The Practicon Viewpoint by Ann Page Griffin

WHAT DO NEW TEAM MEMBERS REALLY WANT?

The majority of human resource experts agree that the costs related to replacing an employee are fairly consistent: replacing an entry-level employee costs approximately 30% to 50% of his or her annual salary, while replacing an experienced, productive team member is likely to cost close to 100% of that employee's salary.

With this in mind, it should be obvious that it's well worth the time and effort to hire correctly; orient properly; establish a mentoring program, train thoroughly; and plan a development and professional growth track for new team members.

A bad habit that still exists in many practices is to put off hiring a new staff member until everyone on the team is swamped and overloaded. The myth behind this is that postponing hiring saves money. Actually, the opposite is true—a delay in hiring costs money. Once the desperation stage is reached, hiring decisions are made hurriedly, orientation is scant to nonexistent, training is a few hours one day, and Ms. Newbie is turned loose to sink or swim. Too often, the new employee sinks and, as a result, bails out within a few days or weeks. And what happens then? The faulty hiring process starts over again, often with the same result.

Years ago, I witnessed this type of new-hire routine first-hand. As I arrived early for my first day of consulting in a client's office, I encountered a young dental assistant, huddled under the front door awning, trying to escape a rain shower. As it turns out, this was her first day as well. As we stood together under the awning, she told me that no one had given her an exact arrival time prior to patient hours. When she had been in the office for her interview, she was not provided with any information about parking, lunch break, or where to put her personal items. And now, on her first day at work, no one was there to greet her. She was glad to see me and felt free to vent some of her frustration, especially when she realized I was not an employee.

Once we were both admitted to the office by a staff member (who had entered through a rear door), I watched as Ms. Newbie was handed paperwork to complete and then told to shadow an assistant. She had to ask where to put her purse and raincoat. No orientation, no review of employment procedures or expectations, no tour of the office or introduction to others on the team. When lunch time came, she left, never to be seen again.

Granted, this describes an extreme, though absolutely accurate, example of poor hiring procedures. However, it does raise two questions:

1. Does your office have an organized, consistent system for bringing new team members on board?
2. Are you aware of what matters most to newly hired staff members?

The results of a recent survey conducted by BambooHR, a human resources software and solutions company, show:

• 76% of new employees want more on-the-job training.
• 73% want to read a policy manual as part of a thorough orientation.
• 59% want a tour of the workplace on the first day, including staff areas, restrooms, patient areas, equipment, instruments, setups, and procedures.
• 56% want an experienced coworker as a mentor.
• 42% want the orientation/mentoring process to last well beyond the first week of employment, with three months mentioned as a preferred time period.

In general, this survey showed that newly hired employees expect to be contributing team members within a couple of weeks, but they want continued counsel, training, and support to hone their skill level and enhance their contribution to the team. And they want regular feedback from coworkers and the dentist concerning their progress.

One additional tool to aid in the join-up process is an Orientation/Training Program, written separately for clinical and for business team members. This outline can be written by one long-term staff member who works in the clinical area and one at the business desk. New staff can use this program as a priority guide, a timeline, and a check-off list to review training progress (daily with the mentor and several times during the training period with the dentist).

The entire hiring procedure (interviewing, the hiring conversation, orientation, training, feedback with a good measure of appreciation for effort, and final join-up) should be standardized so that all prospective and newly hired staff will be treated similarly. With a well-organized hiring plan, you will hire the right person and the retention rate for new team members will increase significantly.