When you have a solid hiring process that weeds out those that don’t meet your needs, you have a better chance of finding great people who can and will do the job you need them to do. And that is the first step to building a better practice.
In last week’s post, I discussed what you can do right now to locate high quality team members for your practice.
Have you ever found someone for your front office who you thought was the ideal candidate; you hired them, put them on post, and about a month later you were thinking, “Why did I ever think they were a great fit?” Yeah, me too.
Sometimes the winners don’t win and it’s a shame, because it’s our fault.
That’s because there’s a second step, just as essential as the hiring process, that’s needs to be in place to secure their (and the practice’s) continued success, and that’s training.
Previously, I wrote about the “willing and able” employee.
A great employee has to be willing and able to do the job you hire them to do.
If they aren’t BOTH, you end up with someone not producing at the level you need them to. You’ll also end up with a low-producing employee holding you back, OR you’ll be back at square one looking for someone new for the team.
In that previous post, I talked about ability as being able to do the necessary tasks without needing reminders or hand-holding. That’s the ideal employee, and it’s what we all strive for in our practices. But many times, we forget one thing when it comes to ability:
Even with an effective hiring process in place, we can only expect someone to do a job well by giving them the training to do so. The ability must be viewed in the context it is applied in.
The hiring process must be followed up by good training
So, their ability to do the job is related to how well we train them.
Recently, I was speaking at a conference of private practice owners, and the topic was the cost of not training your front office staff even with a good hiring process.
And then I asked, Would you agree that there’s no formal education to train someone to work in the front office of a practice? Again, everyone agreed.
And then I asked, And would you agree that there’s no formal education out there to train someone to work in the front office of a practice? Again, everyone agreed.
This lack of education and formal training is detrimental to the employee and your practice. They will lack confidence and certainty, resulting in mistakes, not achieving their weekly targets, and more questions being asked.
Do you remember when you started your professional training?
You didn’t know what you didn’t know, right? You weren’t very confident, you lacked certainty, and you probably asked a LOT of questions. And each time, your professor gave you what you needed to increase your ability.
That’s your job now. Like your professor did for you, build a team and build them up. Your patient care, your practice growth, and your ability to have the time needed to dream without worrying about what will happen next depend on ensuring that everyone on your team is qualified to do what you need them to do. And that means the front office.
To keep the winners winning and improve your front office retention, you must ensure they get the training they need, even with a great hiring process. If you have all the knowledge and skill to train your front office staff and have the time to get it done, do it now. If not…
Here’s some good news, you don’t have to do it alone. I spent six years developing systems and training for my front office. And I’m now working with practice owners like yourself to help you implement them in your practice.
How we can help your hiring process and train your team members
My program offers:
- Front Office academy-level training that can be used to train new hires and for quarterly competency reviews
- A manual that walks your staff through systems, patient handling, use of stats and graphs to measure success
- Proven systems to follow that offer stability as you grow and consistency of action to prevent patient and staff confusion
- This system includes ALL the files you need to ensure a well-run front office – no recreating necessary – it saves you time and money in the long run
- Training on the use of the files and how to implement
- Drills and Practicals to ensure staff understanding and to test and retest competency
- Owner questions to use to assess how well they have studied and can implement what they’ve learned
- Access to me to answer questions, work out issues, provide more certainty through consultations and Voxer
Want to learn more about the hiring process and our training program? Click here to schedule a FREE Discovery Call to learn more about my programs and how I can help.
Wishing you the best, today and always!
Dee
