Since 1992, Penny Reed Limoli has been working with dentists and their teams nationwide to help them achieve success in their practices. Her unique blend of experience, knowledge, training, and dynamic personality make Penny an invaluable resource for any dental professional who wants to dramatically improve his or her practice.

Penny Reed Limoli

Do you find yourself avoiding team meetings? Is it the least productive hour of your week? Check out these tips to help make your meetings productive, energizing, even . . . FUN!

 Doctors, you’ll get a better result if you participate in, not legislate, your meeting. Choose someone who is organized, firm, and can keep others on track . . .and on time.

Short-track, attainable goals make the difference between highly successful teams and groups of people who happen to work in the same building each day.

Chances are, your employees look at being accountable as meaning they may be in trouble soon. Give “accountable” a new definition at your office. It simply means, “You can count on me.” In the future, when your staff says, “Yes, I will be accountable for this task,” the emotion attached to being accountable feels different, better and more worthwhile than avoiding future chastisements. And that, friends, feels good!

 The difference in employee buy-in and results with defined leadership roles is incredible! Set a team leader for: operative, hygiene, front desk, new patients, and recare/reactivation. The role of the leader is to act as the mouthpiece for issues in their area, and come up with possible solutions so the team can decide what will work best to solve the problem.

5. Create action steps, accountability, and “by-whens” for each task created during your meeting. 

Action steps are imperative, but without a person designated to do each step they mean nothing. Write down the necessary action, who is responsible for following through, and by when the item must be accomplished. Follow up at your next meeting.

Ok, so you didn’t get something finished. At your next meeting, clarify who is responsible for the next step, recommit to the action item, reset the by-when and go on. The fact that you revisited something important takes you 100% closer to the result you’re looking for. And isn’t that the reason for your meeting in the first place?

Finally, a few little things that will help you apply these principles smoothly: Make sure your meeting facilitator creates an agenda and sticks to it during the allotted time. Recommended meeting time is one hour per week.

Remember, meetings are only as dry as you make them. Change your next meeting structure to include these strategies and finally get everything done as you intended.

Penny Reed is the owner of the Penny Reed and Associates. 

Articles

Top 7 ways to keep dental team meetings on track

In this new practice management column, Penny Reed of 

 shares tips and advice to help your dental practice thrive. 

In this second installment, she tells you how to make sure you always have high quality candidates to turn to when a position opens up at your practice.

In the previous article we looked at common mistakes made in dental hiring

.  The first of those is waiting to recruit until you have an open position. 

I will be the first to agree that there are plenty of differences between running a dental practice and coaching a professional sports team. 

However, one of the positive attributes we can model from professional sports is the continuous search for talent and building relationships 

Admittedly, the practice of hiring is something I began in my corporate days and continued to focus on during my 20+ years in dental consulting because of the lack of experience and confidence that most dentists and office managers have in this area. 

Let's face it, if we could eliminate turnover, many of our headaches in running a business would disappear.

One common practice among dentists we've worked with is the natural tendency to hang on to underperforming team members.  It seems like the path of least resistance is the easiest way to go. 

After all, it can be uncomfortable at times to ask a team member to step up his or her performance.  This is especially true if you have no possible candidates to reach out to if a team member opts to leave your practice rather than 

Have you have ever felt like your team is holding you hostage, meaning you cannot run your practice the way you want to because your staff threatens you directly or indirectly, and you have continued to allow them to treat you this way?  If so, it is likely you don’t have any prospects available to replace those team members, so the thought of coaching them to step up or replacing them is frightening.

Here’s how you can take action and begin to recruit the type of people you want in your practice:

1. Determine who your ideal candidate is. 

 You must know who you are looking for so you will recognize them when you see them.  Are they friendly and outgoing?  Based upon your state practice act, what certification(s) must they have?

  This is an excellent practice for potential patients as well as possible team members.  Ask individuals who impress you to send you a resume to keep on file. 

Say, "We currently don't have any open positions in our office, but we are always looking for talented people who are team players.  I would love to have your resume on file." 

And when you receive resumes, keep them in a file that is easy to access.

3. Add a tab to your practice website for ‘Employment Opportunities.’ 

 This sends the message that you would love to have resumes from potential candidates. Setup a separate email address to route these resumes to and have your office manager keep them on file.

4. Stay connected with the dental education programs in your area. 

 Whether you have a local dental school, hygiene school or dental assisting program, be sure to establish and maintain a relationship with them. 

