At TempStars, we love providing great resources and information to help dental offices and hiring managers find the best possible candidates to fill their team. To assist in this process, we’ve partnered with Transitions Group, North America’s premier Dental Practice Management solution provider. Transitions Group specializes in providing dentists and their teams with cost effective dental training and coaching programs with proven results.
As Canada’s largest and #1 rated dental temping and hiring service, we’re well-equipped to provide a unique insight into finding the best possible candidates for the job. Together with Transitions Group, we hope that our shared years of experience provide you with some helpful direction in your hiring journey!
Hiring in 6 Simple Steps
When a dental practice needs to change team members, it doesn’t just cost money, it can also bring some challenging hurdles to overcome. Failing to overcome them may lead to hiring the wrong person, which inadvertently sets them up to fail and ultimately hurts your practice. To help avoid that and ensure you hire the right candidate, here are 6 simple steps you can follow:
- Provide a Detailed Job Description. The first thing you need to do is write a full description of the job you want to fulfill. The description must include details such as work hours, rate, benefits, responsibilities, and expectations. Any information relevant to the position should be put forth upfront. In a nutshell, the job description must express what you’ll be expecting from the new team member.
- Check Their References. Never omit this step! Applicants must provide references and you must check them. Don’t even consider hiring someone who doesn’t provide reliable references. References are real people who have direct experience working with the candidate. When checking their references, inquire about the strengths and weaknesses of the applicant. Talk about qualities that are relevant to the position, such as loyalty, willingness to learn or work as part of a team, their attitude, and more.
- Conduct an Interview. Interviews are an obvious must in hiring – but preparing for them is the real key to success. Beforehand, review the application or resume of the candidate and make a note of the things that require additional clarification. In these challenging times through COVID-19, it takes extra care to conduct in-person or video interviews, so be prepared for that as well.
- Prepare Strong Open-Ended Questions. Open-ended questions that require more detail than a “yes” or “no” will help you learn more about the candidate’s attitude, motivations, and work ethic. Consider the following examples:
- Tell me about your best learning moments in dental hygiene.
- How do you feel about being a team player?
- Why do you think you’re a good fit for the position?
- Conduct a Working Interview. Working interviews are a great way to test candidates and see first-hand how they interact with patients and how they use their skills. During this work interview, you don’t want them to just observe. Instead, assign tasks that are usually performed by people in that position and truly assess their work.
- Provide Training, Orientation, and Feedback. The work doesn’t end when you’ve hired the candidate! Last but not least, you must provide training, orientation, and feedback as necessary so the new team member can thrive. To that effect, you need to provide them with a manual with guidelines about your dental practice, produce a training strategy, and provide regular feedback.
Take these 6 simple steps and you’ll have a greater chance of finding the right person for the job! Not to mention they will make your hiring process run a lot smoother.
Get Started – It’s easy!
If you or your office are not yet a member of TempStars, it’s free and easy to join. We offer the largest and #1 rated dental temping and hiring experience across Canada. Thousands of dental offices like yours trust TempStars to find them a dental temp when they need one, and to help them hire the best candidate to their team. We don’t charge any hiring fees! And our temping fee only applies after a successfully completed temp dental hygienist or dental assistant shift. There’s a reason we’re the most-loved in Canada! Join here now if you’re not yet a member!
Need a Little Help?
If you’re interested in seeking professional consultation for your dental practice, whether for hiring or otherwise, get in touch with the amazing team at Transitions Group. Transitions Group also has a fantastic “Pandemic Proof Your Practice“ program if you need any help or advice on accelerating your re-opening recovery and avoiding future problems if (please, no!) anything like this happens again.
