Healthcare soft skills are a must to attain long-term consistent success
Healthcare soft skills development is not just for chiropractic students.
Jason J. Garrett, DC, and chief medical officer with Airrosti took time to answer questions about how DCs can develop their own soft skills to improve their practices and interactions with staff and patients.
“Soft skills are the skills that some people inherently have — leadership, confidence, the ability to influence others, problem-solving abilities, the ability to read your audience, situational awareness, work ethic, working well in a team atmosphere, and generally good interpersonal skills,” Garrett says. “Those who do not innately possess these skills are usually able to learn how to implement them once they become aware of the ones they are lacking. Soft skills are commonly lumped into one category called emotional intelligence, or EI for short.”
Why are some healthcare soft skills lacking in chiropractic?
The chiropractic profession in general has a lower number of soft skills than some other careers. Typically, those with very strong soft skills gravitate towards sales, business development, and marketing careers. Most chiropractors are “science” brained and rely on research and data to form their opinions and lead them professionally.
One reason chiropractors fail in practice because of a lack of adequate healthcare soft skills. Before working on developing soft skills, it is important to determine which soft skills you lack. Are you unable to clearly get your message across to others? Do you frequently get frustrated when others do not perform up to your expectations?
If the answer to any of these is “yes,” you likely lack adequate soft skills to mitigate a stressful work environment. Doctors who wish to improve upon these skills have a wealth of information available to them via leadership training seminars, books on EI, mentors, etc. The first step is identifying where you are falling short and then actively working toward self improvement.
Why is having soft skills especially important today?
Today, soft skills are more important than ever. Employees and employers are more likely to leave or let go of those who make their environment unhealthy.
If you are not able to work well with others, have not created an environment of trust and loyalty or inclusivity, or do not empower others to do their jobs well, you will struggle to find personal and professional success. This usually leads to high employee turnover and lack of avenues for professional development.
What can chiropractors do to make sure that everyone in their practice has and uses soft skills?
Making sure that everyone in a practice has and uses soft skills can be challenging if you already have employees in your practice who are difficult to work with. Ideally, you have recruited, hired, and trained employees who are passionate about helping others. If they do not have this basic character trait, you will likely struggle to get a high-performing employee.
Assuming you have employees who are passionate about helping others, it becomes your job to facilitate a culture of trust and loyalty. Clearly explain objectives and roles, and make sure everyone understands their role in the success of the practice. Employees who believe they have decision making abilities from clear communication are more likely to perform their job at a higher level, have greater job satisfaction, and contribute to a healthy office culture. This in turn leads to a better patient experience and overall practice success.
How will having soft skills help chiropractors to be successful in their careers?
Soft skills open an infinite number of doors for chiropractors to advance their careers. We all know brilliant doctors who never become successful and those who aren’t nearly as clinically sound who become wildly successful. A reason for this is the difference in soft skills from one doctor to another. If you can effectively influence and lead others, are someone who others like to be around, have a strong work ethic, work well in a team, and create a culture of trust and loyalty, you will eventually become successful. Healthcare soft skills are a must to attain long-term consistent success.
There is no such thing as a lucky person. Those who routinely find themselves in “lucky” situations have an abundance of soft skills and take advantage of opportunities, while those with a lack of soft skills kick themselves as opportunities pass them by. If you do not have a solid set of soft skills, take the time to develop them, and you are guaranteed to increase your number of professional and personal opportunities.
What are the biggest mistakes that chiropractors can make in terms of lacking soft skills?
The No. 1 mistake a chiropractor can make is a lack of effective communication. If you don’t fully educate your patient on what is causing their pain, what you are going to do to make it better, and how they can continue to improve their condition, your patient’s outcome is likely to be poor. This communication needs to be done with the situational awareness of how your patient is receiving the information.
If you don’t fully explain to your staff what you expect and why it matters, as well as give them an opportunity to take ownership in the tasks you give them, you are likely to be disappointed in the outcome.
Whether it is a patient, employee, or colleague, if you cannot positively influence them in a way to make them an active participant in the decision-making process, your outcome will always leave something to be desired.