Last Updated: July 30, 2028 by happypractice

In a market where qualified clinicians are scarce and hiring costs keep climbing, dental groups heap resources into recruiting only to watch top talent walk out the door again.

 What if the real leverage point isn’t more job ads, but better conversations held long before someone hands in their notice?   By embracing conflict-readiness, defined as having high emotional intelligence (EQ) and conflict resolutions skills and the growth mindset to use them, multi-location groups can shift from reactive stances to team misalignment to proactive strategies that support and improve retention.

In multi-site healthcare, especially dental groups and DSOs, growth outpaces leadership development. Mid-level managers are suddenly responsible for delivering hard feedback, resolving turf wars, and managing integration tension—without any training in conflict navigation or emotional intelligence.

What happens?

Let's do the math.  Suppose your dental assistant up and quit today. What would be the financial ramifications of that?   You'd be looking at:

When you multiply those figures across five, ten, or twenty locations, with 2-3 quits per year conservatively,  it’s clear that replacing staff is never a one-off expense—it’s a recurring liability that pulls focus and profits away from growth.  It's a quiet expense that creeps up on you, demolishing your EBITDA. Conflict readiness is the solution.

When you support your team in becoming conflict-ready, shadow friction decreases while effective communication, successful collaboration and employee experience increase.  

56% of employees want to go to their manager when they want to voice concerns or get coaching.  Having conflict-ready managers who are skilled in hard conversations means you can address issues at a low level without escalation; your HR team can focus on strategic goals for growth and your team members feel heard and acknowledged, which improves engagement and retention. 

Organizations prioritizing psychological safety see 3.2× better retention
Josh Bersin reports that healthy organizations (where employees feel safe speaking up) are 3.2 times more likely to retain staff. 

One step at a time.  Otherwise, the task of creating a healthier, more effective organization will seem overwhelm like cleaning out your closet.

First, decide whether your multi-site will commit to this transformation. Will your org be better positioned for growth if you embrace conflict readiness? The answer is likely yes and you'll want to keep that in mind as you proceed.

Second, determine the current state of your community (culture). How would team members rate communication: effective, lacking, non-existent? What conversations are always difficult?  Use an external to run a Communication Audit, a  facilitated, confidential 90-minute session led by an external ombuds expert (that’s me!) 

Leaders experience firsthand how neutral, curiosity-based questioning surfaces root concerns. Leaders leave with tips that normalize speaking up—and the organization gains a replicable framework for every location.The Audit then provides insights to integrate into your Charter, which sets expectations for all locations.

Third, provide team alignment training. Team alignment training has a different focus than leadership development training. It ensures that team members have a shared understanding of the goals, priorities and practices of your org and agree to uphold them. Team agress to be accountable and to hold other team members accountable as well. 

This move shifts the responsibility for maintaining a healthy community  and communicating well to everyone, not just the practice leaders.

Fourth, leverage a dental-scenario based practice gym, Talkola, where leaders can practice hard conversations. Through bite-sized, 15 minute sessions, you team can rehearse, get feedback and coaching then a score. 

Leaders avoid hard conversations not because they don't care, but because they care very much about saying the right thing and not hurting anyone's feelings. Practicing those common conversations, like beef between the hygienist and assistant, removes discomfort and enhances confidence. 

Fifth, track themes by locations and overall trends.  Now that your leaders are skilled an confident, host 10 minute check-in meetings monthly with team members.  The only question on the agenda is: what friction or obstacle is in your way? (Yes, this is framed negatively for a good reason.)

By asking, you make clear to your teams that speaking up is not a career-ending move; that you are interested in hearing about issues (and rectifying them if possible) and they are safe. That's a great foundation to grow from.

By tracking, you surface invisible data you can use to enhance your operational efficiencies. It's very gratifying to see your community grow in skill and connection over time.

Yes, there is going to be pushback. As humans, we resist change and prefer the status quo, even when it's not working for us.  Here are two suggestions: 

“We don’t have time for another meeting.”
Reframe: these are micro-meetings—10 minutes,  conducted between patient appointments in the hallway. The ROI, in avoided vacancies, dwarfs the time invested.

“Our managers aren’t coaches.”

That’s the whole point of the Communication Audit and Talkola: give them a live demo of neutral questioning and let them practice in a low-stakes gym. After one sprint, they’re no longer talking about “I’m not a people person”—they’re saying, That question helped me uncover the real issue.

Good question, that begs another good question: Do you have a consistent success model. What does success feel and look like? You'll be able to gauge your level of success with that.  

The statistics around emotional intelligence, psychological safety and team alignment are pretty compelling, even though the media paints them as soft skills.

A SHRM study shows employees who feel closely aligned with their organization’s values are 41 % less likely to leave. 

McKinsey research affirms organizational health is the best predictor of value creation and a sustainable source of competitive advantage.

Investing in candid conversations, inclusive culture, and clear shared purpose isn’t just “nice to have”. It directly curbs turnover and its high cost. Think about it.