Building meaningful connections with staff
Answers in Practice
By Emily Margosian, Assistant Editor, March 1, 2022
DermWorld talks to Craig Burkhart, MD, MPH, MSBS, FAAD, from Burkhart Pediatric & Adolescent Dermatology in Cary, North Carolina, about meaningful ways to connect with staff.
DermWorld: Tell us about your practice.
Dr. Burkhart: We only offer pediatric dermatology, serving ages zero to 18. There’s one physician — myself — as well as two nurse practitioners, and about 10 staff overall. We’re currently the only dedicated pediatric dermatology clinic in Wake County, North Carolina.
DermWorld: Why is staff morale important to the successful operation of a practice?
DermWorld: How do you think COVID has impacted morale in physician offices?
Dr. Burkhart: I haven’t seen it affect our morale that much in my dermatology office. It definitely hasn’t pulled us apart. Of course, when I go to the hospital, certainly staff there are under much more stress and are experiencing greater levels of burnout.
DermWorld: What strategies do you use to keep morale high in your office and maintain a meaningful connection with your staff?
Dr. Burkhart: First off, we’re structured as more of a matrix than a top-down organization. We try our best to make everyone’s voice equal. This is also reflected in the design of the office itself. For example, I don’t have a special office apart from everybody else. The office manager, myself, nurse practitioners, nursing staff, and medical assistants — we’re all in the same large area set aside for doing administrative work. We also try to promote creativity at work, so the staff rearranges the space every three to four months. That way, it’s not like the owner is deciding where everyone’s desks are. I have some input, but mainly the staff decides how our workspace looks and feels.
We also try to promote collaborative work through an adaptive leadership style. The theory behind adaptive leadership is that everyone helps others go beyond their work roles. Meaning, everyone has a role not just in how they finish their own jobs — which is something we try not to micromanage — but also in how the whole organization is run. For example, the staff help decide who we choose to work with — such as our dermatopathologist — because it affects them just as much as it affects me.
We also have weekly meetings to ensure we’re following the core values of our organization, which are to be pediatric-focused, community-based, and to celebrate diversity — both in diversity of ideas and diversity of staff.
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DermWorld: What would you say is the biggest motivator for employees?
Dr. Burkhart: I feel like everybody agrees and identifies with our core values, and everyone works toward the same goals. I put those two at the top. I think our staff really like the fact that they have input into the overall direction of our clinic. We also look beyond just what we do in the clinic. There’s a focus on how things are going with people’s families. We make sure that schedules are worked out ahead of time, so our work does not interfere with family obligations or other jobs. I think attention to scheduling is an important way to make sure that people’s families are happy and healthy at the same time their work life is happy and healthy.
DermWorld: As the physician and practice owner, how do you personally connect and build trust with your staff?
Dr. Burkhart: I give a lot of trust and it’s reciprocated. As the practice owner, I try to focus on three things: workplace culture, communication, and vision. Communication is the hardest. In larger organizations they’ll do something called 360-degree assessments, where everybody evaluates everybody. So, I get the hardest evaluation. There’s a book called FYI: For Your Improvement which has development tips for managers, and I give it out to my staff. They’ll then anonymously report back to me on what I need to improve on. It’s always communication and delegation. It’s kind of funny that the things the staff like most about the practice itself — the level of communication and freedom — are also the things that I’m constantly working on.
Craig Burkhart, MD, MPH, MSBS, FAAD is in private practice at Burkhart Pediatric & Adolescent Dermatology in Cary, North Carolina.
