5 Jan 2018  •  Practice Management, HR & Employment Law  •  4min read By  • Zoe Close

Taking the stress out of finding your next team member

In an earlier blog I shared advice on things you can do before interviewing candidates to make the recruitment process run smoothly.

Now, I’d like to build on that by looking at how to protect yourself from the stress of running a practice with a reduced team if one of your staff decides to move on, and the best places to advertise any roles.

The key is to be pro-active in spotting potential new employees, even when you don’t have a vacancy, and keeping their details for future. Then, if one of your team does hand in their notice, you have a ready-made pool of candidates to approach – which can speed up the entire process and reduce the time you’re working with an incomplete team.

Below are seven things that worked for me during my time as a Practice Manager and Group Business Manager for a corporate group, and that you can easily put into place in your practice:

Always carry a business card

You never know when you may meet someone who could be a potential new team member. Passing your details onto them, gives them the opportunity to contact you if/when they are looking for their next role. You can also explain to them that you don’t have any current open positions but you’re always looking for talented people who are team players, and ask them to send their CV so you have it on file.

Highlight your willingness to accept CVs on your website

This can be as simple as adding a sentence of text on one of your pages that states that you’re happy for potential candidates to send their CVs. These can then be routed to a specific email address, such as jobs@yourpractice.com, and the practice manager can keep relevant ones on file ready for when a vacancy does arise. You can also advertise specific employment opportunities on your site.

Connect with dental education programmes

Establish and maintain relationships with any local dental and hygiene schools or nursing colleges in your area. You will be amazed at the talent you come across and with a relationship already in place, you will be first in line when students graduate and begin looking for jobs. Similarly, you can make contact with apprenticeship schemes in your area and discuss what options there might be for your practice.

Ask your team to spread the word

It’s more than likely that at least some of your staff work at several practices, and many will have friends in the same profession. Ask them if they know of anyone interested in any roles you have and to spread the word if you are looking for a new recruit.

Use specific dental recruitment agencies

These can be particularly useful when looking for associates. They have the specialist knowledge to sift through the candidates for you and perhaps save valuable recruitment interview time by only sending you the candidates that fit your brief. It’s crucial to give a detailed account of the type of person you are looking for – in relation to qualifications, experience and also personality.

Advertise in local/industry media and online job sites

When recruiting for dental nurses and receptionists I found that the local newspaper and community magazines were a good channel. Most would also be able to place ads online immediately as well as in print. For associates, therapists and hygienists I used BDJ, which again went into the magazine as well as online. I also found the jobs sites, Total Jobs and Indeed, to be a good source of candidates, as they are popular and therefore can reach a lot of people.

Share your vacancies on social media

You have the potential to reach a lot of people quickly by posting any available roles on your practice’s Facebook, Twitter or Instagram pages. There is also the advantage that you will be speaking to people who are already engaged with your business. You can also reach more people by encouraging your staff members to share these posts. If you want to utilise the power of social media, but don’t want to post on your own practice page, you can always ask someone to do it on theirs – this is a request our RSMs often receive and are happy to fulfil.

 

By implementing any of the above you can make sure that when your next vacancy occurs you are best placed to fill it quickly and with the best person.

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