Dental Staff Appreciation Ideas to Help Boost Office Morale

Staff turnover can have a major impact on the success and stability of your dental practice. Employees who love where they work stick around, so it pays to invest in your dental team with benefits, perks and creative methods of employee appreciation.

Targeted team member appreciation ideas create a better work environment, boost morale and significantly increase staff retention.¹ From staff celebrations to one-on-one praise, it is possible to cultivate an environment where staff want to spend their days and give their time and energy to your dental practice.

Why Is Dental Staff Appreciation Important?

Prioritizing the needs of your dental team through genuine staff appreciation is a sign of good leadership. When you recognize that your people suffer burnout, physical strain and moments of high stress — on and off the job — you can show that you recognize their dedication to the job even in the face of daily demands.

Here are just some of the reasons dental staff appreciation is so important:

• It's a morale booster. Every member of your staff — from the front desk to the back office, hygienists to dental assistants — has a unique relationship with you. Showing appreciation and celebrating contributions builds individual morale and team morale and boosts staff retention.¹

• It can help you retain staff. Dental staff turnover is a real occurrence for so many practices.¹ You can avoid becoming another statistic by focusing on your staff as a team. Your entire practice succeeds when you reinforce a positive environment filled with appreciation, open conversation and opportunities for growth.

• You can improve your reputation. Everyone who leaves your dental practice takes their experience with them and shares it, including your employees. If you are good to your people, you develop a reputation of being known as a great practice for attracting talent as well as potential patients.²

• You can have happier patients. Your patients get the best possible dental care and excellent overall experience at your practice when they’re treated by contented employees. Satisfied dental team members also translate to less patient turnover.³

Dental Staff Appreciation Tips

Employee appreciation is the fun stuff — the opportunity to be creative, show your staff how much you value them and keep employees coming through your door week after week. You don’t have to come up with every idea from scratch, but a combination of basic boosts and quality perks will help keep your people happy day in and day out.⁴

The following dental staff appreciation ideas are just a few of the best practices that can be helpful for your practice:⁴

• Flexibility. The work/life balance is a challenge for everyone, and your staff members feel it whether they have small children, an aging parent or anything in between. (You feel it too, after all.) Be mindful of each employee’s unique challenges and allow for flexibility, like a four-day workweek. Seek out staff to discuss their personal challenges so you can work to accommodate parenting needs, health concerns or last-minute time off requests.

• Kind words. Never underestimate the value of voicing thanks, pride or appreciation to an employee. This can be done privately in a one-on-one conversation or with a handwritten note, during team meetings when all are present to hear the praise, in the moment something amazing is happening or through colorful social media, website or newsletter highlights. Recognition is powerful in any form.

• Understanding. Some employees are quiet about their personal needs and others cover their difficulties with laughter, but if you know your people and pay attention to them, you recognize when they need a boost. Offer days off as needed or tweak the office schedule so everyone can work better and more efficiently with more time for life and family. Provide fitness reimbursements, mental health resources, financial planning workshops and other resources that most people don’t prioritize for themselves.

• Growth opportunities. Staff are attracted to dental practices and stay with them when there are opportunities for growth and career development. Advancement can take many forms, such as on-the-job training, tuition assistance, educational conferences and internal promotion. Employees will value you and your dental office when they feel you value them, their abilities and their future. Investing in them doesn’t encourage them to move on; it makes them more dedicated and more likely to stay longer.

• Just because. Appreciation can happen daily at a low level and on a bigger scale at the monthly or quarterly level. Select an employee for special recognition, order lunch for everyone, have quality hoodies made for the staff or celebrate special dental weeks or dental months. Every effort goes toward fostering a positive workplace culture.

Special Opportunities for Staff Appreciation

Every calendar year, the dental field has an eclectic list of special events and occasions. You can use these celebrations to show staff appreciation, have a little fun and lighten the mood at your practice.

From dental holidays to work anniversaries to birthdays, show appreciation with things like donuts or cake, gift cards, a bonus or a day off. Every gesture makes employees feel essential and appreciated. Here is a list of designated national dental days and built-in opportunities to say thanks:⁵

• Dental Assistants Recognition Week/Dental Assistant Appreciation Week (first full week in March). These employees are your right hand — and left hand. They know what you’re thinking before you think and what move you’re going to make. Show your dental assistants how valuable they are with a gift customized to them, like a personalized tote bag, their favorite candy or charms for their Crocs.

• National Dentist’s Day (March 6). If you're the dental office manager, make some arrangements to show your dentists how much they mean to the team and to patients. Order their favorite treats from and for the entire staff so that everyone can share in a little pick-me-up between appointments. And don't forget to let them know how much you appreciate their leadership.

• Dental Hygienists Week (second week in April). Hygienists are the touchpoint for most patients, settling them into their visit, making small talk and getting the nitty gritty work taken care of. Cater lunch for the office, establish an employee recognition wall or give your hygienists a financial incentive to show gratitude.

• National Receptionists Day (second Wednesday in May). Most people don’t want to go to the dentist, but when you have a receptionist who is friendly with every patient, they make your job easier from moment one. You can demonstrate your appreciation through small or large gifts, from a charging station to a luxury desk chair to early dismissal with pay on an afternoon of their choice.

• Office Manager Appreciation Month (September). If you're a dentist, odds are your day is significantly improved by the hard work of your office manager, in more ways than one. Your office manager oversees staff, coordinates schedules and keeps your office running smoothly. Your dental team relies on this essential member to ensure daily operations stay organized. Appreciate your office manager with well-deserved words of affirmation, a desk planner to brighten their workspace, a gourmet gift basket or a larger token of gratitude such as a gift certificate to a favorite restaurant.

Boost Morale by Appreciating Your Dental Team

Turnover is expensive for a dental office, which is why retaining talent is worth the investment and effort. When you prioritize your dental team with staff appreciation efforts, your entire practice will come out on top. Take care of your people, recognize their talents and how hard they work and make the most of every opportunity to say, “Thank you.”

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Author Bio

Elizabeth Weiss is a freelance writer and editor with more than 20 years of experience in content development for dentistry, orthodontics and cosmetic dermatology. She focuses on making healthcare topics accessible to readers and contributes to many fields, from family and estate law to industrial services and landscape design.

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