Engaging Millennials: A Guide for Dental Practices

Hello, everybody, and welcome to this month's DE Solutions Lab. Tonight's topic, why your team hates you. The three things you need to know about the millennial workforce. With us tonight is dental industry expert and advocate Gary Katie. Gary is the CEO and founder of Next Level Practice. I am so excited to have Gary back tonight for his residency here at DE Solutions Lab. Gary, welcome.

Oh, Pam. It's going to be a fun one tonight. We're going to have a lot of laughs and we're going to learn a lot, too, tonight. So, you know, it's always a joy for me to connect with you each each month. And I love and honored to have this residency. You know, the one thing I love about de community is the wisdom, the knowledge, the level of dentistry that's produced by people that really connect with dental economics. So I'm super crazy excited for tonight because this is a big issue that's still going on in dentistry, and it's not going to stop anytime soon. So we're going to really take care of our practices tonight.

I'm thrilled to have this conversation because I'm still looking for staff. And I'm not going to lie, there's been a few moments where I'm lamenting, I think, about other dentists out there who say they've had their assistant for 20 years or they've had these staff members that have been with them forever. And. And that just does not seem to be the case anymore. And so we know that millennials are now the largest workforce in America, and by 2025, they will be the largest workforce globally. I know that is a scary thought to some practice owners, including me, but I'm hearing that there's no reason to panic if you understand the millennial workforce. Dental practice leadership can benefit in many, many ways. So if you're looking into what makes millennials tick from both an employee perspective or even just a culture perspective, there is a lot worth taking notes here today. So, Gary, let's just get right into it. In your opinion, why does the millennial workforce get such a bad rap?

Well, I was the one giving it to them. You know, I'm like, I go through and I'm, you know, I was brought up in a generation of people who would go to work and you would feel indebted to your employer. Like, if you're paying me, I feel loyal to you. And that loyalty and that, like, service to the owner of a business was just a natural belief system that existed with employee employer relationships. And then there was the entire disruption of the world, let's say, of how things are done. And, you know, I had to learn very quickly, Pam, that, you know, I was either going to pull all my hair out, and I like my hair. You know, I got some chats on it recently, and they were like, your hair is cool. I'm like, I almost pulled it all out because I had to deal with millennials. And then I was like, you know what? I stopped fighting them and I joined them. And I'm telling you, Pam, one of my proudest accomplishments in my entire career is getting my millennial card. Let me explain this. Yeah, yeah, let me explain this. This is pretty funny. But it's. It's a. It's a proud moment for me. You know, I became a millennial for three years, and I wrote this book called Dentistry for Millennials. And the reason why I had to become a millennial is because I was observing them from afar. Like, they're like some zoo animal out there that is like, oh, you know, they're over there and I'm over here. No, I became one. I investigated, I asked questions. And you know what? Who doesn't want. I used to live to work. Now I work to live. Who doesn't want to have things simplified and using technology and getting immediate gratification? And these are good men and women who really care. But if you're relating to them like they're entitled, you'll never, ever engage them and know how to get and support them to be great. Cause they're awesome. You just can, you know, some stats give you an example. You know, they work. More than 73% of millennials work more than 40 hours a week. You know, I have a team of 19. Half of them are millennials, and they work their tails off. But you got to know how to. How to take care of them in a certain way and what they want. And it's just an evolution of the workforce. And if you can adjust at. And these are low or no cost things that you can put in place, you can mitigate inflation, you can mitigate, you know, maybe the slightly higher fees that they're requesting during this period, and you can balance everything out. So we're going to unpack this whole thing tonight, you know, because really, you got to. You got to know what the cons are of not taking these actions and the downsides of this. First of all, 21% of millennial meals in the last year have changed your jobs. That's one in five. That's big. That's a lot. And that's why we have such a problem in dentistry right now. And if you really look at what the cost is. 30 billion with a B, Pam. $30 billion of cost of recruiting, hiring, the breakdown, the cost of not having a second hygienist, for instance, and the gaping hole that that is for a dental practice and the loss of patients. You know, you'll see, like, places like, indeed, they're making more money than they ever have because the demand is so high. But if you get to the root cause of retaining your team, then when you bring them in and you retain them, you reduce your cost of doing business. So, yeah, inflation is one thing, but this exchange of team members is even way higher. And here's the other piece to this. You know, we're a company that trains, you know, people. We're finding that we're training people that do not have a dental background. And that is a big deal, right? There's not a lot of people that can take somebody with no dental background and train them. We're, we're blowing up because we actually have a systematic process that walks them through. And here's the thing, Pam, training them the way they want to be trained. You see, the old way of training, role playing and stuff, they hate all that. But if you show them videos and then they got to do it, make a video themselves, like all in automated training system, they actually love it. You know, 80% of millennials get their parenting skills from YouTube five minute clips. Yep, yep, yep. 80%. So that's the way they're learning. And you got to train them that way. And when you do that, you really get good outcomes. So there's downsides and upsides. But here's the thing. This is not going away. So this is how we're going to deal with it. You know, we got to take, we got to take this on.

