Happy work place

Yesterday the staff and I had our first "investors in people" team meeting.

I asked the staff to come up with the five attributes they would hope for in a work colleague.

It proved a good talking point and everyone was very keen that a good colleague of should be a good team player.

After a long list made up of all the suggestions we managed to come up with the ideal five:

1. Good team player
2. friendly
3. compassionate/respectful
4. reliable and honest
5. punctual

This list will be displayed in the staff room as a reminder of what everyone agreed on.

We do have a good team here and it was good to take a step back and quantify what makes for a happy team and work place.

One of the suggestions that didn't make the top five was that colleagues should be well presented in appearance which was defined by Chipo as "no Page Three girls"!!
Now that would make for a completely a completely different kind of dental practice!

 

Happy Birthday

Today Braden Dental Care is six years old!

Things have changed over the time we've been at the practice.

We've redecorated and put our mark on the place.

We've introduced Zoom whitening and increased the range of cosmetic treatment available as well as improving customer service by decreasing the waiting times for appointments and providing a membership plan.

Some things haven't changed. Doreen and Jillian are still familiar friendly faces at reception and Michelle has been with us since we started.

Our dental nurses, Laura, Chipo, Heather and our newest recruit, another Michelle, are also part of the team now.

Jim and I are always looking for more ways to push the business forward.

We have just started working towards the Investors in People Award to involve our staff in decision making in the business and give them goals to work towards as well.

There is also a new sterilising room being installed upstairs to keep up with our high cross infection control standards.

Braden dental care also shares a birthday with the actresses Penelope Cruz and Jessica Alba, so we're in good looking company!

 

What I love about my job

What I love about my job is my patients.

I really enjoy getting to know them and when they come in for their six monthly examinations it's good to catch up and see how life is treating them!

That makes my job quite unusual.

There aren't many jobs where you have the opportunity to have regular contact with a group of people and spend time with them, one to one.

The obvious comparison is with a hairdresser!

I doubt whether my patients look forward to our meeting as much I do, but it is important to have a rapport and a certain relationship built up with patients that hopefully sets up a long-lasting service.

At Braden Dental Care we feel that this is important and try to make everyone feel welcome and that we have the time for them.

We also have a membership plan with added benefits for people who belong.

Our patients are why we exist so we appreciate their loyalty!
 

Smile

These are our two dogs, Molly and Maya at Culdaff beach, Donegal on Easter Saturday.

I was trying to decide what to write in my first blog entry and decided that as our strap line at Braden Dental Care is "Dedicated to your smile", I would post something that made the Bradens smile....a beautiful sunny day at the beach with our children and dogs!
 

Good News

At Braden Dental Care we are "dedicated to your smile" so I hope my blogging will make you smile as well.

There's enough bad news around and plenty to stop you smiling so this is going to be lighthearted and definfitely not all tooth related!

There's an awful lot of depressing stuff on the news at the moment, but some good news too.

Did anyone hear about the dog who'd been swept to sea off a boat on the coast of Australia?

It had been assumed lost forever but had managed to swim five miles to a desert island where it had survived for four months and was found alive.

It was reunited with it's delighted owners on Tuesday...aah!!

The G20 summit was surrounded by protesters against capitalism and climate change but the fact that all those leaders