The Brian Wright Show

How to Grow w/out Being Held Hostage by HR Staffing Headaches

Brian Wright

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Staffing problems rarely show up as one dramatic moment. They show up as the slow grind of rehiring, retraining, and trying to keep the schedule alive while your team runs on fumes. We get real about the leadership trap so many dental and orthodontic practice owners fall into: keeping the wrong person because you “can’t find anybody,” even when you know they are dragging down trust, culture, and the patient experience.

We dig into why that “high performer” can be the most expensive employee in the building, not because of wages, but because of the ripple effects. When communication is weak, chairside education is inconsistent, and training gets resisted, you pay for it in constant restarts, lower morale, and more turnover. That churn is an infinite loss: you feel it as stress and chaos, but it can cost as much as the big bills you actually notice.

Then we shift to a practical solution: outsourcing and smart partners that let you scale without needing as many humans and without letting your practice get held hostage by a single role. We talk about starting without going all in, why you must actually use the tools you buy, and examples like remote monitoring, chat-based systems that can reduce front desk load, and outsourced marketing support when it fits the model. If you want fewer staffing headaches and a calmer, more scalable practice, hit subscribe, share this with a practice owner friend, and leave a review.

Meet The Hosts And The Problem

SPEAKER_00

We'll see if I remember to introduce ourselves this time. Let's do it. Hey everybody, I'm Brian. I'm Dr. Rob Schaefer. And you've got that down. That's such a struggle in the beginning. It was. Now you're now you think more of yourself. You're putting doctor in front of it. Well, I don't know about that. Hey everybody, welcome inside the studio. And we're kind of on a on a good story. We're on a good run here. And today we're going to be talking. Look at I think it's a constant headache. Every time I speak on stage, people pulled me aside and like I can't find anybody. Whatever it may be. It's the staffing headaches.

SPEAKER_01

Or I want to hold on to somebody. That they shouldn't. Yeah. Well that's that I can't find somebody. Yeah, but I want to hold on to somebody.

SPEAKER_00

Well, you just opened up a can of worms. That's a whole nother episode.

SPEAKER_01

Okay, well.

SPEAKER_00

Sorry about that.

SPEAKER_01

Sorry about that. That's true. That's true.

SPEAKER_00

Dude, that that is one of the biggest leadership. Out of everything we teach, that right there is the biggest dilemma on people keeping those that they shouldn't. Yeah. And most of the time they know it. Sometimes they don't, but most of the time they know it. And they just don't do it because I'm not going to have enough waiters away at the tables.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

You know? I mean that that kind of thing.

SPEAKER_01

So while they're destroying other things and they're going to eventually leave anyway. And so I ask me how I know. How do you know? Well, because it's h it's happened to me.

SPEAKER_00

A few times. Yeah, a few times. Well, there probably is one that you may have held on to for a long time that you shouldn't have that eventually left. That's what I'm saying. Yeah. Yeah. I mean That's what I'm saying. Those are hard.

SPEAKER_01

I mean, it it's always because they they're they can do the job, they're functioning, they're but but you know they're not completely doing the things that you want them to do or that you're trained on, or they're hesitant in doing the training. Yeah.

Keeping The Wrong High Performer

SPEAKER_01

And you hang on and because I can't find somebody. Yep. And they leave anyway, and you're still finding somebody. You still need to find somebody. So true. It's just, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

It's an ever going. I'm gonna link in the description below. I'm gonna link are a couple ones, the the Navy SEALs leadership, and then a couple other ones. This is the perfect, because typically the person you're talking about is the high performer. They know all the stuff, hand skill, like they know all the stuff, and they're pretty good assistant usually clinically. And this is why I think this pertains to any business on the planet, because everybody has the waiter, the clinical assistant that's really good, but drives down everybody else's morale, crushes the culture.

SPEAKER_01

Is that is that low trust?

SPEAKER_00

You tell me.

SPEAKER_01

It is. That's nice. Did I do I do I listen?

