Do you ever feel like things in the practice aren’t running like you want? That you’re working to pay everyone else? That your team just isn’t on board?
Do you ever just want them to do what they’re supposed to without you having to remind them? Are you taking employee problems home with you at night?
If so, you’re not alone. Most practice owners have this same complaint – no matter what category your practice falls into, we’re all in the same boat. As many of us started out as providers, we got into healthcare to ‘help’ people not ‘manage’ them. Also, we wouldn’t be business owner if we didn’t have the drive to work hard; and I bet if you’re anything like Mike and I, you often wonder why your staff aren’t more like you. When we have to manage our employees, it can be difficult to separate our helping nature from the need to get people doing what is expected.
Today let’s talk about finding the right people, next week we’ll talk more about getting them to do what you need them to do.
There are people out there who can and will do what you need them to do. You just have to have the right process in place to help you find them.
I don’t want you to get any ideas that we’re somehow the perfect owners and managers. Just like where you might be now, we definitely went through some really hard times finding staff, keeping them and getting them to produce when we started our growth and expansion.
I know I’ve talked about how things started out seven years ago, but I’ll share again in case you’re new to Front Office GURU.
My husband Mike and I are both PT’s and his lifelong dream was to own his own practice. In 2004, he achieved that dream and LSTC was ours. Back then he didn’t really have a corporate or business owner mentality. He was happy treating his patients, the practice was producing, and things were good. But in 2010, things started to change and by mid-2011, insurance companies weren’t paying what they used to, referrals were down, and things seemed pretty bleak.
We knew that if we didn’t do something soon we weren’t going to survive all the changes, so we got help from a consultant and started the practice on a path of promotion and expansion. Within less than a year patient visits and our ‘team’ had more than doubled. It was no longer Mike, a PTA and a tech. Now, there was a team of 8 and along with that growth came the problems that can accompany fast growth, hasty hiring, and a lack of new employee training programs.
To begin to take control of our front-end issues and allow the practice to grow with the right team members, I started working in the practice as the Director of Admin. I recognized all the things that were missing in our hiring and recruiting program that were keeping us from finding great staff. After evaluating our program and looking for way to make it better, I created a system to help our practice consistently recruit and hire quality employees. I offer that as a program for owners like yourself.
If you’re someone who likes to do it all yourself and has the time to invest, here are a few tips to help you get started on the right path to finding the right team members:
Make a list of your ideal employee qualities
This is a very real thing. You have to know with certainty what qualities you want an employee to exude. Are they friendly, organized, a task master? Are they driven?
Only you can know what you’re looking for and you should sit down and make note of what qualities you need for a great team member. Don’t get caught up in them being ‘nice’. They should, of course, be a nice person but you want to make sure that you have laid out for yourself what qualities will make them the best employee.
Here are a few of mine: they’re not ‘job hoppers’, they have a history of being able to get things done, they can follow directions the first time, they accept a challenge.
Lay out your expectations for the position
The other thing you have to ‘know with certainty’ is what expectations you have for each and every position in your company – if you don’t know this and haven’t written it down, it can and will cause confusion and the end result will be employees who aren’t doing what you expect them to do.
Have a system for recruiting and hiring
I talk a lot about systems because they provide a consistent and orderly way of doing things. If your goal is successful hiring practices, you need to have a system that you follow consistently with every position you’re hiring for.
Provide challenges
Don’t listen to what they tell you, challenge them. For every hiring process there should be a challenge (or more than one) that they have to complete. You want to make them work for the position and demonstrate that they are willing to take on a challenge.
Get help
Not everyone has the time to evaluate what works and doesn’t work when it comes to developing systems for hiring and recruiting or for other areas of the practice. When we first started out, we sought the services of a consultant and it was money well-spent. Working with someone who has been through what you’re going through and has the experience or proven systems to guide you will save you time, money and frustration in the long run.
I offer a proven recruiting and hiring system for private practice owners. It has 7 years of testing and improvements backing it and it is still working it’s magic now that I’ve passed my Director of Admin hat over to my replacement. With my program, Taylor has a step-by-step process to follow from defining the position she’s hiring for, creating and posting an ad, all the way through making the offer. With this program she has a checklist to ensure that nothing is forgotten and lessons to keep her focused on the goal: quality employees who are willing and able to do the job she’s hiring for.
If you’re in need of a systematized recruiting and hiring program designed to help you hire only the highest quality employees, click here to schedule a FREE Discovery Call today.
Don’t wait! Get started today and start hiring quality employees who work toward your vision!
Wishing you the best, today and always!
Dee
I started Front Office GURU with a single goal in mind and that’s to help private practices thrive. Your front office plays an integral role in your success and yet, most practices don’t have set training and systems to ensure that everyone in the front office manages patients the same way.
Don’t wait until the perfect time to get started because there will never be that perfect time, that perfect staff.
As a practice owner, former manager, and the Front Office GURU, I understand the difficulties you face because I've been there. And my programs provide the solution.
Are you struggling to train your front office team? Unsure how to go about establishing a proven training program for your front desk? Not sure where to start or what your options are?
Click here to schedule a FREE Discovery Call to learn more about my programs.
The Front Office GURU Training Academy is an online training platform for you and your front desk! It's great for team building and establishing successful systems and training for your front desk. And the BEST part? YOU don't have to recreate the wheel - it's ALL done for YOU!! Just set up your team and they can get started right away...
Your Patient Care Coordinators will feel welcome and supported as the training is ALL about them. And even MORE is coming soon! Click HERE for more info and get started right away!
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