It’s harder than ever to find great team members for every business out there, but it’s a particular challenge for private practices right now. Though everyone is hiring, job seekers are looking for more than just a paycheck—they want to be a part of something and not just a cog in the wheel. Every job site out there is flooded with repetitive, boring ads, so if you want to fill your seats with the right people, you have to make your ads stand out by showing job seekers the intangible benefits they’ll get by working in your practice. It’s like Kirk says, “You don’t find the right people; the right people find you,” and when you can put out ads that make people want to work with you, they will gravitate toward you.
Your core values are the most important component in your practice—just listen to Simon Sinek talk about them—but they’re also a powerful tool when it comes to hiring. You want to attract new team members who have similar values as you, and the best way to do so is by building your core values into your hiring ads and making them evident right from the start. Applicants will immediately see the characteristics your practice values, which sets clear expectations for them. After all, the biggest frustration you’ll ever have is when there are team members who don’t get your core values and don’t play well with those who do; by placing your core values front and center, you’re weeding out the individuals who don’t value them. Furthermore, you’re elevating your ad above the standard litany of requirements and preferences, creating something with a personal touch.
Similarly, including the words of your team members in your ads helps provide an authentic portrayal of who you are and what it’s like to work in the practice. Including these team member testimonials is an underutilized tactic, but it works just like a patient testimonial: an existing team member provides their personal perspective to show why they love working here. Whenever applicants are browsing job sites, there’s a degree of skepticism when they see the same ads from a business week after week—it gives them the impression that it must not be a great work environment. However, including your team’s testimonials will reduce that skepticism and initiate trust by showing that you value your team and their involvement enough to give them a voice in this process.
Including your team’s voice in your ads inserts a personal, more human, element into the process, but by utilizing photos of your team, you can take it even further. Photos evoke so much emotion, and when applicants see the work you do, the technology you use, your before and after photos, and the workspace within the practice, it creates a desire in them to be a part of the team. When you include photos of the whole team engaging in activities or participating in CE, it shows who you are and what you value, and that’s a powerful motivation for someone looking to be a part of something bigger than themselves.
The internet is flooded with ads using language that turns away the great applicants: “busy practice,” “fast-paced,” and “must be able to multitask”—these are all words to avoid in your ads. Make yours stand out from the crowd by engaging applicants with a simple call to action at the end, because asking them to complete a survey or submit a short video response will help weed out the ones that aren’t eager or don’t follow directions well. Finally, don’t underestimate the power of sharing your ads on social media—it’s where everyone is, so the more you can share it, the greater its reach will be.
Getting the right people in the right seats is crucial, but can be challenging. You were never meant to do any of this on your own, however, so don’t try—find a group of like-minded peers in ACT’s To The Top Study Club! In our summer session, we’re going to tackle this exact subject by devoting an entire day to the best ways to hire, fire, reward, retain, and grow great people, so join us! And as always, our incredible team of coaches is ready to help you build a Better Practice, and a Better Life—all you have to do is reach out!
Stay tuned for our next blog, in which we’ll discuss the 5 Strategies to Encourage Dental Hygienists to Diagnose Periodontal Disease!
Miranda Beeson is a Lead Practice Coach at ACT Dental