A superstar office team can be every dentist’s dream come true. When co-workers get along and work together well, work is streamlined and patients are cared for even better. Getting a system like this can take a lot of time and effort, especially when personalities or habits don’t mesh well. Thankfully, knowing the right things can help you hire the best individual that will bring a positive light into your dental team and fit right in with everyone else.

Selecting the Best Applicant

Employees are found a variety of ways: through word of mouth, classified ads, or even sometimes a dental staffing agency. What should be done before listing the position? Here is an outline or guide of what is expected of this new employee and the background that they need to bring with them. You can tell a lot by a person’s resume, such as attention to detail, frequent changes in employment, and their education. Interview your top applicants face-to-face to get a feel for their personalities and work ethic, and then invite 2 or 3 of them back for a working interview. During the working interview you can see how they fit in with the rest of the team, interact with patients, and handle your appointment schedule. Sometimes the applicant will even decide if it’s not going to work out or not.

Congratulations, You’ve Gotten the Job!  Now What?

After a new team member is hired, they should receive standard training that all members of the team have been expected to complete. This keeps everyone on the same page and drives the dental practice toward a set of standards in patient care. Dental job role descriptions are extremely important, and an understanding that with proper training, no job will ever go undone. A comprehensive dental management training program helps equip all front office members and streamline the work everyone does as a team. With the right training, customer service will come naturally and in a genuine manner. Cross-training all of the front office staff will ensure that all patient needs are addressed, even if another team member is out; it will prevent new or even old employees from saying “that isn’t my job.” The investment in this training will keep your team on target.

You’ve Got a Great Team.  How to Make them Even Better.

Making the investment in proper dental management training and choosing the right team members can seem exhausting unless you’ve got a well-established plan that you implement for every employee. Now, you’ve got to focus on retaining those employees so that they can continue to help the mission of your practice grow even further, while maintaining those standards. It’s easy to get lazy as time goes by, and let expectations slip. Establish a policy that requires routine job reviews and reminders of expectations each year or even quarterly. Providing incentives to keep your team on-target will help everyone work together to get anything done, no matter how big or small. But always remember to thank them, calling out their commitment to positive patient care, because there’s nothing quite like a verbal affirmation from your office manager or dentist.

Dental Management Program