You know, this is such an interesting topic because we're talking about keeping millennials and getting them to stay, but we also have to kind of visit about getting them in the door in the first place. Because I think that you talk about the proper feeding and caring for millennials, but I think it starts with that first conversation. And I think even nowadays, they're communicating differently than I was used to when I would go for a job interview. I can tell you, we've interviewed so many prospective assistants, and it's like, I wouldn't wear that to an interview. I wouldn't say that in an interview. I wouldn't lead with this in an interview. And it seems like everything's different. Their communication styles and just how we work with them all around. So I think that I know I have to take my Gen X mentality and just kind of put it on the shelf so that we can get some really great team members that are not only going to join us, but also to stay.

Yeah. And you know, the other thing about Millennials is when they have a great workforce, they are 59 times higher incidents of endorsing the company to their family and friends. So, like, this is another missing. If you don't set, we're going to give you three things to do today. If you set your environment up, they're going to attract other great people. So you don't even have to run ads. Like, it's going to be what I call the hiring grapevine happens. The other thing is when there's a high TR culture and this has to do with the systematic processes that go into practice. If you're micromanaging, that's going to send them through the roof. They want freedom, they want autonomy, but they will give you, if you give them the boundaries to operate in, the outcomes that they need to produce and a purpose behind it. Oh, my gosh. They fly. They fly. So you want to really work with. The first place to start is that type of ad you're writing. So I want to give. I like really practical solutions here. And, you know, I can't tell you how many times I read these ads and I'm like, they're not going to make the change. See, there's a supply and demand issue. Especially places like Maryland is really hard with hygienists. Michigan, California, you know, Texas, you know, we have these pockets that we have to be even better at than some markets where there's like a fair supply and demand. So you're competing against other people. Here's what with hygienists, especially our assistants or front office people are not going to move. And if they sniff out that you're just vanilla. So let me show you what vanilla looks like in an ad. So if you're just like the practice they have, they're not going to be willing to make that change. Right. So let me just pull up like my first ad here. I think it's this one right here. Yeah. So I took this right off of hiring site. Can you see this, Pam?

I can see it.

Dental hygienist, full time. It's indeed salary guide not provided by employer. They're saying what you know, indeed gives you a range. So there's no salary here. And then the full Job description, full time registered dental hygienist. Of course, you just. It's already been said. We're a busy one office, one dentist, privately owned office. We work Monday through Thursday. You know, it's really about the practice. Advertising 101 has to be about what the person that's buying it and speaking to what they really, really, really want. And so when you really look at this, it's really all about. We offer paid vacation, a 401 plan. Dentrix extend like now I gotta, I gotta. If I'm not this, I can't forget that. And then this is my favorite. We have little or no turnover. Well, you certainly have some turnover because you don't have a hygienist. But then they go on to say where people retire, not leave. Now you might think that's a really good thing. But if I'm a young hygienist, I'm like, retirement. Like that just seems old school. Do they have like old school, you know, x ray processing too that I have to deal with? So you know this, this ad is going to send people away, right? So pretty cool, right? Just to see something like that and wonder why it's not working. I can't tell you how many docs come to me and they go, my ad, I can't even get anybody. And they're not showing. And by the way, ads are one way. We like four fishing poles. We have all kinds of fishing poles that we put out. I'm just picking on ads cause that's the lowest hanging fruit right now Pam. Pretty cool to see that, right? When you really identify why people aren't.

