Assembling the perfect Dental Team is the dream of any Dental Practice Owner. However, choosing the right people for the job needs careful attention and is one of the most important systems you can develop for success. This is not about just finding a warm body with a pulse. It takes time, patience and consideration and here are eight tips to keep in mind.
1. Give yourself time
Do not rush to hire a dental employee just because you want to keep the practice going without interruption or because you are determined to open your new practice as early as possible. Take the time to go through the resumes to avoid missing out on that one superb employee.
2. Be detailed with your job descriptions.
Create clear job descriptions where you outline the various responsibilities required of the perspective candidates. Include everything from measurable performance targets, the hours you expect them to work (if the practice operates outside of regular business hours), and required skills. It’s helpful for you to speak about your practice’s work culture. Dental Staffing encourages you to explore the article on “Can You Define The Culture In Your Dental Practice?".
3. Express your vision and goals and share them with your Team.
Your Team cannot help you move forward if they do not understand exactly what it is you are striving to achieve. Be clear about your vision so that everyone is aligned with your goals and will come together to align with them.
4. Don’t forget to include soft skills in your checklist.
While technical skills are needed in any great business, excellence in soft skills such as communication, attitude, and ethics are equally, if not more important. Technical skills can be learned but soft skills are harder to teach. These influence how well a person interacts with others, be it team members or patients. In fact, patients want soft skills, and your patients will make or break your business.
5. Offer competitive rates.
In the field of dentistry, staff turnover is quite common and places an unnecessary financial burden on your Dental Practice. To help avoid turnover, compensate your people well. In the long run, you will pay more for loss of production whenever a person on your Team quits than if you paid them competitive rates from the beginning or at the end of a probationary period.
6. Encourage strong communication.
Communication reduces the risk of misunderstanding. Provide feedback and encouragement to your Dental Team whenever possible and open lines for them to approach you whenever the need arises. An unapproachable boss or supervisor only deters a business from thriving.
If you are of the personality that does not handle this well, hire a Dental Office Manager you can partner with who can be the approachable one. Strong communication creates trust and unity amongst the Team and provides you with more insight about the practice from another person’s perspective.
7. Provide continuous training.
So many Dentists leave their practice for exciting continuing education and forget to take the Team. The number one reason employees leave any job is lack of appreciation. Show your appreciation by investing in your people, and reap the rewards. No one wants to remain stagnant and a practice that offers growth and learning is a place that has happy employees and superior performers.
8. Consider a dental staffing job board.
As much as you would like to take your time with job applications, there are times when you need help finding candidates. A Dental Staffing job board can provide you with skilled and highly experienced professionals. Become a member and post your ads at www.DentalStaffing.org. Your membership brings with it special offers that can change your Dental Practice in ways you can’t imagine.
Dental Staffing will take care of looking for qualified employees, leaving you more time to focus on the business of patient care. We take care to post carefully screened, highly skilled applicants who will hopefully meet your requirements.
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“What you do today can improve all your tomorrows.”
- Ralph Marston