SPEAKER_00

You do. Okay. You do because I've been accused of are you still gonna listen now that you're hosting with I don't know. Are you officially the co-host? I guess well. It can't be a guess because you're basically finishing off season nine with nothing but Rob. We're either gonna raise the listens, that's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna I'm gonna judge this at the end of the year based on the downloads. So I may be back, or I may not be back. You may not be. I might it's all dependent on the downloads. Yeah. And you know, here's the thing if the downloads go way up, I might not be back. Oh, you'll be back. I'll be back. Yeah, I'm solidified. Yeah, I can't.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Good. Yeah, you're you're you're good. Well, let's and and he has some stories, and this is the thing is all of you out there have these stories, and it and it drives

Outsourcing As A Pressure Release

SPEAKER_00

me nuts. I've been teaching outsourcing now for a long time. And like what you just said, outsourcing does so many things. One, it allows you to, I guess, terminate somebody. It's not about firing people, but but it's also about not letting people hold you hostage, right? That otherwise would. Or it's about not having to hire as many people, it's growing and scaling without humans or as many humans, or just for those out there that just can't find anybody, and I know you have some stories on this. I mean, I'm I can't even so what he's gonna about to talk about, I can't even imagine if you were the model you were when we first met, how the hell would we get this place staffed?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, you know, if you have the more of a higher higher volume, you know, braces or just a lot of appointments, and you know, you know how it is when you have someone leave how how chaotic that can be for a day or two and the the toll it takes on the rest of the team. And you know, and then if there's another one that decides to leave, uh yeah, I can't imagine long term. Well, you can't do it long term. No, something can't. So something has to give. You're you're either trying to hire someone, you know, and soon, and then you know, you hire the wrong people because you want to get it filled so that you can handle your schedule appropriately. Yeah. Or you gotta modify your schedule.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

And then that puts out people longer than maybe you want them to go out. And so yeah, so if you're in that situation, some of these outsourcing partners help with that.

SPEAKER_00

Well, and that'll be it'll probably be coming out after this one. I don't know yet. But not only do you need to outsource, but you also need to use the outsource partners right, which a lot of which a lot of places don't for all kinds of reasons we'll talk about in that episode. Yeah. But I I've seen it with him, man. It's been a revolving, and for whatever reason, I mean it's every position in the office, but the ones I have found, and this is especially true since we started implementing the existing patient experience, it's really shown how poor the clinical assistants are in their verbiage skills and their education chair side, and how hard it is to train them. But I've also noticed that that's the revolving door, more than any other position in the office, that is so hard to fill with somebody that has the potential. One and two is a just a go-getter and actually wants to learn and get better. I mean, in your office, it's been I don't even know how many assistants you've been through in the last few years.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, it's a lot.

SPEAKER_00

It's a lot.

SPEAKER_01

And then and then you can't really get the whole program implemented effectively. You're always restarting. Yeah. And that's yeah, that's uh Yeah, I love that about coach. I appreciate that for you.

SPEAKER_00

Well, yeah, it's you know, it's yeah, oh, we're starting over again. Yeah, start over. You know what we call that? Job security. No, it's the last, it's the last thing I it's the last thing I want.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, but it's uh no, it's it is an issue, at least it has been for me. And you get someone in there and you you got them halfway going and then they leave for whatever reason.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. So well, it's been an issue, but also, I mean, imagine it's been an issue, but I think one of the points of of of this topic is imagine what the issue would be if it was magnified and you needed three or four of those people. Now, I mean, we're talking he just needs one, you know, basically just one more. And what if it was three more, four? Well, yeah, that's that's a disaster.

SPEAKER_01

That's what I was saying. Yeah, you're just

The Hidden Cost Of Turnover

SPEAKER_01

yeah, I I I don't, you know, I don't I don't even want to think about it. Because and when you're when you're at a model that I am right now, you can make that work for a while. Yeah. You you really can, but in a you know, in a maybe a higher volume, high stress environment, it just brings more stress and chaos.

SPEAKER_00

Well, there's there's such again, it's back to the infinite loss. You know, when you're constantly interviewing, constantly hiring turnover, that's way more expensive than your Invisalign lab bill. You just don't feel it in your bank account. You know, you feel it in your stress and your chaos and all that stuff, but you just don't feel it in the bank account. But it costs you just as much, if not more.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, not only in the normal daily things that you have to get people up to speed with, but even, you know, in in your situation in our situation where you're training, you can't really move on to the next thing sometimes and you're kind of redoing stuff. So anytime I feel like you're redoing things, it's costing you money.

