Managing Director of Simplyhealth Professionals Caroline Coleman and Head of Professional Support Services Catherine Rutland discuss the benefits for both the individual and the workplace of mentoring women within the dental profession. This interview first appeared in the January issue of The Probe magazine.
What steps can practices take to support women dentists?
CR: Interestingly, although we are focusing on women, the themes are common whether it’s a male or female dentist. With the shift in provision and paternity rights, some of the historic things that were problems for women, actually now become male problems as well to a certain extent.
For women, the biggest thing a practice can do is support their working hours and be flexible with that time. Certainly Simplyhealth, as a company, try to facilitate and I think that should be the same within practice. What emotional support can they give to female dentists as well, specifically within each role? It can be very stressful, before you even think about adding all the other life stresses.
CC: I think we should be supporting everyone in their roles but some of that comes down to your own individual responsibilities, making sure you have a clear development plan and you are aware of what you want to achieve and what success looks like for you. In addition, everyone should be able to draw on support from their teams and Line manager to achieve their goals for the year.
CR: I think this idea really ties in to the CPD from the GDC now as well. It can be a real focus on or be about your clinical development but actually your emotional development is vital to your professional life. With a company structure like Simplyhealth’s, you’ve got a clear line management system, whereas in a practice that isn’t so obvious. Despite this, there are people that can be involved in ensuring you find those who can help you within the practice. If you’ve already got a plan for what you want to achieve, then you know where you’re going and you know who’s going to be helpful to you.
What would you say is the biggest obstacle to success for women in the profession?
CC: There’s just never enough time in the day, no matter what profession you work in. In a dental practice, you’ve got emergencies, you’ve got clinical and practice work that you want to do. The biggest obstacle is making sure you plan your time most effectively on what’s important and urgent at that right time. But also, always keeping an eye on what’s changing, don’t get stuck in what’s in the here and now, but the future opportunities of the profession.
CR: Also, taking enough time for yourself, because that itself can become an obstacle, because you don’t sit down, plan or think. As women, we are renowned for not taking time for ourselves, always giving to everybody else, but we need to protect ourselves in order to give the most back to everybody else, for a long-term benefit. You have to be quite ruthless at breaking down your time and putting barriers in. If you are supposed to be stopping work, stop work. If you are taking holiday, take holiday.
CC: Be dedicated to your work but committed to yourself. Make sure that you set guidelines and framework for yourself, but be open about that. It’s okay to take time for a parents evening or school play.
How does your organisation benefit from mentoring?
CC: I’ve seen improved confidence from people who have gone through mentoring as they have learnt the ability to take time to have conversations and discuss what success looks like for them, what’s important for them and where they see themselves going. It’s also a time where they can reflect on their achievements, we are all busy and it’s very easy to just go on to the next thing rather than focussing on what’s been delivered and also if it went well or if there are things that could be done differently next time, it’s a good opportunity to reflect and learn and in doing so, helps people become more self-aware.
At Simplyhealth, we are a learning organisation, sometimes we test new things we take the time to learn and implement our learnings in to the next project – we aren’t afraid of adapting and changing our methods to suit the best outcome for our customers.
CR: Reverse mentoring is a fantastic concept and can be used well within the profession. If you know that you don’t know as much about young dentistry and the next generation, you can sit and take the approach of an honest conversation. By learning from others and how they view the profession, you are learning as well.
CC: What we tend to do as Senior Leaders is give all the answers, but when you’ve been a mentor or been mentored, there’s a different coaching that enables the individual to reach the same conclusion rather than you giving the answer straight away. This comes back to that self-confidence, because next time they need to make a decision, they can without your guidance, meaning the skills are very much transferrable.
Have either of you been mentored during your careers to-date?
CC: I have a coaching qualification myself and I really value and believe in it. Every year in January, I put together my own personal development plan. I currently have 3 mentors in the form of a performance coach who works really closely with us as an executive leadership team, the coach will sit in on meetings with us and make sure we are delivering what we set out to do. I have a Board mentor who I discuss business activities with, as well as changes happening within the industry.
I also have an external mentor who is separate to Simplyhealth, with this mentor I can have completely free and confidential conversations about business but also me and my development as an individual. I’ve always had a coach and would highly recommend it – it’s a meeting I always find time for as it’s so important for my development.
CR: This is where business differs from dentistry. Sadly, with dentistry, mentoring tends to be associated with remediation and adhering to GDC conditions. We really need to shift our thinking, so we don’t view it as a last resort. Mentoring sorts your head out and throws things into the mix that you hadn’t thought about. It’s priceless.
What advice would you give to your younger selves, being the successful women you are today?
CR: Have belief in yourself. Take steps that hold risk, because everything’s reversible. You can always change direction again. Take opportunities, be brave and push yourself out of your comfort zone. CC: Always remain true to your values and don’t change who you are. Make the most of absolutely every opportunity that’s put in front of you. Never let anyone tell you that you can’t because you can. If you really believe in something and put the hard work in, then anything is possible. I think that’s a true reflection of my mindset when I joined Simplyhealth 21 years ago and what I live by now.
What attributes do you think are needed to succeed as a woman in dentistry?
CR: For females, I would say resilience in massive, as well as self-belief. When I first started in a practice, I’d already been working in hospital for a couple of years. I took over from a gentleman who had been working there for 40 years. I walked in as a 24 year-old, to patients asking me if I was the nurse, when the dentist was coming in and if I was old enough to be working. To have the self-belief to keep batting away comments like that can be quite tough. Whilst working at my own practice at the age of 38, a patient came in and asked: “so, when’s the dentist arriving?” which made me realise how much I’d grown as a person because it made me laugh rather than feeling disheartened, but it showed the stigma was still there, all those years later.
Regarding women in dentistry - how has the profession’s approach and attitudes progressed in recent years?
CR: I think attitudes are changing and the dynamics of the profession are constantly altering. Although the register isn’t quite half male half female, it is almost there. I think the public perception of dentistry is different now, as they no longer think of dentists being an older, white male. It’s also much easier to spread positive messages about dentistry, due to social media, which is really powerful.
What progression do you hope to see in the future?
CR: I’d like more openness within dentistry regarding all of the problems we’re faced with within the profession. There are a lot of people that struggle and never ask for help, until they are hit with something like a GDC case or bankruptcy. If they’d asked for help earlier down the line, they wouldn’t be in that position, which is really sad. Simplyhealth Professionals very much try to support and ask how we can help, which is a big part of what we believe in as a company
Reproduced with kind permission of The Probe.
