How to Make the Right Hires for Your Dental Practice

Whether temps or full-time employees, hiring a winning dental team isn’t as easy as sorting through resumes to find the most qualified candidates. A little strategic work upfront will help refine the hiring process and avoid a rush to fill the gap. Some ways to find and hire the right candidate for both your dental practice and your team to ensure employee retention.

Identify vision

Define what you want your practice to look like in terms of skill set, offerings, and even diversity. By identifying core values, you are able to design a practice culture that embodies your leadership, actions, communication with both your team and patients. It’s these types of soft skills that really round out a dental practice and make an impact on all those involved.

Define roles and expectations

A person’s role within a dental practice goes beyond a job title. Employee expectations should be set as early as the interview process and then reiterated throughout employment via a check-in process. Just as a job description would be outlined, expectations of employees should be put in writing as part of a Policy and Procedures Manual, as well as tailored expectations for each role within the organization.

Refine the hiring process

The hiring process should not fall on the shoulders of the practice owner or dentist, nor should it become the responsibility of the office manager. If not already working with one, consider hiring an HR manager, coach, or consultant who has experience with dental practices. This person will ideally vet candidates based on skill and core values related to the dental practice.

Write the job post

Sure, a job post should include qualifications for the right candidate, but it should also focus on who you are looking for in addition to the what to ensure a proper fit for your dental practice and not just someone who is qualified for the position. While keeping the listing simple, it should also include a line about candidate compatibility and team development.

Evaluate resumes

Before even sorting through a stack of resumes, set criteria in advance to help guide you through the process, including non-negotiable qualities that will make or break each candidate to ensure those who are best-suited rise to the top. Then, enlist the help of your hiring professional to pre-screen candidates through a phone or video call to match the resume with the candidate and set expectations about the role.

Interview the candidates

By bringing the candidate into the practice environment, it gives both you and the potential hire a chance to envision how they would fit in with the team. Pay attention to not only answers to critical interview questions, but also how they respond to the dental practice. Any questions they ask will also reveal what’s most important to them and how they align with your core values.

Assess skills

Beyond job qualifications and clinical skills, a candidate should be vetted to determine personality or behavioral assessment with overall performance, communication, and teamwork within your practice environment, which a hiring professional can also assist with, supporting the entire team throughout the hiring process, including the practicing dentist who will ultimately make the final hiring decision.

What’s next?

Contact the experts at Professional Transition Strategies for more advice on how to shape the dental practice of your dreams.