SPEAKER_00

It's costing you money. A hundred, a hundred percent. I don't think a lot of people I don't think a lot of people think about it in those in those terms. The amount of money it's costing you, hiring. And I also think that's uh why a lot of people just let employees sit there and sit there that aren't good, they know it. It's just they don't want to go through the whole the whole problem. I mean, imagine But I yeah, definitely true.

SPEAKER_01

But I would say that's one where it's worth I mean, it's worth going through though. Oh, totally. Because that's even costing you money by keeping someone who's not effective. So probably more so than trying to spend the money rehiring someone now and getting the right person.

SPEAKER_00

Well, and that I that goes back, I think, a lot of uh going back to the infinite data is it's it's still after all these years, it's still hard to get people to use the outsource model because oftentimes it it does cost you more on paper. But but all the money it's saving you and then how much it's helping you grow and just the efficiencies and everything more than make up for it. But it's just so hard to get people to I mean, you know, it's like with your Invisalign bill. It's a big one.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

It's a big one. And that in itself usually gets people to go, screw it, I'm out. And some of these other outsources that you use, which is which ones to use is not the topic, but there are so many out there that allow you you don't you all don't have to have these headaches. Or at least you can minimize them. Like you have the headaches, but they're minimized because you just you're looking for one at any given time when other people are looking for four and five. So yeah. What do you think? You want to keep going? Or do you think we've made the point? Outsource. I I think we made the point.

SPEAKER_01

I mean, I guess I you know it's you've all you've all been there. You know how it is when you lose somebody. Yeah. And and and probably more than one. So if you can simplify it, yeah, and you don't have the headaches of retraining, rehiring, you know, 401ks, health and you know, whatever, right, all the other all the other things. Yeah. Then it's it's something to definitely consider that maybe you haven't considered before.

SPEAKER_00

Well, I mean, there's so many, especially ones that listen to this podcast, there's so many that have either

How To Start Without Going All In

SPEAKER_00

tried it or they want to try it, and it's the expenses of it that keep them from that keep them from doing it. And one, you don't have to go all in, and I'm sure we'll talk about that in a future episode of just what that even looks like if you go all in on the outsource, but just well, it's like with RightChat, you know, and it's not about RightChat, but if you use it right, you either don't need a receptionist or you certainly don't need two.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

You know, and but you've got to use it right. And what that's probably gonna be the next episode is if you outsource, you've got to go all in, you've got to use it effectively, and you can't let your team sabotage it, which we'll we'll talk about there. But yeah, I mean, I I see it with Rob as I mean, he's on a he doesn't need to hire that many people, and it's still a headache. So this is minimize those headaches. And so many of you out there understand the staffing headaches, and this is a new hire share to share with the liners, outsourcing it every which way you can. And I think what happens too is that by outsourcing, it's taken the chaos of the practice away, and it's allowed you to reinvest that back to the people business that you are as well. And and that that in itself makes it makes it worth it. Yeah. Outsource more, you don't have to have these headaches. Yeah. And then you can also get rid of the people you know should go when you're using these outsource partners too.

SPEAKER_01

Yes.

SPEAKER_00

I share to chair with aligners, remote monitoring, right chat. You even use new page group and outsource the marketing because you don't need a marketer with with our program. I'm missing something. Uh aligners, did I say aligners? I think so. Listen, aligners.

Comments, Reviews, And Wrap Up

SPEAKER_00

Ortho5 would be another one that that takes the place of some humans, and and all of those help you grow. So it doesn't have to be that way. Hope everybody enjoyed today. If you're watching on YouTube, hey there, make sure to thumb it up, get some comments going. Tell us how much you love Rob.

SPEAKER_01

No, no, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. You said no. Yeah, yeah, let's do that.

SPEAKER_00

Okay, no, he said no. Let's do that. Actually, you could write on you could do in the comments like, we love this new combination. We hate this new combination.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_00

Get rid of them, yeah, hire them, whatever. But no, get some comments going. Because typically, until one person does it, everybody else kind of hides behind it. And audio experience listeners, thanks as always. Make sure to write us a five star review of whatever channel you're listening to. And until next time, we'll see you soon. See ya. Bye bye.