Having a cohesive team who can work well together is what makes a successful dental practice. Too often, clinicians in the midst of a professional practice transition rush to hire bodies to fill spaces instead of taking their time and hiring candidates who will contribute to the success of their dental practice. People underestimate the effect that synergistic teamwork, communication, delivering quality care, has on the success of a dental clinic.
Follow these 6 tips to hire the best dental team members for your practice to ensure quality care of your patients and growth of your practice:
After your dental practice acquisition, our dental management consultants can help you devise a system to select the right people for your practice when you are ready. Until then, these steps will help you select the best candidates for your team.
Invest the time needed in the hiring process: One of the most important jobs after going through a dental practice transition is putting the right people on your team. You need to invest the time and resources to not only attract quality applicants, but to make sure you choose the right ones for the position you are hiring for.
Develop the values and mission of your dental practice: What is your practice’s philosophy? What are your core values? If you don’t already have your philosophy and values developed, how will you complete your mission? How will you provide quality care? You want to establish processes that reflect the core values that you develop. Hiring the candidates who embody the philosophy of your dental practice will surely be an extension of your practice.
Put effort in writing a quality job announcement: The job announcement is one of the most overlooked, yet fundamental aspects of the hiring process. You want to be cautious in designing your job advertisement. Be concise in outlining the responsibilities and scope of the job while being precise in the skills and requirements you need for the job. Including your philosophy, core values, and mission in your job announcement will go a long way in attracting the kind of candidates you want.
Observe your candidates: From your very first interaction with your candidate, you want to pay attention to their behavior: how they answer the phone or how their voicemail greets you. How do they interact with staff when coming in for an interview? Are they polite? Rude? Dismissive?
Don’t feel obligated to interview everyone who applies: Not everyone will qualify for the position you are advertising. You can use your resume submission process as a way to eliminate people who do not follow instructions well. Having a group interview with a panel of team members being a part of the interview process can be an efficient way to screen candidates as well.
Offer training to the right candidates: Sometimes a candidate with the right attitude, disposition and 5 years’ experience can be way more valuable to your dental practice than someone with 20 years of experience and a bad attitude.
Remember, don’t settle for just anyone to fill your vacant positions. You want to vet your candidates thoroughly to make sure they not only have the skills, but the right energy for your dental practice team. Even with that, don’t be quick to let a good first impression overshadow an extreme lack of skill necessary to do the job efficiently.
Our professional practice consultants at Aptus can help you through the dental transition process and hiring the right people for your clinic.
