Archive for Dental Office Hiring and Human Resources
Breaking Up Is Hard to Do…
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It’s inevitable that team members move on. One of the difficult aspects of working with people is that people change. They change their goals, change where they live, change their stage of life.
How you respond to departing employees will impact the retention of the team members who remain, so follow my four tips to make an exit less painful and benefit from former dental practice employees.
- When an employee leaves, conduct an “Exit Interview.” Spend 15 minutes to ask them about what they most enjoyed while working in the office, the reasons they are leaving (there are usually several), and what they would suggest you do better in the future. Take notes and file them. When you notice consistent themes in exit interviews, take action to improve a condition of employment in your practice.
- Always speak in positive terms. Here’s an alert for you: If you are in charge, someone is always paying attention. If your treatment of those departing is consistent with how you treat everyone else, their trust in your leadership will grow.
- Give people choices. Even when an employee’s departure is involuntary, they deserve to be treated respectfully. You might give them the opportunity to resign first. Let them choose how they will say goodbye to their teammates. They will respect you for honoring them as a person.
- Nurture your alumni. Keep former employees on your e-mail newsletter and holiday card list so they are updated on your practice. Remember: former employees are a great source of future referrals – both employees and patients. Alumni can also be a source for emergency backup or extra hands for a special project. When the relationship and exit was done respectfully and professionally, they will be happy to hear from you and to help out.
Recruiting Dental Employees 101: Choosing Between Heaven and Hell
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There’s a story about a woman who gets to choose between Heaven and Hell. She visits Hell and finds a paradise of golfing, fine food, and the ultimate in pampering. Expecting even more of Heaven, she encounters a relatively boring lot of harp players. She chooses Hell; but on her return is greeted with fumes, fire and round-the-clock hard labor. Bewildered, she asks for explanation. “Yesterday,” she is told, “we were recruiting you. But now you’re just staff.”
Sound familiar? Far too often we woo the best people we can find and then gradually ease into taking them for granted. When that happens, your investment in those people is at risk.
You should pay at least as much attention to your tenured team members as you did when they were job candidates.
Here’s an action step that I use with my Dental Contact Coaching™ clients in regards to employee retention. They have benefited from this and I know you will, too!
- Keep the value fresh and visible. On a regular basis, change something to make the employment environment better – simplify a process, add a benefit, upgrade equipment, cross-train for backup, even add a plant. Each time, “market” the upgrade at your next meeting. Discussion keeps the positive at the forefront of people’s thinking.
Communicate, Communicate, and then Communicate Some More!
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Communication is necessary to sustain relationships. What has happened when you and your team started the day without reviewing the schedule, the patients coming in and where to place emergency patients? What has been the success of the practice when you fail to schedule regular monthly team meetings?
Personal and professional relationships depend on good, clear and healthy communication.
The purpose of holding Morning Huddles is to start the day off positively by creating the right environment, keeping team communication fresh and fun, and encouraging problem solving. Use an outline to stay on task.
The moral of this blog post? A well-organized Morning Huddle saves time and increases productivity.
Increase Profits to Your Dental Practice by Investing In One Thing
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Training! A knowledgeable and competent staff attracts new patients and sustains relationships with current patients. Thus, investing in continuing education is a wise move for the doctor and the practice. To stay ahead, doctors, hygienists, chairsides, and administrative auxiliaries must learn new technology, pharmacology, clinical techniques and professional practice standards.
Great technical skills, however, are not enough to run a great practice. They simply aren’t, and many talented dentists find that out the hard way. Dental practice management expert Walter Hailey claims that 85% of the reasons a patient chooses a dental practice have nothing to do with the doctors clinical skills. It has everything to do with the “soft skills” that are the most valuable and most undervalued in your practice. Patients have high expectations about their dental care. Team members need soft skills to better manage those expectations.
Why not train your team – clinical and administrative – to be great at customer service? Everyone on the team must know and follow standards of excellent “customer service”:
- be savvy communicators
- manage the uncertainty of change
- be experts at handling difficult patients and situations
- know how to go above and beyond for patients
Handling the changing and dynamic needs of patients means that team members must be willing to learn or re-learn the areas that are the most valuable to your practice.
Here’s a tip and action step for you! Demonstrate a commitment to continuing education components. Encourage staff members to learn new technology and dental practices. Consider adding paid training and professional development as a benefit to your team. Bring in a customer service trainer and treat the team to lunch.
Create A Lasting First Impression
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When a plant is moved to a new location, it is not enough to just stick it in the dirt and say “grow!” We water it carefully, fertilize it, watch closely for signs of transplant shock, and pay special attention for its first growing season, until it establishes new roots.
A new employee needs special attention, too, to become firmly rooted. How do you nurture a new employee relationship?
Typically, a new hire gets a one-day, five-step program: Paperwork, Tour, Meet-The-Team; Read This, Get To Work. I see this in so many dental offices. I have a better approach: Orient in smaller chunks, over a longer period of time.
- Break up all the “stuff” and cover a portion each day for a week versus the first hours. Increase the complexity of information as the new employee’s base of understanding grows. They absorb and learn better. This is more efficient for your dental practice as a whole.
- Plan to check-in with new employees several times in their first month. List these check-ins in your calendar. Create opportunities to ask those “dumb questions” about how you do things.
- Invest time to explain the history and logic behind what you do. Studies show that the learning curve on a new job is typically six to twelve months. During that time, a new employee is still “putting down roots” and can be affected more deeply by change or neglect than more established team members.
