What Would You Do?
Should this eager tech request a new role in the practice?
Halley, a technician, was finally settling into her new role at Dr. Klein’s office. She was typically scheduled to work with Dr. Klein, the head of the practice. Learning from the boss was the best way to go, she thought, and she was quickly getting more and more familiar with eyecare terminology.
Halley’s co-worker Sarah was always scheduled to work with Dr. Chapman, the retina specialist, and Halley quickly became tempted by the excitement to learn more in that area. Dr. Chapman worked in the office two or three days a week. Halley noticed how fast and efficiently he moved through the office, and she was fascinated by Sarah’s role with Dr. Chapman — he always called Sarah his “right hand.”
While the thought of learning more was exciting, she feared that asking to move from Dr. Klein’s service could be detrimental. He was the boss after all, and he could have taken it personally if she requested to spend time away from his service. She asked Sarah, a veteran technician, who said, “You can wait and hope they give you the chance to work with Dr. Chapman eventually, but you may miss a shot at learning more and growing in the field. And Dr. Klein is well-known for keeping technicians he likes.”
Halley felt stuck. She enjoyed her job and wanted to learn more about the entire field. However, she feared that she could possibly offend Dr. Klein, especially after he took a chance and hired her.
Should Halley wait it out and hope for a chance? If not, what should she say?
As an office manager, how would you handle staff members who are eager to move to other areas and take on increased responsibility?
Christina Kennelley, administrator, Shepherd Eye Center, Las Vegas, Nev.
Halley should let her supervisor and the practice administrator know that she is interested in learning other positions. Otherwise, they might interpret her silence as being content with your current job. She could say something like, “I really love my new job and am eager to learn more about ophthalmology. Might there be an opportunity in the future to work with Dr. Chapman so I can learn about retina?” It may not be possible to move into her coveted position right away, but when the time is right they will think of her.
Cross-training staff is a win-win scenario. It allows for more options in staffing coverage while making the employee a more valuable staff member.
Laurie Brown, COMT, COE, OSA OCA CPSS, administrator, Drs. Fine, Hoffman & Sims, LLC, Eugene, Ore.
Halley is just the kind of ophthalmic technician we administrators crave. Instead of feeling stuck, Halley should feel very good about looking for ways to make the practice better. Learning the differences in how doctors work creates an advantage for the practice, and learning more does not have to preclude her current work.
I suggest Halley talk with the office manager about her desire to see how the rest of the practice runs so that she may be able to apply the best practice workflows most efficiently. The office manager may be able to suggest an advantageous way to move forward and communicate with Dr. Klein to ensure he is comfortable with the plan of advancing her knowledge and skills for the practice. Halley’s commitment to the practice will be much more valuable as a cross-trained technician, better able to support the practice in immediate needs as well as future planning.
EDITOR’S NOTE: “What Would You Do?” describes a difficult scenario and asks office managers, techs and ophthalmic staff how they would approach the situation. This scenario was submitted by Katelyn Rice.
If you would like to submit a story or provide your solutions for these scenarios, please e-mail zackary.tertel@pentavisionmedia.com.
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