by Creative tactics with the right tools and impactful messaging can attract A+ talent.
The ultimate hiring and staffing framework for associates and hygienists relies on a strategic hiring approach that helps you hire intentionally rather than just getting butts in the seats.
The creative tactics involved attract A+ talent and the right tools help you develop a unique and appealing recruitment brand to bring in top candidates. There’s a process for crafting impactful ad messaging that will “stop the scroll” and find the ideal candidates.
There’s 10% less dental practice capacity annually due to vacant assistant and hygienist positions, according to the ADA Health Policy Institute, and nine out of 10 dentists say it’s “extremely” or “very” challenging to recruit assistants and hygienists. On top of that, one-third of assistants and hygienists plan to retire in the next five years.
So, how do you differentiate yourself to fill the voids and attract top talent? You must be relational and not transactional. But to begin, you need to identify who on your current team you would duplicate if you could. What clinical capabilities do they have that candidates need to have themselves? What personal goals align best with your organization and what approach to patient care is the best fit?
Define your offer
Define your offer through your messaging. What are you offering clinically? Is it mentorship or the latest and greatest technology? What are you offering relationally? Is it a staff that’s trained and experienced, a mission and culture they would be aligned to, or small town family life? What are you offering financially? Is it bonuses, equity models, daily minimums, a percentage of revenue, or student loan repayment options?
These things define your offer and must be answered before you create your ad. The content and format of your ad will depend on the medium. Today’s candidate wants quick, easy-to-consume content, so keep the language simple and streamlined. Pick elements that are most helpful to you and those that allow you to highlight unique selling points for your market.
When you want someone to follow your process and system and you want them to join your organization, it’s all on you to start and define your core values. Lead with those. If you’re dynamic or generous or humble, start there. Define the fit to your organization that you’re looking for and make it visual because attention spans are short. Candidates want to see it in front of them – what does their year-long path to mentorship look like with you?
You want to develop great clinicians and have patients coming to you because of your team. So, represent your story. Make yourself relevant to those top candidates. Focus on the avatar you want and the keywords that represent it.
Identify your channels and candidates
Next, identify your channels. Which mediums will you have the most success finding quality candidates? Digital channels include websites, paid ads, landing pages and social media groups while job boards are comprised of places like Indeed, Monster, LinkedIn, DentalPost.net, IHireDental.com, DentalJobs.net, DentalWorkers.com, DentReps.com, Hireclick.com and DirectDental.com among others.
Job boards really crush it. Most practices use them to find candidates. But are there favorite job boards or ones that are unique to others? For example, there’s an app called Handshake that allows you to place an ad that goes to all of the dental schools affiliated with the app. All of the associates looking for jobs will see your practice and whether or not they’re a great fit for you and vice versa.
On-site engagements at dental schools, hygiene schools and CE events can prove worthy too. Referrals include those from your team or patients and recruiters are a third-party resource that owns the process.
Once you’ve identified your medium, plan to measure it through candidate and lead tracking systems and meeting cadence. Advertise the position and measure it. Assess the initial results and adjust your strategies.
Always have an ad with no dates. If you’re always recruiting, your pool is always open. Refresh it now and then, and when there’s a specific target of time you want, push that ad harder. And even change the ad and avatar to target specific groups. Maybe someone went to the big city, realized it wasn’t for them and they want to simplify their life. Target them with a different ad.
Or maybe someone else is graduating in six months and you can target them with an ad asking if they’re trying to figure what to do with their future. But communicate with them ahead of time while they’re in school. Some want on-site training and can be hired as an assistant if you’re in an area where assistants don’t have to be certified.
Also, your team members have family, friends and peers. Incentivize them and your fellow doctors to bring a candidate to you. Then you’ll have the confidence that they’ll bring someone they want to work with. That’s a low barrier to entry. You just have to be willing to connect, build relationships and provide the value.
Your team and your patient referrals are a channel.
Screen candidates and select the best to send your recruiting packets
When you screen candidates, review applications and conduct initial phone or Zoom interviews through your HR and operations team. Select the top candidates and send them your recruiting packet. Then, interview them over Zoom with the doctor, owner or hiring leader and send a gift to the top candidates.
The recruiting packet can be digital or physical. If you’re recruiting candidates from Utah who are used to skiing, snowboarding and national parks, it might be tough to get them to rural Georgia, for example. But it’s all about packaging your area in the right way to highlight your office and the opportunities that surround it.
Think about it in a real estate sense. What kinds of opportunities and conveniences exist in your area for the candidates and their families? You need their spouses or partners on board. Bring them all in to let them see it for themselves. If it’s a family, include the best schools in the area and their statistics. It’s a great way to recruit.
Recruiting packets can also include some of your practice swag and pamphlets in them depending on your budget. Or a digital packet can just include all of your information.
To review your progress, meet weekly with your hiring manager. Identify trends where leads are coming from and review the feedback you’re getting on the marketing tools you’re using to sell your organization as an employer. Then identify what changes you can make to the messaging or medium to improve results.
Recruiting levels
Levels of recruiting will differ between the size of dental practices. For a practice with only one location, a baseline level of recruiting will suffice. That’s a team member avatar, practice website, job description, offer and Google reviews. For practices with two to three locations, a beginner level of recruiting is required. That’s a clear hiring process, proactive recruiting, gathering referrals, a practice recruiting packet and an equity share.
Practices of greater size require intermediate and advanced levels of recruiting. For practices with four to 10 locations, intermediate recruiting levels include a careers page on the practice website, an area recruiting packet, a long-term recruiting strategy and brand experience. But advanced recruiting levels go hand-in-hand with practices of more than 10 locations. That includes a dedicated recruiting website and a dedicated recruiting team. It also requires on-site engagement and an applicant CRM that can measure ROI on recruiting efforts.
If you’re hiring a recruiter, make sure to stay in lockstep with them. Sometimes the answer is to outsource it and to get somebody else to manage it. But you must make sure they’re delivering the message you want delivered. Stay in touch with them.
Time to hire
When it’s time to hire, take the candidate to the top places in your area – the things to see and the things to do there. Meet with the team and make sure they interact with them while you’re highlighting your office and its culture.
Take them to dinner and find out ahead of time what their favorite drink is and if they are foodies, or maybe they like chain restaurants instead. You’ll see it all. Some are uncomfortable at nice restaurants, so make sure to get a feel for who they are so you can personalize their on-site visit.
You want to show them why they’re joining your practice.
Extend the formal offer and make sure it’s clear. Be open and honest, and answer their questions. Your process will help you provide all of the answers they need to make a final decision, so don’t let fear run the conversation.
