SAN DIEGO — Two major converging demographic trends will amplify the importance of finding good office staffers at the same time as it will become ever more difficult to do so, Dr. Larry Anderson said at the American Academy of Dermatology's Academy 2006 conference.
Growth of the U.S. labor force has remained nearly flat since the late 1990s. During this period the population of younger working people shrank by about 14%. That's bad news for the 80 million Baby Boomers who will require increasing levels of medical and other services. Retirees are the fastest-growing segment of the population, but the 20-something workforce is the slowest-growing segment. “In the next decade, we're expecting to see a 30% shortfall in younger workers, and this will persist for about 40 years,” said Dr. Anderson, a dermatologist in private practice in Tyler, Tex.
“During this time our services will be needed more and more, and it will be harder for us to get and keep good employees.” In response, physicians need to see their employees as an asset and develop an office culture and work environment that attracts and nurtures the best and the brightest.
In terms of employer-employee relations, physicians are facing what amounts to a significant generation gap. According to a recent AAD survey, 27% of all AAD members are 41-50 years old, and 29% are 51-60 years old. “More than 50% of all dermatologists are Boomers, with a mean age in their early 50s. Our employees, however, are in their 20s and 30s,” he said. While attitudinal differences between the Boomers, born between 1943 and 1964, and the so-called Generation X, born from the mid-1960s to the mid-1980s, may not be as great as the cultural divide between the Boomers and their Depression- and World War II-era parents, it can be much greater than many people realize, especially when it comes to matters of career and identity.
In terms of work styles, the Gen-Xers tend to be highly independent. “Remember, these are the latchkey kids all grown up.” In their professional lives, they want to know what has to be done, why it must be done, and when they must deliver. Beyond that, they want to be left alone.
This generation has the “question authority” attitude in spades. “With this generation, rules don't count unless they have input and understand the rationale,” Dr. Anderson said. In managing Gen-Xers, it is best to give them guidelines, while at the same time letting them into the planning process and allowing them to figure out the implementation.
Remember that Gen-Xers grew up in a time of unprecedented job mobility and career flexibility. They don't expect to work at any one company or office for their entire adult lives.
Gen-Xers are nearly allergic to office politics, and they resent favoritism and nepotism. They react badly to micromanagement, and they dislike it when their ideas, opinions, and suggestions are categorically ignored.
Dr. Anderson has found that team-based management works very well with Gen-X staffers, rather than top-down command and control strategies. “They view things according to the notion that a good idea is what gives power, not simply position.”
Positive feedback, constructive criticism, meaningful raises, and frequent “thank yous” go a long way with Gen-Xers. They also appreciate learning new skills and job situations that offer diverse and challenging experiences, rather than simple routines. “They like to experiment, and they want fresh experiences.”
In terms of financial issues, be aware that Gen-Xers are often struggling. At the same time, they tend to be less motivated by money than many Boomers are, and they strongly resist being bought off. Given that most medical office jobs in a given geographic area will pay more or less the same salaries, money is usually not an issue as long as you're paying market rates.
“You won't necessarily get a better employee by offering a few dollars more,” Dr. Anderson said. But you will if you show that you can offer a flexible, team-based work situation; a lively office atmosphere; and a culture that respects their intelligence, input, and extraoffice interests.
The single most important factor in creating a happy staff is in selecting people whose personalities and characters fit well together. Remember that technical skills can be learned and developed along the way. A candidate who is a natural fit with your office culture will, in the long run, be a much better bet than a highly skilled but difficult person who does not mesh well with the rest of the staff.