Job insecurity and other fears plaguing dental staff today, and how to stay ahead of them?

Regardless of the levels of success, competency, or experience, almost every dental staff has professional fears and moments of doubt. At least, there is a time you worry about not having the necessary skills to deliver or rising to the occasion when needed. This kind of fear may eventually hurt your growth. However, how you handle it is what differentiates you from your colleagues and shapes your career path.

According to Marla Deibler, the executive director for the Center for Emotional Health of Greater Philadelphia, career anxiety is healthy to some extent. Professional fears can help you remain motivated and caution you, especially when your choices are drawing you towards a professionally destructive territory.

But, as we have already mentioned, when not properly handled, these professional fears can impede your career. When panic dictates all your workplace decisions, it can frustrate your aspirations and lead to underperformance. In turn, these can thwart professional development and dent your workplace relationships.

Resolve to beat these fears with some simple strategies. In this post, we have listed common fears that dental staff experience and ways to deal with them. Read on.

Fear that you are trapped

Perhaps, you grabbed the first dental job that came your way after school. Or probably, you have realized that your so-called “dream job” isn’t as perfect as you imagined it to be.

Most common among younger dental staff early in their professions, this fear results from feeling like you are fated to stay on a job you are dissatisfied with.

It can zap your enthusiasm to assume your dental roles well. Besides that, it can lead to whining and complaining. And as you might be aware, unexpressed frustration can, in the long run, cause blow-up behaviour like unnecessary confrontations or suddenly quitting your job – all things unlikely to help you boost your career.

How to deal with it: This fear comes down to feeling like you have limited control over your employment options. If you wish to get a new job, change employers, or move up the ladder, you need to come up with a plan of how you aim to do that.

It might be going back to college to get a degree or getting a certification that will prove you are qualified for the role you want. Or you could sign up with online staffing platforms like Cloud Dentistry, to get on the radar of hiring managers and dental practices.

You could also chat with your employer about how to boost your performance and what you need to do to earn more responsibilities or advance to a more senior role.

Fear of not meeting goals

Also, referred to as perfectionism, falling short is a prevalent fear among dental employees who set unrealistic goals for themselves. When they don’t realize those impossible goals, they worry about being seen as incompetent.

The fear of imperfection, many a time, can lead to rarely feeling fulfilled or accomplished. See, a fixation on every modest detail can lead to things like missed deadlines and isolation since colleagues avoid working with them on assignments.

How to deal with it: We all desire to achieve our best and no employee likes turning in an assignment with faults. However, sometimes, simple mistakes can seem, in our own judgment, like enormous obstacles.

It is easy to be preoccupied with all the negative things happening around you, but just because your mind is telling you something, it doesn’t mean it is true. When we contemplate failure, we usually dramatize outcomes. “If I mess up this assignment, my contract will be terminated and will never get another job,” you imagine. As a way to avoid not trying at all, you try and persuade yourself that the worst will happen.

Dental staff must train themselves to think critically and positively. Regardless of how complex the assignment is, first take a moment to envisage success. Then take another moment to visualize all the potential challenges you may come across. You should always shine a light on your fears in order to overcome them.

Secondly, it is good to understand that failure is part of the learning process. Did you that the renowned queen of television talk show Oprah Winfrey was fired from her first television job? Or that Michael Jordan was cut from his varsity basketball team during his sophomore year?

The most vital lesson you can learn from the above is that failure is a normal thing and can happen to anybody. Actually, many successful personalities attribute their achievement to their failures – Mark Cuban, J.K Rowling, Walt Disney, to name a few.

A bad and difficult boss

Have you ever become a victim of an unhealthy workplace culture, all thanks to your insensitive boss? A boss who is more focused on playing office politics to boost his own career as opposed to being a great leader who you can all depend on? A boss who you can never even feel comfortable, including him as a reference on your C.V? Bad bosses are everywhere, but in a dental office setting, they can really be a bother. And, many dental professionals wish not to work under such bosses or dentists.

How to deal with it: They say, when life gives you lemons, try making lemonade out of them. Understanding why your boss does certain things can give you some insight into his management style. Also, try to identify what triggers him. For instance, if your boss has issues related to anger management, identify what his meltdowns are, and be militant about avoiding them.

Lastly, try to avoid future bad bosses. When trying to join a new dental office, research ahead of time to ensure you do not get yourself in another similar situation.

Job Insecurity

Job security is one of the greatest fears that dental employees have about their careers. When you don’t feel secure in their job, negative emotions and increased stress impact your work performance. You may stop putting the needed effort into completing even simple office tasks and interacting with coworkers, due to the belief that you have no future with the dental office. But, when you are less worried about your job, you can loosen up and settle into doing your best.

How to deal with it: It’s true, it has become quite difficult to find, consistency, continuity, and a trajectory for career advancement. For this reason, in this day and age, it is advisable to be reasonably flexible when it comes to employment. You can no longer depend on others to advance your career. To overcome the feat of job security, you have to do things differently.

For example, consider getting a flexible second job to guarantee you more stability. The era of the “job for life” is long gone. Today, not many dental staff will go through their professional lives with one employer. More notably, we are now residing in the gig economy, in which employees have two or more jobs, or prefer to work in multiple dental offices. As you might have guessed, job insecurity is a joke for such a work arrangement.

And the practicability of this work arrangement has been made even more real by the numerous online networks and platforms that are currently helping dental professionals manage their careers. Like we already mentioned, one example of that platform is Cloud Dentistry. Cloud Dentistry gives dental staff the autonomy and power to change everything that does not fit their vision. Overcome the fear of job security by making your career your own and earning more on your terms.

Infections

In a dental office setting, the risk of cross-infection is high between dental staff and patients. Dental workers, in specific, are always under exposure to potentially infected saliva, blood, and oral tissues. Under these circumstances, it is normal that anybody will have some level of fear.

How to deal with it: The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has some advice for dental staff on how to control infections. First, before you access any examining room, ensure that all surfaces like countertops, dental chairs, and dental handles have been disinfected. Also, opt to cover dental equipment with protective covers, which can be replaced after seeing each patient.

What’s more, make an effort of sterilizing non-disposable dental tools every time before they are used. Disposable tools like needles, on the other hand, should never be reused. Lastly, use proper protective equipment such as masks, eyewear, gowns, and masks when needed. Remember, after handling each patient, disposable masks and gowns should be thrown away.

What about Coronavirus?

The American Dental Association (ADA), on March 16, 2020, issued some guidance to dentists and dental professionals concerning the COVID-19 pandemic.

The ADA has already recognized the unique circumstances dental practitioners are in during this period. As such, it was sensible for the association to be concerned with their well being.

To mitigate the spread of the virus, the ADA has recommended dental staff nationwide to suspend elective procedures at least for the next twenty-one days. They (dental workers) should only focus on emergency dental care. You can get more information on how to prevent yourself from CONVID-19 pandemic on ADA’s or the CDC’s website.

Fear exists only in the mind…

Most fears are unfounded, and they only exist in our minds. Thus, practice always the art of holding back panic and negative emotions. Also, you must be more agile, self-aware, and an ardent explorer of opportunities for growth and job advancement. Finally, concentrate on what you can control to produce the much-needed results for yourself and the dental practice you serve.

Well, we would like to hear. What is your biggest fear? How exactly are you going to bust through it to achieve the career you want?