Dental A Team with Kiera Dent
Dental A Team with Kiera Dent
Dentists, this is your playbook for building a practice that THRIVES rather than just survives! If you're ready to scale, streamline, or simply want to lead like a CEO, we're here to support you with our strategies.
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Dental A Team
Dental A Team

Your Secret Weapon for Hiring

Your Secret Weapon for Hiring

8/12/2026 6:30:00 AM   |   Comments: 0   |   Views: 57
Do you prefer retaining the employees you have rather than constantly hunting for new ones? Kiera shares an example of a practice that evolved from high turnover to solid team retention, and how effective leadership played a critical role in keeping people long-term — plus how you can craft it for your own practice.


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Transcript:

Kiera Dent- Dental A Team (00:00)

Hello, Dental A Team Listeners. This is Kiera. And today I want to chat with you guys about hiring and staffing and retention. I think this is something that a lot of you are struggling with. I think it's just, I don't know, it's just annoying and it's obnoxious and it's just part of what we are dealing with now. But I think that there's a lot of solutions that we can do that I think a lot of people aren't thinking about. So with that, I want to give some tips of like what we can do to retain team members more than having to hunt for them.

 

So I know that there's ways for us. I know there's a lot of things. And we're gonna just kick it off today. So I'm excited for you because what I found is there's probably a good way. And I was talking to an office about this. I'm really excited to share some some office growth that I've watched in office over the last five years evolve from team turnover to incredible team retention. and I really do think that a lot of it has to do with leadership, a lot of it has to do with growth and

 

what we can do is to solve that retention rather than needing to always hire. Now, there's always going to be hiring. So we're going to kind of talk through both of it, but also like what things can we do to retain our team that we have. Dental A Team is a consulting company where we work nationwide, we work across the globe. We work with private practices, multi-locations, we work virtually and in person. We have an incredible community where we come together in in-person masterminds, sharing the best of the best. And we're from startup to multi, multi-millions.

 

And I'm obsessed with helping you say yes to more in your life. And that stands for you, focusing on you and your vision, getting your team aligned, earnings and making sure you're profitable. And then system structure and scalability, really truly making sure that you guys are set up for success so you can say yes to more in your life. our goal is to positively impact the world of dentistry in the greatest way possible. And I'm obsessed with you. I'm obsessed with your practice. I'm obsessed with your team. I'm obsessed with your struggles, I'm obsessed with your wins.

 

And I'm here to help make your life easier. I'm very big on tactical practicals. So if this podcast has served you in any way, shape, or form, please share it with a friend, share it with a colleague, share it with someone who you feel like it could brighten their day. Post it in a Facebook group, post it online, leave us a five-star review. Anything that you do helps us spread our mission. My goal is to be in the ears of every single dental practice out there because I believe that dentistry is special. It's sacred. It's

 

It's a zone where we're able to change people's lives. And I'm so excited for you to be here. I'm Kiera Dent. I'm obsessed with all things dentistry, including my last name. So let's kick it off and let's start seeing of how we can figure out where and what we can do for this retention piece. So, number one, I feel like so I was talking to an office today. Me and the doctor, I said, it like this doctor has an incredible team. I think they've got 20 team members. most of them are women. There's two male doctors there.

 

And I said, I watched you. You went from like four operatories to now we've got 15 operatories. The team has grown. And I said, What do you feel makes this place special? Like team members love working there. And I was like, what is it? So much so that they're all like recruiting from other offices and bringing people here and saying this is the best office they've ever worked for. I was talking to one of the team members and they said, I no longer have the Sunday scaries. I don't get stressed out at work. This is my second family. Like team members are telling me this as a consultant. Usually I and I asked them like,

 

What do you guys need help with? And most of them are like, we're just really happy. So I was asking the doctor and the team, I was like, what is it about this place? I asked both sides of the coin because I was like, what is it? I'm obsessed. This is one my favorite things to dig into practices. And maybe I'll get this doctor on the podcast and share from theirs. I'll just share kind of some snippets from today. And the doctor told me, he said, Kiera, I'm just really big on treating people like people. He's like, I'm never gonna expect them to have work be more important than their families. he's like, I want to make this into a lifestyle practice where

 

We work seven to three a lot of the days so that way they're able to get home and be with their families, but we're still able to like work hard and take care of patients. I have never seen a practice where they literally leave at five o'clock. And this is in California, like it's not for overtime. They just work hard and they get home and they go be with their families. if they have time and they need to like take care of their kids or they're sick, they are able to take care of them. they expect them to work hard and they all do work hard and they build really great people there. I asked the team, I said, What is it about this place? And they said, Well, I think it's the fact that

 

Like our doctor trusts us and they let us do things. And but it's wild. Anything I asked this team to do, literally, I was like, let's do morning huddle prep sheets. Let's treatment track. They don't fight with me on it. And a lot of teams do. And so I was like, okay, this is fascinating. The team is very accommodating. They're willing. They want to. All of them were so excited to morning prep huddle prep. Do you how many teams are like, womp, womp, womp? So much extra work. This team was like, Yeah, absolutely, we'll do this. We'll take care of it.