Offer externships in your practice and keep the door open to meet with students and recent graduates.  All students and recent graduates will need experience interviewing and it would be great to give them the opportunity to come in for a “mock” interview.  You will be amazed at the talent you will run across and the relationships you will establish.

Remember, recruiting is different from hiring.  You always should be in a mode of recruiting and 

.  Then, when you are in need of a new team member, you will have the cream of the crop to choose from. 

Keep your eyes open for next month’s article on employment ad placement and screening candidates.    

Want more advice from Penny Reed? Watch this Morning Huddle video to learn how you can save your dental practice $500 per day:

In this new practice management column, Penny Reed of Penny Reed and Associates shares tips and advice to help your dental practice thrive.  In this second installment, she tells you how to make sure you always have high quality candidates to turn to when a position opens up at your practice.

How to recruit the best dental team for your practice

Before you place your next hiring ad or ask friends to be on the lookout for someone, you must know “who” you are looking for. 

If this isn’t clear on the front end, you can easily make a bad hire simply because you weren’t focused on the traits you really desire for the position. Or maybe you have found yourself in a “crisis” hiring situation and you feel you don’t have time to define what you really want or need; you just want the RIGHT person NOW.

How do you define who you are looking for?  You need to access the certifications, qualifications and characteristics or soft skills of the ideal team member. 

Take a moment to step back and evaluate your team dynamics. Too often, dentists or office managers hire people who are just like they are. From a values perspective, this does influence the harmony in the relationships. From a work-style perspective, a team can be full of individuals who are worker-bees, but have no leaders, or be composed of too many chiefs and not enough Indians. 

As you make decisions on the type of person you are looking for, write them down.  Hiring can be stressful, especially if you have dozens (or hundreds) of resumes; you don’t want to overlook or forget any items on your checklist. 

Here are some items that could be on your must-have or wish list:

 If you are hiring a hygienist or dental assistant, you want to be sure you hire a person who has the appropriate certifications and that his or her licenses are current. For example, you may be looking for an assistant who has an expanded function and/or coronal polishing certificate. Be clear about that in your ad and as you review resumes.

  Are you looking for someone who has a year or two of work experience? This can be helpful. Also, if you rely heavily on your practice management software, you will want someone who is experienced in that brand or a similar type.

  While these are more challenging to verify, go ahead and write down what you are looking for.

This could be someone who smiles, who mentions that he loves to work with people, or who volunteers in activities that involve working directly with others. You also may be looking for someone who takes initiative and follows through on projects. Make your list of ideal traits; this will also help you craft your ad. 

Now that you have a clear picture of who you are looking for, you are ready to write your ad. In a future segment, we will discuss using the DISC work-style assessment to give you insight to an individual’s strengths and weaknesses.

Before you go to a source outside of your social network, such as an online job posting source, place the position opening on Facebook, LinkedIn and your website.  Also send an email to your colleagues letting them know you have an opening and who you are looking for.

The only time that this is not ideal is when you are looking to replace someone who is still on your team, and you don’t want that person or anyone else on the team to know you are looking. This is not an ideal situation, yet it is reality in some instances.   

Placing an ad for a professional position in a print only publication is a thing of the past, unless you also get an online listing. We have had great success with many of the regional dental job searching sites. Sites like monster.com are a great place to advertise as well. Your ideal candidate is likely to look at one source or another.

And, if you are hiring privately, setup an alternate email address for resumes to come to, and don’t list the practice name or phone number in the ad.

After you place your ad, be sure that you monitor that email address daily. You will want to actively review the resumes coming in, as most great candidates don’t stay on the market for long.

Editor's Note: Want to see what the author says are the 5 most common hiring mistakes that are hurting your dental practice? 

How to find the right team members for your dental practice

 shares tips and advice to help your dental practice thrive. This month, she kicks off the series with advice to help ensure you hire the right people who can help make that happen.

"Practicing dentistry would be so much more enjoyable if I didn't have to deal with hiring and retaining good employees." 

Ever feel that way about your practice? I’ve worked with many dentists who do. Few dentists are born with the skills to recruit and hire top talent. 

In too many instances, we've seen dentists choose the first, somewhat qualified, candidate who rolls along.  This is what I like to refer to as a "crisis hire."

 series on best dental hiring practices, I’ve identified the most common mistakes dentists make in dental hiring-and what you can do to avoid them.

