Tips for Hiring New Dental Staff Members

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You’re busy, you’re stressed and now you must dedicate time to hiring new staff to fill in the gaps left during your dental practice transition. So where do you start? There may be a great temptation to hire the first person who looks like he or she might fit the bill, but if you make a mistake, it’s going to cost you.

Prepare Yourself

No matter how excited or relieved you may feel, jumping into your new recruitment exercise without any thought will just hurt you in the long run. Ask yourself these important questions before you even place your first recruitment ad:

• What role will the new hire fill in the practice?
• How much help does the practice need?
• Will this need to be long term or short term?
• What salary can you afford to pay?
• Focus on Strategic Recruitment

You don’t want to hire the first person who comes along, you want to hire the best recruit for your practice. But how do you find the right candidate? It might sound obvious but start in places that offer the most help. Ask other employees for referrals, you’ve got the best chance of making a quality match through your current staff.

If that doesn’t work, check reputable job boards before branching out into social media.

Take Your Time

Sure, you might have needed the help three weeks ago, but making a rushed decision could mean hiring the wrong person and upsetting the well-thought-out dynamic of your practice.

Go through the right procedures to ensure you attract the right recruit: conduct first and second interviews, conduct the relevant background checks, and make sure your next recruit is in it for the long haul.

Be Ready

On-boarding a new employee takes up precious time and effort. But if you’re not ready, it will waste even more of your precious time. Make sure you can tick all the boxes on this check-list:

• Is the new hire’s work-station ready?
• Do you have a standard operating procedures document for the tasks the new hire will complete?
• Have you introduced the new person to the rest of the team?
• Have you written out the new employee’s job description?
• Have you assigned another employee to assist the new hire?

Maintain realistic expectations for your new hires, and make it as easy as possible for the new person to ease into their new role.

Don’t Be Afraid to Let Someone Go

If a new person doesn’t perform well, don’t be afraid to fire them. You can’t afford to keep someone on board if he or she is not performing. Not only that, but what you let new employees get away with will be seen by the rest of the team. If it’s not working out, don’t keep the person on.

Building a quality team in your dental practice is crucial to your success.