 

I had them roll out route slips. They did it. Like no pushback. And I was just, it's fascinating to me. And I think something I'm picking up from this is one, they really do hire for great culture. Two, they see potential in people. Three, they really do treat this as like an amazing place to work. Like the doctor is just getting so excited. They're talking about putting a gym in there. Like fun things to make this where they make their life incredible. And I watched the doctor just get like twinkly-eyed about getting so excited to.

 

Do these surprises. They took their team on a cruise and just for fun. Like it was just a fun thing that they did. And when I think about all of that, this office used to struggle to hire. And now they literally most of their employees that they've had in the last three years have all come referral-based. and I think about Dental A Team, the bulk of our team is coming referral-based. And they're coming back and they're sharing with people, and their friends are interviewing with us.

 

And I think about that, and I'm like, as a business owner, I think that that's the greatest compliment. If your team is willing to refer their friends, their colleagues to want to come work here because they love it so much, you're doing something right. And people stay where there's a great, incredible culture. And so hearing both sides of the coin, hearing what team members are loving, hearing what doctors are loving, there's so many other ones. I've got another doctor, they've got team members, I've been with them for 12, 15 years. And I asked that doctor, I said, what

 

What do you do that makes people want to stay with you for so long? And this doctor said, you know, Kiera, I think it's that I really listen to them and I have clear expectations. They know what it is. That office also, like when we say we're gonna be there at 12 o'clock, they are there at 11:55 with their notebooks and their pens. I think that a lot of these practices, so one of the pieces I see is people really do stay where expectations are clear. Both of these offices have high standards, both of these offices expect a lot, both of these offices work really hard.

 

Dental A team is no exception to that. and I think having clarity, I think having clear job descriptions, I think having clear expectations from all leaders, I think team members knowing if they're winning or losing, you define it. You define it for them. And I really do love that there's clarity all the way around. Like both offices have different expectations, but both offices have them clear. The team knows how to win, the team knows what's expected, and both offices really do treat their team.

 

like humans. They I just watch and I watch these cohesive teams and there are clear expectations, but there's also a space where they they want to be there. There's this want, there's this draw, there's this happiness, there's a lightness about it. But they're hitting great goals. And so I think clarity really can create confidence for team members. So that's that's a good space. Another thing I notice with these offices and with teams is

 

people really do want growth, not just like an employment path. So, what is growth in that practice? How do people evolve? How do they grow? Like, what is a development plan? All these offices have regular one-on-ones. And one-on-ones can be about performance, one-on-ones can also be about what they want in their personal life, what they want in their professional life, what that looks like. And talking about growth opportunities, for me, every single year at the end of the year, I talk to my team about what their personal and professional goals are.

 

When people join our team, they take a survey of what they want their personal life to look like in their next one year, five years, 10 years. and as a leader, I'm obsessed with making their dreams become a reality. So how can we make those dreams become real for them? How can we figure it out? anything we can possibly do? Let's give opportunities, let's find ways. It doesn't always have to be with work because sometimes you're gonna tap out once you're at a certain level as a dental system. That's kind of where you're gonna be. But can they learn?

 

To do for an office work? Can they grow in other areas? Can they become a mentor consult or assistant? What ways can they grow? can we grow them personally? Can we send them to CE courses where they're personally growing, not just professionally growing? what's the training and development we can do? I know there's an office, another office I know of, and they hired Dave Ramsey. And so everybody who wanted to learn about financial management, they were able to do it. I know I've had offices where I teach them about how to do investments a little bit.

