So many dentists are at a loss when it comes to hiring, training, motivating and retaining employees. Hopefully this article will provide some direction and insight, especially when an existing practice is being bought and an existing staff is being inherited.

Question #1: Where do you find good people?

My answer to that is, "you don't find them, you create them". While skills are important, in my opinion, they are second in line to personal traits that are more important. I always look for attitude, personality and image. The skills can be learned but if the attitude is negative, they have few people skills or they are not neat in appearance, it is very difficult to "change the stripes on a tiger".

Question #2: How do I attract applicants to my office?

While most dentists use this medium to find employees, you can also get many non- qualified applicants who waste your time. I highly recommend telling your local dental sales representatives and other dentists in the community at dental meetings. The local dental assistant/hygiene associations often have employment chairpersons keeping a data base of those looking for a position or those seeking new staff. You may also use a placement agency many of which do the initial screening for you.

Question #3: How do I orient new employees to my practice?

It's a good idea to have a week or two of orientation. Assign the new hire with a buddy. This person is their contact for all questions and all training during the orientation. They take them to lunch; show them where to keep personal belongings, go over the office manual with them, do hands on training (if warranted), and answer simple questions such as "how does this microwave work?" This gives new members on the team a connection and makes them feel as though the red carpet has been rolled out to meet them versus, "just watch us and eventually you'll get the hang of how we do things here" which is training through osmosis!!

Question #4: How do I keep my team happy and challenged?

Some people believe that money is the only motivator. While money is important to all workers, at the top of the list of what employees value most is APPRECIATION. Since dentistry is a female dominated work place, both male and female employers need to know that females are born caregivers who love responsibility, recognition, rewards and respect. I call these the 4 R's of motivation. Praise in front of patients and co-workers is like water and sunshine, it makes the human being grow.

Question #5:  How do I get the team to believe in my dentistry and me like they did their previous boss?

It is a known fact among management consultants that the attrition rate of previous staff is usually high after the new dentist takes over. There are many reasons for this and they include:

•   If the long term employees have reached a salary level that worked well with the departed dentist whose production was much higher than the new dentist/owner. While I believe that long term employees are worth their weight in gold to a new dentist, after 6 months, if the production does not increase, the new dentist has no alternative except to hire others willing to take a lesser pay or benefit package.
•   If the employee had deep rooted loyalty to the departed employer and nothing the new dentist says or does pleases them, they must be replaced by positive people who realize that the new doctor needs the staff's full support.

Managing the dental practice is easy, productive and fun if the entire team pulls in the same direction at the same time. You have spent years perfecting your skills to become dentists. You deserve the very best this profession and a happy team can offer.

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