Why Employee of the Month Programmes Actually Fail

You've probably got one running right now. Or you used to, before it quietly died and nobody mentioned it again.

Employee of the month schemes are everywhere in dental practices. They sound good in theory. They're meant to motivate people, recognise achievement, boost morale. In reality, they're doing the opposite—and you might not even realise it.

Let me be direct: employee of the month programmes are toxic.

I know that's harsh. But after 25 years in this industry and a decade judging the Private Dentistry Awards, I've watched these schemes damage team culture far more often than they've helped it. And the research backs this up.

Why They Sound Good (And Why That Matters)

Before we tear this apart, let's acknowledge why practices implement them in the first place. The intention is sound. You want your team to feel valued. You want to celebrate achievement. You want to create a culture where excellence is noticed and rewarded.

These are good instincts. The execution, though, is where it all falls apart.

The Problem With Zero-Sum Recognition

The fundamental flaw is that employee of the month turns recognition into a competition where only one person wins and everyone else loses.

Think about what happens in your practice when you announce this month's winner. One person gets acknowledged. The other nine, ten, fifteen people on your team? They didn't make the cut. They're not the best this month. They're the also-rans.

Now multiply that across twelve months. Some people never win. They come to work, do their job well, contribute to the team, and month after month they're not quite good enough. What message does that send? "Your work doesn't matter as much." "You're not as valuable." "Better luck next time."

The people who do win? After the initial rush, they often feel awkward. They're singled out. And next month when they don't win, there's a subtle drop in status. The scheme creates a hierarchy based on who happened to shine brightest in any given thirty-day period—which is often arbitrary and depends on which patients came through the door, which treatments they happened to be assigned, or simply who was most visible to leadership that month.

It Damages Team Collaboration

Here's what's worse: these schemes actively damage the collaboration you desperately need in a dental practice.

Your nurse, hygienist, receptionist, and associates aren't independent operators. They're a team. When a patient has a complex case, everyone contributes. When it's a hectic day, people support each other. When someone's struggling, the team picks them up.

Employee of the month encourages the opposite. It creates individual competition in an environment that should be built on mutual support. It incentivises people to make themselves look good rather than help a colleague succeed.

I've seen it happen. A receptionist who could help cover the phone while a colleague manages a patient crisis decides not to, because it's not their "win." A nurse who could share a clever trick that would speed up procedures holds back because if everyone's more efficient, there's nothing to single them out for.

You can feel the shift in team dynamics. The collaboration weakens. People become more guarded. And paradoxically, your practice becomes less efficient, less resilient, and less pleasant to work in.

The Values Problem

Here's something most practices get completely wrong: employee of the month separates recognition from culture.

You probably have practice values. Maybe "we support each other," or "we put patients first," or "we continuously improve." Good values. Ones you actually believe in.

But your employee of the month scheme doesn't recognise people for living those values. It recognises whoever happened to do the most that month. You end up rewarding the highest producer, or the person who handled the most patients, or whoever the boss happened to notice.

That's not values-based recognition. That's popularity or visibility-based recognition. And it teaches your team that the values on your wall don't actually matter as much as looking good in any given month.

If one of your values is "we support each other," the person who consistently stays late to help colleagues, who mentors newer team members, who makes everyone else's job easier—they might never win employee of the month because they're not the flashiest performer. But they're the one embodying your culture.

You're rewarding the wrong behaviours.

What Actually Happens

Let me paint a picture of what employee of the month looks like after a few months:

Month one and two: people are excited. There's energy. A few people are competitive about it. But it's mostly novelty.

Month three: you start noticing that the same couple of people are winning. Or they're not, but people are increasingly aware of who's "in the running." Conversations change. People become more self-conscious.

Month six: some people have given up. They know they're not going to win. Why bother trying to stand out? The scheme has become background noise to some, resentment to others.

Month nine: you realise it's become a box-ticking exercise. You're announcing winners because you said you would, but the energy is gone. The team has moved on.

Month twelve: one of two things happens. Either it quietly dies because nobody really cares anymore, or you keep running it out of habit, creating low-level resentment every month as people are reminded they're not quite good enough.

This is the most common outcome. And the schemes that survive past a year are often the ones that are causing the most damage, because they're reinforcing a competitive, individualistic culture that works against everything you're trying to build.

So What Actually Works?

Recognition that actually works is built on three things: clarity, consistency, and specificity.

• Clarity: Write down 3–5 demonstrable behaviours that represent your practice at its best.

• Consistency: Recognise your team regularly—in huddles, meetings, or end-of-day catch-ups.

• Specificity: Name the behaviour and connect it to your values. "Thank you for explaining the treatment plan to Mrs. Jones. That's our culture in action."

Get clear on behaviours, make recognition routine, and be specific. When tied to values, three things happen:

1. Your team understands what good looks like.

2. They feel genuinely seen and appreciated.

3. You reinforce the culture you’re actually trying to build.

The Wider Impact

This isn't just about morale, though that matters. It's about retention, productivity, and ultimately profitability.

Every time someone leaves your practice, you lose productivity, expertise, patient relationships, and team morale. You spend months recruiting and onboarding their replacement. You risk losing patients who were loyal to them. You create uncertainty in your remaining team.

The cost of replacing one team member is between £10,000 and £30,000. Multiply that across multiple departures and you're looking at serious money. And that's before you factor in the damage to your culture and patient experience.

Recognition done right—the kind that's consistent, specific, and tied to values—creates loyalty. Not because people can't leave, but because they don't want to.

Where to Start

If you’re currently running employee of the month, here’s what I’d suggest:

1. Stop it. Not gradually. Stop it. The sooner, the better.

2. Get clear on your values. Identify 3–5 key behaviours that embody them. Share with your team.

3. Make recognition routine. Integrate it into meetings, huddles, and catch-ups.

4. Be specific. Name the behaviour and connect it to values.

5. Look wide. Recognise consistent contributors, supporters, and those helping the team succeed.

6. Ask your team. Who should we recognise? What makes someone feel appreciated?

The practices that aren’t struggling with retention haven’t necessarily paid more. They’ve built environments where people feel valued and want to show up. And it definitely doesn’t start with Employee of the Month.