Investing in Your Human Assets

Investing in Your Human Assets

Investing in your practice should always be your first investment choice, even during a booming real estate market or stock market.

Practice investments are safe because you control every aspect. Practice investments help you provide better service. You can also experience and enjoy the investment—much better than just watching portfolio numbers go up and down.

For example, new reception area furniture gives more comfort for your patients, a better image and some extra pride. A new computer system speeds up your billings, raises your staff morale and gives you more information about your operation. These types of investments help increase collections so you have more money to plow back into your practice.

Even better than buying hard goods, you can also boost your wealth by investing in people.

In the best-selling business book “Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk” by Peter Bernstein, more than half of the increase in the wealth of all businesses comes from the development of human capital, not from the acquisition of hard goods.

Developing human capital means improving your performance and your staff members' performance. Getting more from everyone's efforts.

For example, you get your staff trained on a better way to discuss fees with patients. You spend $1500 for seminar tickets, gas and a dinner for everyone.

The next week, your over-the-counter collections double. The following week, the statistic jumps even higher. As patients now pay in advance, rather than over time, your cash collections rate hits 100%. You calculate a profit increase of $1000 the first month alone.

How to Invest in People

The wealthiest, most successful practice owners hire the best raw talent they can afford. They train them to perfection and then push them to their next level of performance.

They write office policy, job descriptions, procedure manuals and articles of advice. Their staff members have all the written instructions they need to do every aspect of their jobs.

These practice owners conduct educational staff meetings to teach their staff about the profession. They buy training, coaching, seminars, tapes and any other method of staff improvement available.

They keep their best people challenged. They cross train them, give them more responsibility and lay out futures for them. When employees fail to make the grade, top practice owners cut their losses and look for new talent.

They realize the one thing worse than training people and losing them, is not training people and keeping them.

Top practice owners also work on improving their own performance. They go beyond their continuing education requirements and attend extra seminars, hire consultants and try new programs. They never close their minds to new ideas and methods.

Successful, wealthy practice owners earn 100% to 1000% returns on these investments. Their lucky staff members and associates receive a lifetime benefit of competence. And what is more valuable than competence?

Investing in people gives you more than just wealth. You get a happier office, delighted patients and more time to do what you love to do.

What would your practice be like if you and your staff were twice as good at what you do?

What can you invest in yourself and your people right now?