Getting results, it certainly is eye opening. And even that last statement about where people retire and don't leave, I'm like, ooh, that just seems like too much commitment. I haven't even met you yet. So I think definitely, yeah.

And we'll get docs and like you'll have an opportunity to connect with my associates to discuss this and actually get an ad from them when you chat with them. But it's important to really understand where you're starting from. And looking at that ad, you might go, well, I placed an ad and I don't get any response. Well, that's why, let's take a look at what an ad that really pulls. That is proven so in this case is you start with the practices, vision, purpose and values. And when you speak to a millennial's heart center and their calling, now all of a sudden they're going to listen 10,000 people healthier by the year 2025, improving not just our patients, oral health, but their overall health, making their lives happier and more comfortable. You can sense that there is a high purpose here and we're about honesty, compassion, world class service, continuing growth, education, fun and teamwork. Do you like to be learned, to be challenged? That's really important to people. They like learning and being challenged, friendly, patient centered, progressive. You know, there's no retirement messaging here. There's no like old school messaging here. Here's our philosophy. We're a complete health practice, very important. By the way, there's four different types of hygienists, emergency hygienists who just like see patients on an emergency basis. Maintenance, they just, they're gum gardeners. They just scrape teeth and polish teeth. Optimal hygienists. They really take, you know, and really look at the soft tissue. And then complete health hygienists which educate and we'll see them being nutri. They'll have a dual, you know, their nutrition role where they're educating on nutrition, et cetera. So super high level hygienists. So, and then you get, you give them the job responsibilities. You talk about what the ideal candidate looks like. And then my favorite part, Pam, is down here, this. When you become more exclusive and you ask them to follow direction, when they come on board, they're going to follow direction from you. So these, this is what to do. Please respond by email. In the subject line put I am your world class in this case would be a team leader in the body of the email. Right. Why you're the right person, attach your resume and include salary requirements. The opposite is true. When they're, when you give people direction, they know you're not in scarcity when you're looking to recruit them. But if you think you're scarce and you can't get anybody and you're just going to put a pulse in there, they, they feel like they have all the leverage. But when you say here's all the things that we have, this is why you want to work here. Now follow these directions. Now all of a sudden you have the right balance of, you know, having the right leverage and saying this is the place to work.

This is so eye opening. When you compare the first ad to the second ad and I'm sure many of you are thinking, oh, I think I need some help. But don't you worry, Gary has an amazing opportunity for you. So I encourage you to stick around especially till the end because you do not want to miss this. And we'll also be fielding questions at the end, so please ask your questions by entering them in the question box on your right hand side. This is just too good to miss. So, Gary, ads are number one. Let's talk about number two. What's the second thing we need to know about the millennial workforce force?

Yeah, well, one of the key things is millennials are really driven by instant gratification. So they're the generation that came up with the likes, like the swipe and like the swipe and like dope. By the way, if you haven't seen the social dilemma, there is the science behind the addiction to social media around being liked and acknowledged. It's, and it's literal dopamine shots that are coming out each day and like, they'll actually post to be recognized. And so it is. While, you know, sometimes it's smoke and mirrors, it is a really, it's a training module for, you know, the self. So here they are on social media before work, maybe at lunch and after work, getting those dopamine shots. And if they're micromanaged, they're forced to do things they're not connected to their purpose. They don't get dopamine shots throughout the day. Game over. So we designed, we gamified the practice of dentistry, and it changes going to work every day for millennials. It literally changes and allows them to seamlessly have their dopamine shots throughout the day at the workplace. It's crazy. Isn't that interesting?

It's really interesting. Now I need to know, what is it? I feel like I want a shot.