Hiring mistake No. 1: Only recruiting new team members when there’s an open position

Because most dental practices are solo operations, there isn't a push to grow and expand at the level that larger practices or businesses do. 

A few decades ago when I was a senior in college, there were "recruiters" who came to our campus to not only let us know what their companies had to offer, they were also looking for those bright young graduates to interview and potentially place in their company. 

These companies, which ranged from local businesses to Fortune 500 companies, weren't always in hiring mode.  However, they were aware that recruiting is necessary because they know change is constant. 

Employees take other jobs, move, or sometimes turnover occurs because of promotions or lack of performance.  Don't wait until you need to replace someone to build your database of resumes or names. 

 should always carry business cards and give those cards to any potential candidates they encounter.  Let potential candidates know you may not be hiring at the moment, but you would love to have their resume in the event of an opening because you think they’d be a great fit for your team.

Hiring mistake No. 2: Not having a clear idea of the person you want to hire.  

First and foremost, hire for character, attitude and initiative.  These are traits and values that cannot be taught on the job. 

Most of the issues we see and coach in clients’ offices have to do with attitudes, immaturity or an inability to connect and communicate with others. 

If there is a lack of performance in a position, it will be easily corrected with structured training.  The issues that persist beyond that usually mean the person isn't right for the position. 

Wouldn't it be great to avoid many of these mistakes?  Make a list of your ideal employee as well as your expectations. Remember, you are looking for ideal candidates (there aren't perfect candidates) who closely match the 

culture you have built or are creating for your team

Hiring mistake No. 3: Not having a set hiring process.

Just like you have a process to proceed with 

, you should have a hiring process to follow when a position opens in your practice.

Put this process in writing. In our work with clients to recruit and hire the best team members available, we have every candidate complete a job application, even if they have sent in a resume.  An application gathers those details that aren't on a resume. 

For example, many candidates do not send in professional references with resumes. The job application should ask for those references. 

It also should include an area where the candidate lets you know whether he or she has ever been terminated from a position or convicted of a felony, as well as give you permission to have a background check and drug testing performed. 

If a candidate won't complete the application, you simply have been notified, early on, that this person isn't going to be a fit for your team.

Want more practice management tips from Penny Limoli? Watch this video for advice on how to maximize each patient visit: 

Hiring mistake No. 4: Not using behavioral/work style assessments in the hiring process

Most of the positions in a dental practice

, from assistants to administrators, require a friendly, persuasive personality along with a strong attention to detail. 

In addition, you have to be cautious how many dominant personalities you bring in to the office (especially if the doctors have a less dominant personality and work style).

Unless you are hiring for the office manager position, you need to hire team members who want to follow someone else's rules, but not necessarily help create the rules and enforce them. 

Using assessment tools will help doctors quickly spot the ideal candidates as well as the best training practices to assist in getting those individuals up to speed as quickly as possible.

Hiring mistake No. 5: Expecting to hire top talent at the lowest salary

While the economy is definitely tighter today than it was 10 years ago, dentists who want to recruit, hire and retain top talent will not be able to do so at the bottom of the pay scale. 

Be sure not to confuse top talent with years of experience.  Often the best candidates have only a small amount of experience but are very coachable.  Most dental practices should have their gross staff salaries at a range of 20 to 22% of collections. 

What should you pay? Contact a local hiring agency and ask what their candidates expect.  Also, tear down the walls and have discussions with your colleagues in dentistry as well as other health care professionals.  You want your salaries to be competitive, but not at the top of the pay scale either.

You've likely heard the saying, “if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys”.  Top talent is not only interested in a competitive wage, they also want to be part of an organization with a team that feels more like family.  After all, this is small business. 

To that end, be sure to offer not only a competitive wage, but also a culture where team members are given opportunities to get together outside of the office.  This could be a cookout, participating in a race or charitable event, a holiday party, a CE event or even a trip to the local bowling alley. 

Over the next few months I will cover more best dental hiring practices in this series with Dental Products Report.  Future articles will include: recruiting and hiring protocols, how to use work style/personality assessments, interviewing methods and how to make a job offer.  Stay tuned!

In this new practice management column, Penny Limoli of Limoli and Associates shares tips and advice to help your dental practice thrive. This month, she kicks off the series with advice to help ensure you hire the right people who can help make that happen.