Creating Your Dream Team…It’s Harder Than You Think!
I’ve been an office manager at Quad City Orthodontics for eight and a half years, and with the company over three decades. To date, one of the most challenging duties to do is hire an employee.
One thing I have learned is that you need to hire the right person, and it isn’t as easy as it sounds.
Our office is fast-paced and requires a lot of independent work. We have to find the right individual who is able to handle working quickly and also has good hand-eye coordination. You might have the most talented and intelligent employee in the world, and it’s still possible that they will not “work out.”
Replacing a team member is difficult because training, while also being short-handed, is time-consuming.
Will Hiring Someone with Experience Resolve Your Problems?
Our first instinct is to say, “We need to hire someone with experience.” However, over the years, I have learned that is not always the right thing to do.
For example, we hired an orthodontic assistant with experience from out of state. We were thinking she would hit the ground running. That was not the case!
All dental offices do things differently; it also depends on the state you operate in. The new employee had to learn our software, abbreviations for charting, where things were, and how our doctors like certain procedures done.
Even experienced employees require training.
Think About Your Team’s Personality and Attitude
We sometimes spend more time with each other than with our own families.
Our team is very close and needs to be able to get along with everyone else. They need to be caring and compassionate.
We came to the conclusion that our office needs to hire for personality and attitude. You can always train the right employee, but you cannot change their personality.
Once, we hired an orthodontic-assistant for her personality. Unfortunately, it did not work out well based on the position she was selected to fill. But since she was a great asset to the team, we found the right position for her.
Just because an employee does not work out in one position does not mean they are not the right team member.
Some situations turn out different than expected, but when you know you have the right person, you make it happen.
Go with Your Gut
Always go with your gut instinct; usually, it’s right!
For instance, I once received a call from a dental assisting school about a student who wanted to intern at our office. At the time we were already training two assistants due to adding a new doctor.
When I explained our situation to her and stated that we did not have time for an intern due to training two other assistants, the director went on to tell me how exceptional this particular individual was. She was a model student.
My instinct said this could be a perfect fit since we needed to hire one more assistant anyway. Needless to say, she is still an employee to this day!
Get Input from the Rest of the Team
Always seek feedback from your employees.
Sometimes they see things that the office manager doesn’t, especially from the clinical side. Their input needs to play a determining factor because they are the people who work side-by-side with other staff.
Always keep an open mind and follow your instincts!
As long as you do that, you’ll find your “Dream Team.”
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