All right, cool. What took you up? I'm going to go to my telestrator here so that we can actually show you. So here's the way you gamify your practice. Very simple. And by the way, here's the way you get to optimize it and really get turn your payroll into a profit center. So let me show you how to do it. So if the average practice, let's just say I'm just going to make it up. So let's just say you're going to do $1 million. You're a one doctor, one hygiene practice, you want to do $1 million, and now you want to take six weeks off. So you want to do a million. You un. Collapse. Time and money. If you want to take six weeks off, that's a certain amount of days. I'm just going to do the math quickly for you. The doctor needs to do 5,000 a day in his or her schedule. And the hygienist needs to do fifteen hundred dollars a day in his or her schedule. Okay? Now what you want to do is you want to make sure that your appointment coordinator fills the doctor schedule to 5000 and fills the hygiene schedule to 1500 at the end of each day. They get $10 per column per day. So that's 20, $20 per day extra when the outcome is those numbers. Now all of a sudden, you're filling the schedule. Now your treatment coordinator, that treatment coordinator needs to present 7,500 a day. If you close 67%, that means that you're going to close 5,000 a day. And they get 1% on the, on the treatment that they close and gets paid. Now, here's why this is important. Because if you don't present enough treatment and get enough treatment accepted, what happens is downstream next month, you don't fill your schedule to the amount that you need. So you have to be always a month ahead in the treatment accepted and presented. Then our assistants, our assistants love this because now they're getting $20 for. Per column, per the doctor's column. So this changes behaviors as well and has the team member focus in on outcomes. Pam. Because what happens is most assistants are mainly focused in on turning rooms, sterilizing instruments, and making the patient comfortable. Very important, but not tied to the, to the measure that the business needs them to do. So now when they walk in, see this, this is why a lot of our dashboard companies come to us, because they want us to build this system. Because most team members don't read the measures. They don't want to read the measures. But if they have skin in the game, it flips the script. And now all of a sudden, an assistant will come to a morning huddle. Pimp. And they're like, what do we have in today? Oh, it's 4,500. Oh, I have this patient's coming in. Let me look in the schedule. Let's. I'm going to ask her if she wants to do those two fillings today. And we'll be at 5,000. Changes their behavior, puts skin in the game, gets it right. And then the hygienist gets paid two ways because they really add value. Two ways. One is a percentage. 10% above the 1500. So this gets them moving from, you know, just doing bloody prophys to doing perio treatment, right? Two to two of the eight patients a day. Now all of a sudden, they're doing over 1500. They get 10% over that, and then they get 1% of the treatment that gets presented in the room and closed with the treatment coordinator. So when you build this out, and then the bonus gets paid when the practice collects 85,000 for the month. So this is the way you flip the script. You get the millennial team member gamifying their day, and then what happens is they get dopamine shots when they get closer to it. So they're playing the game throughout the day and it changes everything. Everything, Pam. It's a game changer.

It certainly seems that way. This is incredible so far, and I can't wait to hear the last piece of the millennial puzzle. But first, I want to acknowledge all of the questions that are coming in, and we will certainly try to get to them shortly. But a lot of these questions are asking, how can you help me directly? I know you have a crazy schedule, but there's an amazing opportunity that you have for our viewers. Can you share that?

You bet. Pam, what happens is you might be sitting there going, well, I have this situation or my situation is a little different. There's nuances around what you're talking about, what you're making sense of is very important for me, and I love the new solution. And then some of you might want a copy of a sample ad to run things like that. So what we do each month is block out 10 slots and they're half hour slots. And you can get right on the calendar. You just need to click here and you'll get right on the calendar that matches the time that you have available. And please don't take the slot unless you're going to show up. It's amazing how many people, like they take the slot and they show, but one, if one person takes a slot and doesn't show, what happens is it would take another slot for somebody else. So please, you know, we do it at no cost because we want to make sure that you're getting added value and you might want to customize or you might have additional questions that are individualized for you. So my associates take calls, they get on Zoom, and it's very safe. See, that's the other thing that's really special about these calls. We just listen, we sit down, we find out what's important to you, what your gap is, what you're struggling with or grappling with, and then we actually give you direction on a solution. So it's really just an added value that we're offering the dental economics community. And there's 10 slots, so jump right in and, and click away and get yourself on the schedule. So that you can get this stuff taken care of.

This is an incredible opportunity because I know when I talk to my friends and my colleagues out there, we all have a very specific scenario that we need help with. And so to have somebody that can help our specific concerns, I think that is just priceless. So make sure you get on the schedule and get your questions answered. So let's get to the last thing we need to know about the millennial workforce.

