Why is it so hard to find good employees? According to the Wall Street Journal, “there are more job openings in the U.S. this spring than before the pandemic hit in March 2020, and fewer people in the labor force, according to the Labor Department and private recruiting sites.” What’s more, dental assistants and hygienists are highly skilled individuals who can pick and choose where they want to work in many regions. To make matters worse, these highly desirable employees are often lured away from their existing jobs by bonuses and other perks. Why would they pick you if they can pick and choose where they want to be?
Strengthen teams
The practice teams that NextLevel works with often have poor team management processes in place when we get there. We fix that right away. Practice leaders are surprised to learn how fast and easy hiring quality dental professionals can be. Any practice leader or hiring manager can master the steps to hiring the right people. What comes next? Our clients are so relieved that building a great culture, with built-in team member reward programs, will help them keep their top performers happy.
Teams are so sad
When we discuss what will help practice leaders meet their work/life balance and financial goals, we talk about what’s happening with their team. Then we show them the evidence in other practices we’ve helped: When team members feel rewarded for clearly outlined performance goals and a helpful, fun and pleasant atmosphere is valued, with the appropriate actions taken to put it in place, that’s when your practice can attract and retain the best people.
The way you hire—how you write your recruiting materials and ads—can be one of the most important factors in attracting the attention of quality team members. Once we teach practice leaders our step-by-step approach, they wonder how they ever did without it.
Interviews go both ways
It’s crucial to allow enough time for the recruit to experience a bit of the day-to-day with your team. One day might not give you a good idea of a cultural fit but the point is, perhaps two, finalist candidates vying for the position will understand that they are also being interviewed for soft skills as well as their technical skills.
Poachers be gone
If you always have positions to fill and if your great performers feel the impact in shaky processes and overwork, they might become vulnerable to a recruiter’s poaching activities. Our replicable hiring process can ensure you’re screening candidates properly so turnover doesn’t become a constant strain on the whole team. You’re also paying your team better—how do they know their next position will include bonus dollars each pay period?
It’s not getting easier
According to the California Dental Association, dental offices will continue to feel the dearth of qualified employees. Last March, they estimated a shortage of 289,000 employees nationwide. Anecdotal evidence in our industry (and the people I talk to every day) tells me that in certain parts of the country, the shortage is hobbling practices from experiencing the success they deserve.
Your first step to stellar hiring
Join us for a webinar with the folks at Dental Economics about how to become the employer of choice among dental practices in your area. Learn how to package your offer as an irresistible place of employment, how to write marketing ads instead of job posts, and how to move from scarcity (hiring too fast) to abundance (having prospects earn the right to be on the team). Here’s a preview of what you can discover. There will be a Q&A session to follow the presentation, so come with specific questions in hand.
Dentistry’s Number 1 Problem- Hiring in a Post-Pandemic World
