Today's employer challenge...
One of my dental assistants recently bought a puppy. He is a cute dog and I like dogs...have one of my own...and I spent last night (at the end of the work day) helping her with instructions on how to care for the dog and train him to go potty, eat, sleep, etc.
Last night the puppy got sick and she needs to bring him to the veterinarian. So she scheduled the appointment for today at 9:30am. This morning when I arrived at the office there is the puppy, his crate, and a bunch of doggy toys in the office. All of my team members are huddled around the dog saying stuff like, "Oh...he's soooooo cute!" and "Oh...he just sneezed...the poor thing...he's so sick!" and "Can I hold him next?", you know...stuff the people usually do when they see a cute puppy. I acknowledge the fact that he's a cute dog and ask why he's in the office. She tells me that he's sick and needs to go to the vet. So, I ask to speak to her in private...
So...what's the employer challenge? Well, for one thing, CT state law will not allow animals in a medical/dental facility for humans (other than aquarium fish) and I politely asked her to remove the puppy from the office and to spend time caring for him at home until his veterinarian appointment was over. If she was still available to work later, following the vet appointment, she could return. Her response was that she couldn't afford to take the time off and she needed the hours. My response was, I respect the fact that you need to get your hours in and since we end at 2pm today you could have scheduled the vet appointment later in the day. Well...the horror! How dare I suggest that! Don't I have a heart? I'm just a mean old man who doesn't care about anything or anyone but the office!!!
So now I'm the mean old dentist who doesn't care about his team or their pets or anything...and the majority of the team is giving me dagger looks this morning!!!
WTF
Will the brighter minds on the list please enlighten me as to how I could have handled this situation better?
Thank you.
One of my dental assistants recently bought a puppy. He is a cute dog and I like dogs...have one of my own...and I spent last night (at the end of the work day) helping her with instructions on how to care for the dog and train him to go potty, eat, sleep, etc.
Last night the puppy got sick and she needs to bring him to the veterinarian. So she scheduled the appointment for today at 9:30am. This morning when I arrived at the office there is the puppy, his crate, and a bunch of doggy toys in the office. All of my team members are huddled around the dog saying stuff like, "Oh...he's soooooo cute!" and "Oh...he just sneezed...the poor thing...he's so sick!" and "Can I hold him next?", you know...stuff the people usually do when they see a cute puppy. I acknowledge the fact that he's a cute dog and ask why he's in the office. She tells me that he's sick and needs to go to the vet. So, I ask to speak to her in private...
So...what's the employer challenge? Well, for one thing, CT state law will not allow animals in a medical/dental facility for humans (other than aquarium fish) and I politely asked her to remove the puppy from the office and to spend time caring for him at home until his veterinarian appointment was over. If she was still available to work later, following the vet appointment, she could return. Her response was that she couldn't afford to take the time off and she needed the hours. My response was, I respect the fact that you need to get your hours in and since we end at 2pm today you could have scheduled the vet appointment later in the day. Well...the horror! How dare I suggest that! Don't I have a heart? I'm just a mean old man who doesn't care about anything or anyone but the office!!!
So now I'm the mean old dentist who doesn't care about his team or their pets or anything...and the majority of the team is giving me dagger looks this morning!!!
WTF
Will the brighter minds on the list please enlighten me as to how I could have handled this situation better?
Thank you.
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