Surround yourself with a good team:
There’s a reason why one hears this statement all the time; because it’s true. Take your time. There are several very important aspects to hiring that should not be overlooked.
Make sure you know the qualifications needed and that you have a clear idea of the job description of the position.
Determine what personality type is best suited to the position. Most people have a tendency to hire people with similar personalities to themselves. This may not be the right fit for the position. In addition, it leads to lack of diversity within a business.
Don’t hire out of desperation because the chances are you’ll hire the first person with a pulse instead of taking your time and really looking for the right candidate.
Review your resumes and pitch the ones with spelling and grammatical errors. Make an “A” pile and a “B” pile. The “A” pile will have people who best seem to match the criteria you desire for the position. Hopefully, you have enough people in the “A” pile that you won’t need to dip into your “B” pile.
Develop a standard set of telephone interview questions and start calling your “A” people. Narrow the selection down to 3-5 candidates and interview them.
Check references! This often overlooked step is critical. In a dental practice, I recommend that the doctor call for references because frequently peer to peer will get a more honest answer.
Hire. If they don’t work out, fire. Fast!
Posts Tagged ‘dentistry’
Surround Yourself with Good People
Wednesday, July 18th, 2012Postop Calls count even more nowadays.
Monday, March 5th, 2012Post-op Calls:
Yup, this really is still number one when it comes to PR and what has an impact on patients. This is the single most important thing a doctor can do to make his/her patients feel really special. Sometimes these calls are delegated to another staff member but, beware, they lose about 90% of their effectiveness and impact when not done by the doctor.
Some guidelines to follow are that the calls should be made at the end of the day before the doctor goes home or from a mobile phone on the way home. Most of the calls will go to voicemail and it’s very rare that a patient keeps you talking even if you reach them. Doctors should call at least 50% of their patients. Preferably everyone who receives anesthetic will be called and this includes the hygienist calling their scaling and root planing patients.
Keep the verbiage simple: “Fred, this is Dr. Smith calling, I’m calling to check in with you to make sure you’re feeling comfortable after your procedure today, (pause—wait for a response). Great. Fred thanks for coming in, we really appreciate patients like you and we look forward to seeing you next time.”
EQ or EI (Emotional Intelligence)
Tuesday, June 28th, 2011According to many articles, 75% of success is determined by EQ while 25% is determined by IQ. Let’s take a look at what goes into EQ:
- Perceiving Emotions: The first step is to be able to perceive emotions whether they be verbal or non-verbal in nature
- Reasoning with Emotions: Using your emotions to help to prioritize what you focus on and choose to react to.
- Understanding Emotions: The emotions that we perceive can come from many different sources. Someone may be angry because of something you either said or did or they could be angry simply because they had an argument with their spouse.
- Managing Emotions: Being able to adapt your emotions and to respond accordingly are key factors.
The above traits are, according to Salovey and Mayer, ranked in order of complexity. So where do you think you rank in your EQ ability? These are essential qualities for any business owner, dentist or staff member in a dental practice.
The New Kid on the Block
Monday, June 20th, 2011So many times a new employee/manager/associate is hired and then left to fend for themselves. Especially, in the initial stages, bringing that person on board to your (the owner) way of thinking and doing business is a critical link in the chain of allegiance.
Take, for example, a newly appointed office manager. Obviously this person needs to learn the ins and outs of the position and, hopefully, they have a fair idea of how to manage people as well. However, do they know your management style and do you know theirs? And, what if the two styles differ? Something that invariably will happen. How do you handle it? Is it your way or the highway or does a productive discussion take place wherein which you decide how best to approach and handle the situation? Frequent communication is absolutely essential.
I recently came across a situation where communication during this important initial phase was non-existent. The result was that disagreements on how to handle issues were never discussed. Bad feelings and distrust began to build to the point of no return and the manager resigned.
The toll on the practice was immeasurable because (a) she was a really good manager, and (b) the owner will likely never learn the value of frequent communication.