When you make it easier for new hires to take root, they contribute more and you retain them for a longer time. I’ve said it before and I will say it again: the cost of hiring a new employee is much greater than retaining an old one.
Pay Competitively – There Is A War Going On!
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The pool of candidates for dental office positions is decreasing, you know that. What can you do?
Be creative in offering benefits. In an earlier post, I spoke about other options in addition to healthcare benefits. What else can you offer? Flexible scheduling can mean a lot to a working mother and educational benefits are attractive for a young, motivated staff member.
Create long-term partnerships with employees through pay-for-performance systems. Focus your pay efforts on measurable outcomes and performance improvement. The better the employee performs, the bigger their paycheck is. Clearly outline this pay structure and review in your annual evaluations.
Determine the competitive wage range for each position in your office. Call other dental colleagues and ask business owners in other healthcare professions to describe their compensation package. If this is impossible, do a Google search or visit a website like www.GlassDoor.com
Survey your team to discover what non-pay related perks are most attractive to them.
“You cannot prevent and prepare for war at the same time.” ~ Albert Einstein
Hire Right – Target Performance to Identify the Right Person For Your Dental Team
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As the year 2012 begins, do these action steps to prepare for hiring the right person for your dental practice. You may not have to hire for a new position right now, but I guarantee that you will!
- Prepare for success. Review the list of interview questions you normally ask. Now, edit them to make them open-ended and focused on past performance. Make copies and place half a dozen copies in an Interview Guides file. Next time the need arises, you will be ready to interview on a few second’s notice.
- Target performance that matters to you. Think about the three most frequent problem situations that occur in your office. Write an interview question for each which begins, “Tell me about a time when you had to deal with [insert situation]. What did you do, and what was the outcome?”
Do This Now!
Place yourself in recruitment mode 24 x 7. If you are always on the lookout for good people, your pipeline will already be full of candidates the next time you have an opening. As you meet people in your daily life, think of who would be a great fit for your practice’s culture.
“Don’t waste time calculating your chances of success and failure. Just fix your aim and begin.” ~ Guan Yin Tzu
How do you find the right person? Ask the right questions!
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When you are hiring a candidate for your dental office, answer three “C’s” about each candidate:
- Can they do the job? – Competence
- Will they do the job? – Commitment
- How will they fit in? – Chemistry
In our rush to impress candidates and fill the glaring void on our team, interviewers lapse into “Sell and Tell” mode. In fact, the most common mistake interviewers make is talking too much.
Follow my proven flow for a more successful interview:
- Establish rapport. Greet the candidate and help them get comfortable. Offer tea or coffee for them to enjoy. Ask them if they found the office okay—make small talk. It helps people relax and will give you a clearer insight into their personality.
- Explain your process. Take two minutes (and two minutes only) to lay out the agenda for the interview. Let the candidate know you will be taking notes.
- Follow the 80/20 Rule. During the main part of the interview, the candidate should do 80% of the talking. Ask open-ended questions, then LISTEN to the answers. Anytime you want to speak, bite your tongue and think first!
- Allow time for questions. Once you are done, give the candidate a few minutes to switch roles. Now is when you sell! This is your opportunity to tell them why working at your dental practice is great.
- Close with a commitment. Tell the candidate when you expect to make a decision. Be professional and let them know either way. When you close the loop and send a letter letting them know that you have moved on with another candidate, you still leave a respectful impression.
Write Ads That Attract The Top 25 Percent Of Potential Employees
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It is important to attract the best if you want to hire the best. When you treat candidates as customers, not subordinates, you change everything about finding people. Most job ads and sourcing techniques are set up to simply fill a void. YOU want to attract the top 25 percent, not just a warm body.
Most ads are written with one single criterion: experience and lots of it. This is a fundamental flaw associated with traditional hiring practices. Rather than hiring someone with lots of experience who are not competent; hire someone who can do the job, regardless of their experience.
To find these candidates, write ads that focus on past performance, talent, energy levels and the ability to learn. When candidates see the job as a career opportunity, you’ll attract more people and close more candidates on your terms.
A good ad focuses on outcomes rather than activity.
Example: Dental Hygienist wanted who can do all phases of soft tissue management and can head up a productive, profitable hygiene department. While we offer flexible scheduling, great pay, the latest technologies and don’t mind if you Whistle While you Work — we want someone who exudes leadership, energy and commitment to a team. Call now or fax your resume for a confidential audition!”
For The Future:
• Emphasize what you want successful candidates to “do” versus just what you want them to “have” when you advertise a position. Screen out those who do not possess what you need. It is just as important, however, to attract those who really want to perform the duties you have in mind, and who fit into your office environment. You will have a better match in the end.
More on the Scramble to Find the “Right” Staff Person
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Continuing the discussion on the scramble to find the “right” staff person…
Evaluate your practice capacity. When do you have the greatest demand for your services? How well are you staffed to meet this demand? If your afternoons are a higher demand time for patient care, what staffing configurations are most profitable to your practice while supporting your patient service?
Do This Now!
- Develop a list of questions to ask yourself before beginning the hiring process. Start with, “Do I really need to fill this position?” This will enable you to know “if” and “when” you need to hire.
- Determine staffing needs based on your current level of productivity and factor in future growth you anticipate or desire.
- Call a team meeting and invite everyone’s input on what level of staffing is appropriate to maintain patient service, quality and practice productivity.
“Find a job you love and you’ll never have to work a day in your life.” ~ Author Unknown
