The Optical Vision Site

OWA One Minute Mentor – Change is not always difficult

Thank you to the Optical Women’s Association (OWA) and Audrey Pavia of Tura for this post –
Change Is Not Always Difficult – This is relevant whether you are in a small or large business – optical or non-optical! Thank you Audrey for an excellent One Minute Mentor tip!

In corporate life, at least, change is not only the ‘only constant’ but it is also frequently a thorn in one’s side! You know that it is necessary, but how are you going to get people to go along with it and welcome it? The underlying assumption is that people are going to resist it. So it is necessary to design change management programs with touchy-feely content as well as the hard systems and physical changes.

However, there are situations where people adapt remarkably quickly, without ‘help’. For example, when you join a new company, they have a way of doing things that is undoubtedly different from the way you have been used to. But what do you do? You do your best to adapt to this foreign method of doing things. Whatever thoughts you may have had during the first few days about the oddness of the place are very soon displaced in your desire to become a useful part of your new environment. In the process, you have made all sorts of changes to yourself without pain: you have a cup of coffee at 10 AM, not as soon as you get in to work; you attend meetings that run into lunch, where before you had a strict lunch break; you complete your meeting notes the day of the meeting, instead of the day before the next one. And that’s just the small stuff. Now you are working for a new boss, with new colleagues and new people to get to know. These same changes could happen if you were already an employee and the organization simply ‘reorganized’. In this case would your actions and reactions be the same? Probably not!

So what is the difference that makes change easy in one situation but not in another? Surely it is in the mind of the individual. In one situation they have everything to gain and nothing to lose. In the other they might come out worse off. In the first case, they made the decision for themselves and had worked out in advance what it was worth to them. In the second case, the decision was made for them and the reasons for the change did not specifically have their personal interest in mind. The instigators of the change were looking for benefits to the organization, not to individuals. The first is self-centered; the latter is organization-centered. Being a part in the machine is fine when we’re a ‘big wheel’ but not so fine when you are a smaller one that may have to whirl faster.

The fear of loss is greater than the fear of gain. When there is nothing to lose, change is not a problem.

Audrey Pavia is Vice President of Marketing at Tura LP. Tura eyewear collections include Tura Flex, Lulu Guinness, Ted Baker, Tourneau and Goldfinch

Embezzler In Optometric Practice Receives 10 Year Sentence For Stealing $100,000

Photo:australiasigns.com.au

‘A former longtime employee of a Lansing Township optometry practice, who authorities say stole more than $100,000 in cash over several years, pleaded guilty Thursday to embezzlement charges and will be ordered to pay restitution.’ Read the full story at Lansing State Journal

‘A student dispensing optician cautioned by police for theft from her employers has been struck off the register in her absence by a General Optical Council (GOC) fitness to practise committee.

It was the panel’s opinion that Robyn Leach’s fitness to practise was impaired because of the caution she received on November 12, 2008 at Fareham police station for stealing from her employer.

Despite the fact that Leach expressed remorse and repaid the money, the committee decided that she had committed a serious breach of trust involving the manipulation of records and the misuse of the employer’s financial system when she was in sole charge. Therefore it concluded that the only appropriate sanction was erasure.’

Unfortunately these stories are all too common.

According to the January 2010 RILA Current Crime Trends Survey:

• 78% of retailers report seeing an increase in amateur and opportunistic shoplifting
• 65% of retailers report seeing an increase in organized retail crime
• 74% of retailers report seeing an increase of stolen items being found in online market places

‘Retailers reported that there were no decreases in stolen items being found in on-line marketplaces, pawn shops, flea markets and traditional fencing operations. Seventy-five percent (75%) of retailers saw an increase of stolen items being found in online marketplaces, 47% in flea markets, 47% in traditional fencing operations and 16% in pawn shops.’

We have done several articles on Employee Theft and prevention, please check them out and put in preventive measures to insure you don’t get ripped off.

Moody Eyes Musings – Independent Optometrist

I interviewed Dr. Penn Moody, owner of Moody Eyes, last September (Penn Moody, OD talks about …..) mainly to ask him about his experience with atLast by Pixel Optics. I did not make it through all my questions so I thought it would be good to continue our interview a few months later and get some more Moody Eyes Musings…..

