometric of the Year and frequent international educator on staff training, discusses how you can facilitate staff learning. We con-tinue that concept as we talk about how you and your staff are respon-sible for educating your patients and your consumers, as well as your staff’s role in the contact lens sales cycle. “Scriptopedia” covers a staff script for patient check-in. After all, your staff is an exten-sion of you. Are you happy with what you see? If not neither are your patients, so do something about it. Read on. OM OPTOMETRIC MANAGEMENT (ISSN 0030-4085) is published monthly, by PentaVision, LLC, 323 Norristown Road, Suite 200, Ambler, PA 19002. Periodical postage paid at Ambler, Pa. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Optometric Management, P.O. Box 3076 Northbrook, IL 60065. Copyright 2013, PentaVision, LLC. All rights reserved. For subscription information/address changes, please call 1-800-306-6332, or FAX 1-847-564-9453. Missed issues must be claimed within 45 days of publication date, 90 days for those abroad. Single issues: $8. Subscriptions: U.S. $42/one year; $75/two years. Canada: $51/one year; $91/two years. Foreign: $90/one year; $162/two years. Back issues: PentaVision, 323 Norristown Road, Suite 200, Ambler, Pa. 19002. 215-646-8700. Canada Post International Publications Mail Product (Canadian Distribution) Sales Agreement #IPM0601527. 2 A P R I L 2 0 1 3 O P TO M E T R I C M A N A G E M E N T • W W W . O P T O M E T R I C M A N AG E M E N T . C O M

O.D. to O.D.

Scot Morris

The One Resource for Any Optometric Practice The key difference between the great and not-so-great practices comes down to its people. This month, OM features the topic of human resources. After all, you and your staff are who your consumers come to see. Your staff is an extension of you. They create a part of your practice’s image. A personal history in staffing Let me explain why I have such a strong connection to this topic. Step back to 1991 — my undergraduate years. I decided to take a year off after graduation to establish my in-state residency so I didn’t have to pay out-of-state tuition at Indiana University (IU). I also decided that I might want to do a little on-the-job training to make sure that I really wanted to go into eye care. I moved to Southern Indiana and worked across the river in Louisville. I “cold called” the largest optical chain in the area and, fortunately, they had a dispensing optician position open. It was definitely an education. I got the crash course on dispensing, optical sales and lens manufacturing. Then I decided that I probably needed to really try out the clinical side. While looking for opportunities, I followed around a guy named Larry Alexander for a few days. I was hooked. I switched jobs and became a technician in a large ophthalmology clinic. While at IU, I continued working for an ophthalmology practice 20 to 30 hours a week for spending money. The key to success Those experiences taught me that the key to success is the staff. Throughout the years, I have worked in an array of practices. I have been part of great and not-sogreat practices. The difference was clear: Some had well-trained and respected staffs, while others treated their staff less than acceptably. Returning to the present, we need to spend some time talking about the most critical and often most challenging and frustrating asset you have — your people. In this issue, we cover how to recruit the ideal staff person for your team, where to look for them, how to hire them and how to train them to build your perfect team. Is this easy? No. Is it something to take lightly? No. Is it the most crucial part of your business? Absolutely. Points of coverage We also cover technology that helps you better manage and train staff. One of our H.R. columnists, Trudi Charest, who has made a career out of recruiting and training staff for multiple companies, brings to light the importance of job descriptions as well as how to use them. Her Personnel co-columnist Rebecca Johnson, a past AOA Paraoptometric of the Year and frequent international educator on staff training, discusses how you can facilitate staff learning. We continue that concept as we talk about how you and your staff are responsible for educating your patients and your consumers, as well as your staff’s role in the contact lens sales cycle. “Scriptopedia” covers a staff script for patient check-in. After all, your staff is an extension of you. Are you happy with what you see? If not neither are your patients, so do something about it. Read on.

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