Business problems that end up costing a ton of money usually have humble beginnings. They then “grow,” accumulate to a critical mass, and give you a basketful of headaches. It’s not rocket science. It’s not dissimilar to how a tiny cavity can eventually lead to a toothache that leaves you in excruciating pain.

The consistent failure of so many dentists (and, to be honest, so many other small and large business owners and executives) on this most fundamental of tests of problem solving is shocking.

No “absolutes” exist, but the closest I’ve seen is how a “disaster” that a doctor experienced with their Financial Coordinator (embezzlement, unfiled insurance, weird discounts and write-offs, etc.) or another staff person could have been avoided if the doctor had dealt with it when it was minor.

These days, after most workplace “disasters,” a doctor is quick to say, “I had no idea this was happening!”

That’s a deal if you ask me. Of course, you had no idea that the Scheduling Officer was sending out fake recall cards and making up confirmed patients, or that the Financial Coordinator was providing friends and family members odd (hidden) discounts.

But in every case, I’ve looked at so far, the doctor or office manager ignored warning signs that anything was wrong with the employee. All of these were either disregarded or “explained” away.

Where did you see the warnings? It’s possible that the worker has become unfriendly or dismissive. Perhaps there was a trend of tardiness to the office. Or perhaps you caught them in a “fib” about a patient confirmation and decided to let it slide (rather than truly addressing it). In any case, ignoring problems like these might lead to further complications down the road. Specifically:

• When minor infractions of policy are overlooked, they often progress to more serious infractions.

Nearly everyone has had at least one “nightmare” scenario with a former boss, coworker, or employee. And certainly, there are some people who only care about themselves and not you, your coworkers, or the company as a whole. However, people with such traits are uncommon. The vast majority of people are honest and hard-working (or have the potential to be that way). However, no one is without flaw; we can all make mistakes or act inappropriately at times. If everyone in the company (from the CEO on down) has an aversion to dishonesty and rules violations, then any minor problems will be addressed before they become major ones. In a carefree atmosphere, these issues tend to escalate until a full-blown catastrophe occurs. Many promising workers have been thrown away in this way when, in reality, their behavior was easily correctable before it spiraled out of control.

• Benefits for one worker must be extended to all.

You have ignored your assistant’s chronic tardiness to work without taking any corrective action. The method in which he or she communicates with you is likewise unprofessional. When this occurs, you once again do nothing to fix the problem. Your financial secretary sees this and decides it’s “OK” to follow suit. That attitude will eventually permeate the rest of your workforce. You’ve caught a “Staff Infection,” they say. Work productivity will be low if employees are forced to endure this.

•  There are a lot of hidden costs associated with replacing workers.

Uncovering the true cost of hiring and training new employees is difficult because of the time and money wasted when positions remain unfilled. Since you’re not paying cash, you don’t always see it. Even if you are replacing a fantastic employee who has moved on or retired, you will still have to pay this fee. When you consider the cost of replacing a worker who was fired for cause (such as in the scenarios above) in addition to the cost of their termination, the situation becomes prohibitively expensive. That’s the point: it’s not cheap to find new workers. Put no more effort on it.

What are your next steps?

Don’t neglect issues any further than necessary. In most cases, they don’t get better on their own. Although I’ve used employee problems as examples throughout this essay, the principles discussed here are applicable to any business endeavor, including advertising, finance, and more.

As a side note, it’s important to remember that disciplining staff should be done in a dignified manner and should never, ever take place in front of patients. The goal of providing constructive feedback is not to make the recipient feel bad about themselves but to make them a more effective and efficient worker. You may have to wait until the end of the day to fix something you see when patients are present, and things are hectic. If it’s not an emergency or the patient’s safety is not in jeopardy, then it can wait. All these issues can be remedied by acquiring the appropriate training.