One of the questions I still had was: “Does this product help distinguish an independent optical retailer from optical chains?” Dr. Moody had several  comments about this question and we had quite a discussion about it as follows:

“Product alone is not a silver bullet” Dr. Moody believes what distinguishes a vision care practice is not just products recommended and dispensed, but a total patient service viewpoint. Most competitors have access to the same or similar products. What really makes one’s optical business stand out is how you use your product mix to solve your optical patient’s problems. Certainly atLast! fills an important place in this mix.

“The devil is in the details” I thought this was a great comment as there are so many details to get right:  off axis, PD, seg height, frame choice and fitting, to name just a few.  “If only one of these is being wrong it can diminish the whole experience for our optical patients”
“The staff and the optometrist have to have a shared vision about patient care from start to finish”

It is often said one can tell most about a business or person by how they handle problems.  At Moody Eyes Dr. Moody personally calls patients with problems or issues that the staff have problems solving.  The goal is to demonstrate to the patient a total commitment to their satisfaction and to teach them how they should view the practice.  Specifically, after he has resolved their issues, Dr. Moody gives them the assignment of recommending Moody Eyes to their friends and family members.  Many optical patients follow through on this, which is one way of turning a problem into an opportunity.

As many people like to look up information on the internet, it is important to have a good website and I think Moody Eyes has an excellent one. It is very easy to search for information and user friendly.

I asked Dr. Moody for an update on his atLast experience and recommendations. As he has developed a better method of qualifying patients he is fitting more progressive lens patients with Pixel.  The first question he asks is what the patient likes and doesn’t like about their current lenses.  This usually leads to a discussion of visual demands and activities.  One of the most common complaints is of a narrow field of view, particularly when using a computer of for other intermediate distance tasks.  Since atLast! is specifically designed to provide a wide field at this distance it will typically be the lens of first choice. Another aspect of this lens patients like is atLast!’s clear distance and peripheral vision. Dr. Moody has also found a minimum seg height of 15mm works well, but 16 works better.  He believes this type of lens is a whole new category and well worth exploring to satisfy optical patients’ ever changing needs.

Setting Goals 2010

It is never too late to set goals but if you haven’t set your goals for 2010 yet, the year will be gone before you know it so NOW would be good.

It will be here before you know it!

Kelly Gornick from Signet Armorlite submitted this post about setting goals for the new year that you might find helpful if you have been a procrastinator.

A New Year, A New You – So what’s your New Year’s resolution?

At the start of each year, many people make resolutions or set goals. While they have good intentions of achieving these goals, only a few ever make things happen. Why? No plan and no action! Developing an action plan is an important first step on the road to success. Without it, procrastination will delay what needs to be done and prevent you from getting it done.

1. List what you want to achieve (your goal) for yourself and/or your optical practice.

2. List what action items are needed to get you there. If you don’t know, do some research! You must break down that goal into several achievable steps.

3. Create a timeline for each action item. List if this a one-time action item with a deadline or an ongoing daily, weekly or month action item.

4. Keep track of your progress and outcomes by listing successes, failures and improvements. Encourage yourself by celebrating successes throughout the year.

5. Keep your action plan visible so you stay focused on the end-result and committed to accomplishing the goal. Let others know about your goal – the support helps to keep you on track.

There are three types of people in this world:

• Those who make things happen

• Those who watch things happen

• Those who wonder what happened

Which are you?

