What Your Ads Don’t Need
Dec 16, 2022
It’s pretty widely known that dentists are having a lot of trouble finding good candidates to answer their advertisements, but that doesn’t have to be the case for you. I recently interviewed the CEO of Inspired Hygiene, Rachel Wall, RDH, about how she’s been successful at helping her clients find hygienists. It comes down to being creative and not relying on past methods of marketing, because it’s more important than ever to be flexible. As I’ve said in the past, “An ad isn’t going to fix your office,” but if you do it right, you’ll attract the kind of people who will make it better.
To help her clients, Rachel created a list of five things to not do when trying to attract new team members:
- Don’t use only one or two methods
- Don’t put too many details in the ad
- Don’t forget to engage your team
- Don’t forget to include the special perks of your practice
- Don’t offer candidates things you don’t offer your existing team
Diversify Your Efforts
No matter what position you’re seeking to fill, you can’t post an ad solely on Indeed and expect a flood of good applicants. You must diversify and use methods such as dental job posting boards or networking to find great candidates. People don’t always think about networking as a way of finding people, but some of the best team members often come from people you know. That doesn’t mean you should hire someone just because they’re friends with someone you know, of course. Like I tell our clients, “There’s only two reasons to ever hire anyone—they fit your core values and they get results.” When you find a candidate that fits that criteria and has a history with someone you know, that’s a good sign they’ll do well in your practice.
Simple is Best
Rachel mentioned an ad that she recently reviewed, and while the job itself was a great opportunity, the dentist included way too many details in the posting. It’s tempting to put as much information as possible, but it’s easy to turn people off or confuse them when there’s too much in there. Instead of mentioning the specifics of the schedule, for example, just say you’re flexible and use that as a point to engage with the candidate.
Involve the Team
Never forget, your team is a great resource when creating ads. They can tell you why they love working in the practice and what makes it special, because there may be things you don’t think about, but your team considers incredibly important. Speaking to them will help you not only craft a great ad, but they can also help when it comes time to finding candidates. Rachel mentioned that in her practice, almost every single team member was the result of a referral. Your team members want to protect the practice’s culture, so they’re highly motivated to refer solid candidates.
What are the Perks?
Just like how you don’t think about everything that your team values about the practice, there are things you do that are second nature to you, but are actually very unique. Rachel spoke of a client who has a cycle of working for six weeks, and then having a week off. Who wouldn’t want an automatic six weeks off per year, especially when about half of it is paid? It’s such a unique perk, but the client made no mention of it in her ad until Rachel encouraged her to do so. It’s important to list them out so you can draw attention to what makes you stand out. It can be crazy and chaotic out there for job seekers, so when they look at your practice and see something uncommon, it’s amazing.
Be Consistent
It’s crucial to make sure you’re not treating your candidates differently than your team. You can’t offer them a large sign-on bonus if your team hasn’t received a bonus in six months, because it’s going to show that you value them less than a hypothetical person who’s not even a part of the team yet. It destroys loyalty, so don’t think you can sneak it past your team. If you think your team members aren’t going to see the ad, you’re wrong. Think about it like you would your patients—you want to get new patients, but what are you doing to keep the ones you have and make them feel taken care of?
At the end of the day, you want someone who’s a good core values fit that you don’t have to think about all the time. Though it’s been difficult to find good candidates to answer your ads, we’re starting to see some improvement, and the more we can be open to creativity and building a healthy culture, the better it’s going to get. To get someone who fits in with the values and culture you’ve created, make those prominent—show the candidates why you’re special, and they’ll be attracted to your practice. You don’t have to do it alone—schedule a call with the ACT Team and have a conversation about how you can show off your strengths. With their help, you’ll attract better candidates, and through them you’ll build a Better Practice, and a Better Life!
Kirk Behrendt is the CEO and Founder of ACT Dental