 

like very small, like high yield savings accounts and the things that they're able to do. growing people as people, not just as employees. Like that, I don't know. I think as an employer, one of our greatest gifts is to be able to like grow people to make their dreams become true, to look for opportunities to help them become the best version of themselves, and really just having pasts and plans and

 

Knowing your team, knowing them as humans. as our company grows, Britt and I talk about this often. I'm like, Britt, how do we grow and still maintain this authentic one-on-one seeing people as people in our company? Our mission has slightly changed to where we're so focused on growing practices, but it's one person, one life, one practice at a time. And I'm very obsessed about being obsessed about the individual. How do people feel

 

in a large organization, how do they feel like they're still seen as a person? How do they feel like they are being grown as a human? And I think the more you can do one-on-one growth conversations, the more you can invest in them in humans. And it's crazy because I think as management gets bigger and you have leaders and you're not as involved as a CEO, finding ways where you're not overstepping your leaders and you're able to still stay connected to them as humans. I was hired we just hired a

 

A new C-suite member on our team. And I was talking to him, and I was like, okay, this person's favorite tree is this, and this person's favorite thing is this, and this person's favorite thing is that. And when I finished, I thought, no matter how large our organization ever gets, I want to make sure that all of my team members, all of our clients, always feel like they are like one in a million, and they are that one, and that they are seen as that one, that they are so valued.

 

even in a large organization. There was the Dean of Midwestern when I worked with him. His name is Dr. Gilpatrick. And I remember he knew every single dental student's name. He knew my husband's name. He and we're talking, there were hundreds, and I remember being like, whoa, that's so impressive. I want to be like Dr. Gilpatrick and I want to know everyone's name and I want to remember their names. And at the time I was not great at that. And this is a skill I really had to develop. but people loved Dr. Gilpatrick and we were talking, I don't know, it was probably I think 150 people per class.

 

We had four classes in there. So at any given time, there's probably 600 students plus spouses. Dr. Gilpatrick knew every single one of them by name and knew something personal about them. Would ask me how my husband was doing, would ask how Jason's doing in pharmacy school. So it wasn't just my husband. It was by name and what his profession was and what he was going to school for. That type of intentionality as a leader, people don't even get that from their family. People don't even get that from their spouses. And as a leader,

 

You can show them that they're important, that they're valued, that they're loved. One of the greatest things that you can ever do. And then I think another piece for being able to retain great team members. Yes, we need to hire, but you're gonna be able to hire if you have a great culture. another great thing is is to actually build a great culture. So what are the things of what is your culture? For us, I literally have them read like what our culture is and values we live by, and all of our team knows core values and

 

I've set it up to where they core value shout out each other every Wednesday. As a leader, like I get a little teary-eyed on this part. to show up and to hear my team calling each other out. I'm not there a lot of Wednesdays. I'm not there at a lot of our meetings anymore. And when I do get to be there, to just watch each other love each other. to see each other help each other out. We're a virtual team, guys. Like they don't even live by each other.

 

And see marketing and consultants call each other out to positively praise one another, to offer to help, like shout out to Pam. I know she listens to the podcast a lot. Pam is always willing to help. And I see her go behind the scenes and help people get their numbers entered and to have our marketing team love on our consultant team and to have our consultants love on our like C-suite team and to have our C-suite team love on our VA team to watch them call out core values to each other.

 

To watch them do Thankful Thursday. to like see people as people. I know our team's getting bigger, and I keep getting like, like when we run leadership meetings, I'm always like, no, it's always personal and professional wins every single week. And I'm so big on that. I'm like, that takes so much time. And I'm like, that's how you connect. The times how you connect, that time's how you make people feel seen, heard, and loved. I can't tell you how many times in these meetings I learn about my team's struggles. We learn about

 

people get connected. There's a a game I play in office called the Silver Thread, I think is what it's called, or like connected thread. I don't even know what it's called, but I get people in groups of four usually and I say, All right, you guys have to come up with four things that you're connected by. And I I have people that don't know each other. I sometimes get in the group, and what I found is every single time they're able to come up with four things that they all have in common. A lot of times it's holidays, a lot of times it's songs, but it's so fascinating because no matter what group you're in.

 

People are connected, people are striving for community, people rally with each other, people want that connection. And so to be able to have your team come connected as a culture, these are just the little things. These are where people feel safe, they feel seen, they feel heard. addressing issues early, like having leaders that support, having people that connect in with their departments, having people that grow their departments. I also think making sure the standard is like not what you preach, but what you tolerate.

 

And looking at what you tolerate, and is that really the the standard of what you're going to to have? Like, do not destroy your top performers by tolerating poor performance of the lower performers. Hire great talent. Expect people to be at the same level. People love to be surrounded by A players. Like, so hire A players, create a culture of A players, create a culture where they love each other, create a culture where they're connected to each other, create time for them to bond. Like,

 

Because we have a virtual team, you have it so much easier in an in-person team. There's so many things. You can have potlucks together. You can have book clubs together. You can work out together. You can do painting nights together. You can go to sports games together. Get people connecting as people. and always recognize that in culture, your entire team is always watching you and what you're willing to tolerate, what you're willing to accept. They're watching you like a hawk. And I think about when I have to make hard decisions or ones that I don't want to do.