Avoiding Legal Hassles with Optical Employees

One of the responsibilities I had as an executive working for an optical company with many employees was having to be sure that we avoided legal troubles particularly from within! Usually, any legal problems were a result of employees feeling they were treated unfairly and could have been avoided.  I recently read an interesting article about this subject in U.S. Vision’s Supervisor Support publication (August 09). The original article is by attorney/authors Amy DelPo and Lisa Guerin entitled “Top Tips for Avoiding Legal Trouble with Employees.” In their article, DelPo and Guerin offer these simple tips and they are applicable to any optical work place, small, medium or large:

• Treat your workers with respect. Don’t humiliate or treat them badly. Follow the Golden Rule.
• Communicate with your workers. Always be ready to talk, and respect their ideas.
• Be consistent. Be fair, and treat all employees equally
• Give regular evaluations. Don’t neglect evaluations. Handle them properly. They give useful feedback, and might be useful evidence in court.
• Make job-related decisions. Base all decisions on objective employment criteria and never on a personal basis.
• Don’t punish the messenger. You don’t want people to hesitate to bring problems to your attention.
• Adopt sound policies and follow them. Follow company rules carefully and consistently.
• Keep good records. Record all potentially important employment decisions, including details, reason and results.
• Take action when necessary. Deal with problems promptly and fairly.
• Be discreet. Employee matters should be kept in strict confidence. There’s no need to share details with anyone except those who have a right to know – such as human resources.

For the full article and legal resource suggestions go to this link: http://www.nolo.com/

Taking One Little Step-The 212 Video

As the saying goes ‘Talk is Cheap’ you have to act in order to make changes in your life, home and business. This video demonstrates the power of acting rather than talking, one little step at a time. That action could be answering the phone differently, having staff meetings, implementing new systems and trying something different. Anyway, I liked the video and have watched it a few times in order to remind myself to ACT rather than sit around talking about what I should be doing!

EyeCare And The Fun Theory

We’ve all heard the expression you can attract more flies with honey than vinegar, Volkswagon has taken that philosophy a big further with the introduction of  The Fun Theory’ a belief you can change peoples behavior by making it fun to do so. Whether it is learning something new, selling a product, or picking up trash, make it fun and the behavior will change.

We believe in the Fun Theory here at OVS, which is why we post all of these FUN OPTICAL EVENTS, because when people have fun, they buy, when people have fun, they learn, when people have fun, they refer and come back.

So think about what you can do that is fun in your office, and please feel free to share it with us and with them- Because  they are having a contest on their site, you can enter your own ‘Fun Theory’ Your entries should be presented with a written explanation plus a visualisation of the idea itself. It could be a simple sketch, photos or a film of a prototype. You decide what will do your entry justice.

Good Luck and Have Fun!

How to Correct an Optical Employee’s Sub-Par Performance

Picture by Telegraph UK

One of the most difficult aspects of being an optical business owner or manager is dealing with an optical employee’s sub-par performance. Correcting performance problems is one of the primary responsibilities of supervisors and employers. By being respectful and straightforward in your approach, you can improve optical employee standards while also maintaining a good working relationship. No one likes dealing with this issue and it is not easy so here are some great tips that I found in US Vision’s Supervisor Support Newsletter.

1. Correct privately. Calling an optical employee out for an inappropriate action in front of her peers is disrespectful and will also serve to undermine a good working relationship between the two of you. You must preserve the employee’s self-respect if you desire her to listen to your reproof.
2. Don’t use false compliments. Some people believe that correction should be given only after complimenting an employee on some other aspect of his performance. While I agree that you should highlight the person’s good qualities, you should never make up compliments in order to cushion the blow of criticism. This type of treatment  of your optical employees is manipulative and deceptive. In my experience, most employees want to be told directly if and what they are doing wrong so that they can correct it.
3. Only state the facts. Statements such as,  “I really feel that you…” or, “your coworkers think that you …” are completely ineffective and pointless. Correction should only take place when you have hard evidence of an infraction. Only performance issues which have been personally heard, seen, or read should be addressed.
4. Tell him  what you want him to do. Instead of simply telling the  optical employee what he did wrong, specifically tell him what you would like him to do instead. For instance, instead of saying, “Don’t be late anymore.” Say, “You must be on time or early every day.” By giving a concrete step you want him to take in order to make him a better employee, the interchange will be more profitable and memorable for him.
5. Don’t forget to document. When you speak to an optical employee about a serious performance problem, you must document it. Include the date, time and location at which the correction was given. Record what you said, as well as the employee’s response.

SOURCE: Adaptation of  original article by Amy Kreger from Associatedcontent.com