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Howard Speaks: Finding It Hard To Hire? Think Higher. by Dr. Howard Farran

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Categories: Practice Management, HR and Accounting;
Howard Speaks: Finding It Hard To Hire? Think Higher. 

by Howard Farran, DDS, MBA, publisher, Dentaltown magazine

Earlier this year, I answered questions from readers on everything from hygiene production to medical billing. (You can check out all the installments of that series on my video blog, Dentistry Uncensored With Howard Farran.) While I was recording my responses to two readers who were in very different situations, I noticed a through-line that was an important component in setting each of them up for future success—and unfortunately for practice owners, it seems to be even more of a challenge today than it was when I first taped those episodes.

How many dentists are struggling to attract and retain quality team members for their dental practices? And how many of those dentists have seriously reconsidered how—or whether—a job at their practice looks appealing to the people who’d make great employees?


Money’s a big thing, but not everything

It’s easy to lay much of the responsibility for this situation on inflation and an era of economic uncertainty, of course. However, there’s a separate component, too: an inability or unwillingness to reconsider how well your practice treats its team members.

The first question that inspired this column came from a young dentist who wondered what she should be looking for—and looking out for—when interviewing for an associate position. A big theme in my answer was that how long other employees have worked at a practice is a good indicator of how well owners treat their team members. Is it a practice where nobody lasts more than two years before moving on, or is it a place where the “new girl” just hit her seven-year anniversary?

Many of the employees who stuck around for decades at Today’s Dental mentioned how their previous jobs demanded that employees be in the office every day by 7:30 or 8 a.m., which made dropping off their children at school a logistical nightmare. Sometimes it stung even more when team members were held to that standard, but the owner/dentists regularly sailed in a half-hour later after dropping their own kids off at school. Apparently their family lives were important, but they wouldn’t extend the same respect to their team members. How rigid is your staff scheduling?


Your great team deserves great respect

The second question that inspired this column came from a practice owner who asked how to attract and retain team members. The biggest takeaway from my answer there was: Give your employees respect (and also a long leash).

For a long time, we’ve operated under the premise that jobs at our dental practices were plum gigs: After all, they offer regular hours, mostly on weekdays! But when employers refuse to bend those “regular hours” to accommodate the realities of an employee’s outside life, she’ll look elsewhere for a position that can. And nowadays, a lot of other jobs offer the opportunity to work remotely, or at least flexible hours.

The typical practice isn’t attracting candidates based on salary, either: According to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports from May 2021, the average office or administrative support position is paid more than a dental assistant, while the average call center employee earns a higher salary than the average dental front desk employee (and often gets to work from home, too). So, when practice logistics and financial restraints make it impossible for most dentists to pull ahead in the hiring competition, what’s left?

Respect and recognition are huge. And yet, in their posts on Dentaltown’s message boards, some dentists clearly regard their team members as easily interchangeable and replaceable pawns. I’m betting they transmit that same attitude in person, too. Meanwhile, my longtime dental assistant, Jan, was so important to me, we joked that if she called out sick, I would too, because I couldn’t face the prospect of doing a day’s worth of dentistry with a temp who’d never set foot in the practice before. We worked together for 30 years, because she knew I respected and appreciated her.

It’s important to know your employees would say the same thing about you, because the best candidates interviewing at your practice are definitely asking about it. You’ve got to make it a priority in your practice!

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