Yeah, Millennials buy experiences. So you'll see that there's, like, there. I want you to be thinking that your practice is something that a millennial buys every day. So you gotta make the product your practice, and then they buy experiences inside of that practice. So, you know, Pam, if you would've told me five years ago that we'd need to create a system that actually takes care of this, I tell you, you're crazy, but I'm not kidding you. This is a no cost, zero cost way to not only attract, but to retain Millennial team members. And it is called the Dream Program. See, millennials are not just about, like, money. They're about, like, what is it like to go to work every day? Does my heart. Does my heart get touched by, you know, the difference we make? You know, yes, I want to make money, or, you know, what is the team like? What is the. What is it? What is the experience like of going to work every day? And so we. And I took this from my uncle who had. He's. He had a custodial service. This is. No, no kidding. Custodial service. And he had the contract for the New Jersey Turnpike and the Garden State Parkway, Cleaning the bathrooms, the rest. Rest areas. Now, team retention is not easy if that's what your job is. So he created a program called the Dream Program and put a person in place called the Dream Manager. And what this person does is it goes to the team. And I'll share my screen here of a tool that we use, which is called the Dream Program. So can you see it here, Pam? It says dream program 100 dreams. You know, financial dreams 20, mental dreams 20, social dreams 20, physical dreams 20, and spiritual dreams 20. So they fill out. Now, this is very hard to do because I want to distinguish between goals and dreams. Goals are what you need to do. Weigh 200, cholesterol 180. Those are needing to do. Those are no fun because you feel like they're a chore. Goals, money. That what dreams are is. And I'll give you an example, when you do this yourself, we as adults and it's sad. As I was explaining, I lost my dad recently. And thank you for your kind gesture. You're amazing, Pam. To recognize his passing, it really touched my soul. I do want to let you know that. Um, yeah. And you know, and his deathbed, you know, like there was unfulfilled dreams that he had. There was things that he wanted to do that he never did. And we talked about that. Right? And because we usually put ourselves last and the things that we want to do, like after we retire, the someday when. Someday when, maybe never. And what this program is, is bringing dreams into today. And dreams are things like, you know, like my grandmother, I'll give you an example, I asked her this. What are your dreams? She goes, I want to drive a tractor trailer. She was 92 at the time, by the way. Look up online trucker granny, never too old. And you'll see my grandmother, I rented a tractor trailer driving for her and she's 92 or 7. I forgot how old she was. She lived to 104 because she kept dreaming. And you'll see her online and went viral. But that's what dreams are like. One of my dreams was to catch a salmon in Canada and cook it, you know, with my family outdoors. And we did that, you know, so, you know, go to Italy and I want to go truffle hunting. I want to find truffle with a truffle dog. These are all on your list. And what happens is, you know, I had a team member who wanted to make sushi. Now watch what happens. We sent her a sushi chef to teach her in her home how to make sushi. The husband, her husband was like, how did they know you got this from your employer? Like, this is incredible. And so what happens is it goes viral in your household because a lot of times team members will go home and complain to their spouse about their job. And they go, what are you complaining about? They take care of you. We're going on a Disney cruise. You learned how to make sushi. These are good people. So you get buy in from, from the family too, when you do these dreams. And then the dream manager in your lounge has pictures of all the unfulfilled dreams. And then they get moved over once a month when we have our dream meeting. All the dreams that get fulfilled and you start getting this momentum and everybody starts helping each other fulfilling their dreams. Now you go to work with a positive culture, but the experiences, they use their bonus in that triple win bonus dopamine filled bonus system on their dreams so they have. They're making money, and they're growing the practice simultaneously, and everybody wins.

I love that you just kind of took the whole thing full circle. I. I wanted a millennial card.

Millennial cards are cool, by the way. I didn't know who Jack Harlow was when my son. And you can lose your millennial card if you don't know who Jack Harlow is. And, you know, you got to know his song. Nail tech and first class. So I recovered my. My card. I lost it for about a half hour, but I recovered very quickly. And that's an example of you got to be hip, you got to be cool, and when you are, you get your millennial card, and life is good.

Pam, it sounds like it. And it sounds like it would be a great environment for anybody at any age regarding, you know, your entire team and your entire staff and even us as practice owners. So, Gary, another great session. Thank you so much. But this is all the time we have for tonight. So I know we weren't able to get to all of the questions live, but don't worry, Gary will get them, and he will be more than happy to get back to you, so don't worry about that. And so I can't wait to see what's up for us next month. And this was a really, really good one. So for DE Solutions Lab, I'm Dr. Pam Maragliano Muniz. And with Gary, Katie, we'll see you next time.