Fundamentals of a successful career
Before we jump into the science of hiring, we must understand the foundation of a successful career. Regardless of where you are in your own dental career, these three principles will offer career success in the short and long term:
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Increase practice production every year. Higher production practices have less stress and more ability to invest in the team and technology.
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Build a world-class team. World-class means that the team members come to work every day, have an ownership mentality around their jobs, and take pride in achieving consistent results.
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Create a plan to reach financial independence at a specific age. Every dentist should have some idea about how they are going to accumulate the right amount of savings to reach financial independence at a selected age. According to Levin Group data, the average retirement age of a dentist is around 71. This is nine years higher than the last generation and is creating later retirements for dentists, not all of whom wish to still be working.
It all starts with the hiring process
Hiring is the first step and a key ingredient in building a world-class team. Many practices today are scrambling to either find team members to hire or settling for a team that is not performing at a satisfactory level.
Strategy
The first step in hiring excellent team members is to develop a strategy. All too often dentists are taken by surprise when a team member leaves the practice. When this happens, they rush to post run-of-the-mill online advertisements, hoping to attract excellent candidates. You must be proactive in defining how your practice will communicate with potential hires if you want to recruit successfully. Doing so will entice them to schedule interviews and ultimately accept a job position.
Ad language
Being different is also critical. If your advertisement talks about what is important to high-quality team members who are-or can become-world-class performers, you'll attract those higher-quality people.
Saying things in your ad like "Join a practice with a culture of positivity and a world-class team" or "Our mission statement is to provide the highest-quality care in a comfortable setting for our patients" will go a long way in attracting higher-level individuals who want to make a difference in the lives of their patients.
These types of candidates strive for a positive work environment founded on teamwork and a job that is interesting, challenging, and worth more than the paycheck it provides. By this, I mean their paycheck alone will not determine how motivated, enthusiastic, and energized the team member is when they come into work.
Workplace hierarchy
You should also begin to view your team members as colleagues, not subordinates. Viewing and treating them as individuals who come to work to improve the lives of patients in the same way a dentist does will attract candidates who are independent, motivated, and proud of their work.
Screening test
The second step in the hiring process is to set up a telephone screening to determine if an interview is warranted for a potential candidate. Having a set of questions prepared will save a great deal of time.
When a practice is desperate to hire, there is a desire to bring almost anybody on board; however, this desperation can result in a turnover a few months down the road when the individual either cannot do the job or does not fit in with the team. A telephone screening can help practices avoid interviewing people who are clearly not the right fit.
The interview itself
In an ideal world, you would have two interviews for a potential candidate. The first one should help you learn as much as you can about the candidate while the second interview should give them all the information they may need about the job. However, considering today's tight labor market, we suggest that you conduct one interview for a potential hire and be prepared to make an offer if you like that individual.
Part one
The first part of an interview should be to learn about the candidate, including their background, interests, strengths, weaknesses, and personality. Always remember that most people put their best foot forward in an interview. In some cases, it represents exactly who they are and in others it is just showmanship. Your job is to figure out who they really are by asking a lot of questions and letting them do at least half of the talking. Consider working from a checklist. You want to get to know the candidate as deeply and as quickly as possible, and the best way to do that is to get them to talk.
You may also want to ask questions that might not seem natural at first. For example, asking about what aspects of their previous job they disliked is an excellent question. If they do not like the main parts of the job that you are hiring for, then they will not be a great team member, may become bored, and could eventually leave.
Part two
The second part of the interview is about sharing information about your practice to create a positive image for the candidate. Great practices typically have a vision that outlines where they are going, a mission that explains the purpose of coming to work every day, and a culture that you should take time to define. Today, many people want more than just a job; they want to belong to something special where they feel they can contribute, be welcomed by other team members, and have support/can be supportive.
You should also pay attention to how you feel during the interview. Forcing a new hire with someone whom you're not sure you like, even if that individual is qualified, may still be a mistake. A person who is the right fit may be less skilled, but having the right personality and attitude may make them the better choice.
Part three
The third part of the interview process is making an offer. Being prepared means knowing what you're going to offer and the best way to determine this is to read the online advertisements and see what other practices are offering. Furthermore, your current team may need to be brought up in terms of compensation. It is always disruptive when you hire a new person at a higher compensation than the current team.
Onboarding and beyond
Finally, how you onboard a new team member determines how they will perform. I personally believe the first hundred days of a new recruit's employment are when they will learn the ins and outs of the practice, the team, and the workplace culture.
If you meet with your new hire regularly, ask how they are doing, and offer guidance and support, they will have every opportunity to perform at an exceptional level. The more you can do to guide this individual and function as a mentor, the more likely it will be that the new hire will rise to being an exceptional team member. This is what excellent leadership is all about. When you hire the right people by following the steps recommended in this article, you can be on your way to building a world-class team.