 

I had to remember I got an entire team of eyes watching and seeing what we as leaders will do and what we will not do. I remember when I was first a manager, I tolerated some really poor performance. And I remember there was a hygienist. I remember exactly who she was. I remember the exact day. I remember her name. She came in and she said, Kiera, I have lost so much respect for you. And that was duly served.

 

I was not being a leader. I was not having the conversations I needed to have. I was not holding team members to the high level of accountability that we had. I was not creating a culture. I was just squawking. I was seagull managing. I come in, I say a lot of words, and I shiz all over and I leave. That's not the way we create culture. And I think when we talk about hiring and having staffing, having a kick a culture, having people where

 

They love to work there where they want to refer their friends, but that doesn't mean they get everything they want. You can have high standards and have people obsess about it. People love to work hard. People love to be a part of an organization that's growing and innovating and creating. And they want to be a part of growth. Like growth equals like progress equals happiness. These are the ways that we create and retain. And so it's one of those things of creating clarity, creating growth, protecting your culture, having it be a space where people are obsessed with working there.

 

Finding out, talking to people, getting in, hearing what's going on, having leaders that really are developing their team, you pouring as a leader, like as a CEO into your leadership

 

team, like that is where I pour the bulk of my energy to trickle down to love because I can't do it, nor should I. I want leaders to rise up. You want leaders to rise up. But I think more than even hiring and attracting is how do I build a culture that people are obsessed with?

 

How do I create raving fans? And that does not mean they get everything they want. Think about spoiled rotten kids who are getting everything they want. They don't respect their parents. Think about the kids who respect their parents, who love their parents, who are raving fans of their parents. They work hard. They've got accountability. They've got structure. They've got discipline. Same thing in an organization. how can you be the best leader? That doesn't mean the most loved. I've said this quote before and I'll say it again. You're gonna be loved as a leader, you're gonna be hated as a leader, and where I hope you ultimately land is respected as a leader.

 

And that is a zone of like hiring and staffing is not just about hiring. It's about having an environment where great people want to stay. And so I'd ask yourself, look at it. Look at our company and see how do I create this into a practice where people don't want to leave, where people are obsessed, where I have high performing people that want to be here. Look at yourself as a leader, look to see what you're tolerating, look to see what you can change, ask your team.

 

Be careful how you ask because I found that self-reported oftentimes is based on the week. And if it's a bad week, I get bad reports. but really look to see how are people performing? What things do you want it to be? What things do people talk about? Why do they love it here? There's books so called I I love it here. Read culture books on how you can produce these great cultures. We had a podcast where I talked to a Chick-fil-A owner and how they create these raving fan cultures there.

 

But really, I think on hiring and retaining, it's about retaining. Because great teams that retain have word-of-mouth referrals left and right. People crave to work in great environments. People crave to work with great leaders. People crave to be there. And then when you are hiring, have those. Have your team have testimonials. We have a lot of testimonies where we've got video testimonies of our team where they're obsessed with working here. And when it doesn't work out, that's okay. This is not the place for everybody. Your place is not the place for everybody. Your place is for the right people.

 

But hopefully there's some tacticals in here for you to take, for you to look at it. And if you need help, this is a zone. We've turned around a lot of cultures. We've turned around a lot of leaders. We've had, we've said the uncomfortable things. I've had a lot of coaches give me uncomfortable advice. but really truly it's a space where I believe if you can think about how do I retain the right people, how do I attract the right people, how do I create this as a practice where people work hard, they play hard, they love being here, they don't get the Sunday scaries.

 

that's the place where people are gonna want to stay. They're gonna wanna cleave, they're gonna wanna like cling on and just be obsessed with you and refer all their friends. Have that be your standard, have that be what you want to be. And I promise you, hiring will be no longer as hard of an issue for you. And then be cautious on who you hire. Make sure you're always hiring for that culture, for the standards you want. A players make life a lot easier. And I know they're not always there, but seek after them, find them, and retain them.

 

If we can help you guys in any way, we help build leadership systems. We help build accountability. We help build cultures. We help turn cultures from maybe negative cultures to positive. We help leaders. We help CEOs. office managers sometimes are struggling with their doctors. Let's have those open conversations. Let's mediate between the two and help you two have uncomfortable, healthy debate conversations to where you guys can grow and flourish. I'd love to help you out. I'd love for you to just have a team that you're obsessed with.

 

I'd love for you to be like the doctors I I said, where they love their teams. They love working there. but it's not done out of entitlement. It's done out of accountability, empowerment, love, and great cultures. So reach out. Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. And as always, thanks for listening. I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team podcast.
Category: Ethics, Jurisprudence and Malpractice, Office Design, Practice Management, HR and Accounting
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