Combatting Incivility and Disrespect with Recognition: Honouring the Dental Hygiene Community

Sadly, many professionals are the direct targets of bullying, incivility and harassment daily: emergency room nurses, police officers, customer service professionals, and airline personnel (I see this every flight post-COVID!) You likely wouldn’t put one professional group into that category, and yet it’s a?colossal?problem:?dental hygienists.

A Canadian Dental Hygienists Association?(CDHA)?survey revealed that over 40% of their members regularly experience incivility, bullying and harassment. It’s not what you may think. Patients are low on the list of perpetrators. It’s most often the dentist and sometimes coworkers.

What happens when the person who is the most likely to be uncivil (e.g., the dentist) is also the boss? What happens when the practice is so tiny they have no HR department crafting policies or conducting investigations? Whom do they go to? Hopefully, they have an Office Manager they trust; however, that person is also paid by the boss, so if your mortgage is riding on how you handle the issue, it can become a true ethical crisis. If everyone’s job is on the line, everyone cannot help but ask,?“is it worth sticking my neck out?”

No wonder it’s not uncommon for people to jump offices and possibly leave the field.

Sorry to be a downer. You know it kills me when I am.

Facts are facts, though.?How can we talk about recognition-rich cultures when some workplaces aren’t psychologically or physically safe (or both)?

Add to this the fact that the work puts a toll on their bodies. Repetitive strain to the wrists. Backache from holding a hunched position. Stress from one eye on the clock to keep the day moving.

Not to mention how, during COVID, that N95 mask for 8+ hours created severe respiratory complications.

It is also a field that has few full-time secure positions, leading to a lack of benefits and job security.

To bring it home, your friendly neighbourhood dental hygienist may wield those sharp, shiny tools, and you may even be slightly fearful of going to the dentist. However, that dental hygienist may be standing between you and tongue cancer, root canals, and gum disease (my mom says her periodontal work was more painful than childbirth!).

So what can you do? Well, I’m glad you asked

• The next time you’re getting into the chair,?thank your hygienist?for showing up
• At the end of your appointment,?compliment?them for something they would care about (e.g., “you were very gentle, and I hardly felt a thing!)
• Show up?on time?to keep their day flowing smoothly
• Say something?if you hear unkindness
• Post a?Google review?praising your hygienist
• If you feel the workplace is toxic,?vote with your feet?and leave the practice
• Post a?pic of your smile?the first week of April and say,?“Happy National Dental Hygienists Week!”
• Click here?to copy a graphic that we created for you to share (right-click and copy)

We shouldn’t stop at dental hygienists. Is there any worker who doesn’t deserve this when they make our day better, our lives safer, and our health better?

We All Have a Responsibility To Fight Bullying!

Bullies and harassers are empowered by silence. As a customer, you have the power to make a difference, possibly more than those working in the office.

The gentlest and most positive way to give energy and a voice to a group is to recognize in all of your daily interactions directly and even post on social. The more intense way to recognize is by seeing and calling out unhealthy behaviour; standing up for people is saying,?“I see you, and you’re worth more than this.”

Incivility lives in the shadows; it hijacks the back of our insecurities. It feeds off silence; it is empowered by disconnection.?The more you see it, the harder it is to ignore. As my safety friends say,?“don’t walk on by.”

Recognition isn’t a magic bullet; however, it removes power from perpetrators and creates energy amped by kindness. Your small gesture of appreciation may be the nudge they need to use their voice and remind them that they are worthy of respect. What if your act of recognition could be the impetus for them to stand up for themselves and hold their power?

Where do you see a lack of kindness and respect where you shop, dine and receive care, and what can you do to help? Who will you recognize more of and perhaps be the best part of their day??Give them some props!

Here are more great tips to help get rid of incivility & bullying in your workplace:

• Recognition: An Antidote to Incivility and Bullying
• Bullying Cliques and Silos: What They Have in Common and Divides Us All
• Learn to Stop Bullying and Incivility in the Workplace: Expert Interview with Renee Thompson

Dealing with incivility and bullying in your workplace??Here’s a course?that will help: