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Hiring Ideas to Ponder

We are all too familiar with the dilemma of finding good people to hire. Larger regional newspapers report that dental help wanted ads rank near the top of the list for both volume of classification listings and frequency of repeated advertising for the same available position week after week. It is without a doubt a jobseekers market versus a employer's market. We are either dealing directly with a situation ourselves or hearing our peers discuss their nightmares. I have no miracle cures for you, but here are a few tips that have worked.

First, I recommend not ignoring the obvious areas, timing is everything and you may get lucky!. So contact the hygiene and assisting schools for new grads, extern positions and alumni who are looking for positions. Contact dental society, placement agencies and suppliers. Ask your team to network with others in their field and put the word out that you have an open opportunity. Some doctors are offering their team a finding fee bonus if the person (or people) they suggest is hired. Going rate for this is $100 to $500. Second, start shifting your paradigms away from the standard. The idea is to create a larger pool from which to choose. When you do this, you will need to be prepared to handle a few things differently:

1. There will be more people to screen.this is good, but it needs to be organized. Request that applicants send their resumes via fax or e-mail. Utilize a separate voice mailbox to receive messages or state that the office will receive calls from applicants during hours that you strongly specify in the ad.
2. Assign a team member to screen calls and develop about 4-5 good questions to help analyze the potential on the initial call. Listen for enthusiasm, grammar, attitude and people skills.
3. Do not skimp on putting together a good job description, a list of characteristics and a TRAINING PLAN! Your training plan must include what will be learned; the priority and who will be responsible for training.
4. Look for people outside of the dental field; people that "fit". Aptitudes for teamwork, decision-making and initiative are keys. SKILLS ARE SECONDARY. In all areas (except hygiene), we can train.
5. Tell everyone and be on the look out everywhere you go. Ask your team to do the same.
   Ask your team to do the same.
6. Determine whether or not you are willing to hire family or patients. DO NOT HIRE ANYONE THAT YOU CANNOT FIRE!
7. Consider alternative techniques when placing ads. Position ads under a few categories such as Waitress, Receptionist, Teachers, Manicurist, Hairdresser, Bank Teller, Office Support, etc. I know that many of you are doing this now for administrative people, but look for future DAs and RDAs this way too. So that you don't blow your budget on ads, you can place an ad in one or two categories and then choose a few more categories that says "See our ad under..." Here is a sample:

   ARE YOU LOOKING FOR A CAREER CHANGE? We have an extraordinary opportunity for a person with a positive work ethic, willingness to learn, respect for customer service, and a value for teamwork. Consider the gratifying field of dentistry! If you are the right person, we will train you. Great Staff, Great Hours, Great Benefits.

8. Discuss with your team the importance of team cohesiveness, a positive and enthusiastic attitude toward welcoming and training new people. So often in busy practices the attitude of the team can be negative and the new person feels rejected. Often this is due to the existing team feeling so busy that the last issue they want to deal with is training. It is mandatory that the team encourages and befriends the new team member. They should be involved in the creation of the training plan. They must exercise patience and respect as they train. Consider it a good investment to allow some non-patient time to get a portion of training accomplished. The new person will be productive quicker and the stress on both the team and the new employee will be less. This doe not need to be significant amounts of time. Look at your training chart and determine when uninterrupted time makes sense.
9. Another dilemma attached to hiring new people is that salaries in the dental field have increased at a significant rate over the past year. If you do find a good person that has dental experience or training, they may ask more than your current team is making. Look at your overhead and determine if raises across the board are possible.

Wishing you good luck and happy hiring... Pam Gorrell

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