Episode 664: Here’s How to Hire Dental Assistants ASAP

 The dentistry world is still struggling to bounce back from the impacts that Covid-19 had on the industry — people resigning and schools not generating as many new workers. Kiera gives tips on how to find dental assistants for your practice quickly and effectively. Her suggestions include:

1. Turning your practice into a dental assistant school

2. Standing out above the crowd (use VivaHR for a DAT discount! Email us!)

3. Getting scrappy

She also gives ideas on how to create appealing ads to hire people.

Episode resources:

Attend the 2023 DAT Summit

Reach out to Kiera 

Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast

Become Dental A-Team Platinum!

Review the podcast

Transcript:

0:00:05.8 Kiera Dent: Hey everyone. Welcome to the Dental A Team podcast. I'm your host, Kiera Dent. And I have this crazy idea that maybe I could combine a doctor and a team member's perspective because let's face it, dentistry can be a challenging profession With those two perspectives. I've been a dental assistant treatment coordinator, scheduler, filler, office manager, regional manager, practice owner, and I have a team of traveling consultants where we have traveled to over 165 different offices, coaching teams. Yep. We don't just understand you, we are you. Our mission is to positively impact the world of dental. And I believe that this podcast is the greatest way I can help elevate teams grow VIP experiences, reduce stress, and create A teams. Welcome to the Dental A Team podcast.

0:00:52.0 KD: Hello, Dental A Team listeners, this is Kiera. And you guys, I just wanted to pop in this morning and say hello. This is like old school podcasting for me today. I am a little under the weather and I used to podcast, literally, I would wake up early and I would come into my office and I would sit on the floor, take me back to childhood when I used to sleep on the floor. I don't know what my obsession is. But I'd sit on the floor in my comfy cozies and I would just really talk to you guys from my heart. And then I feel like welcome to 2022, 2023, when the standard is everything needs to be video, everything needs to be TikTok. And I don't know about you guys, but I kind of feel a skosh exhausted with that. And so today, I am sitting in my office, cross legged with a blanket on, just got out of the shower, my hair is a hot diggity dang mess. And I said, absolutely not.

0:01:44.9 KD: Everything in Kiera's life doesn't need to be videoed. And I still can deliver great content. So I don't know if you guys ever feel that way. Maybe I'm just becoming old and cynical guys. I need some intervention. So if you want to email me tell me how to get in today's world and that it's okay to be messy hair. There's no way guys, you would not see this face on TikTok. But at the same time today, I do have some fun topics to go over. And so, the topic I wanted to just pop on doing coaching calls, I feel like I have a pretty good pulse on what's going on in today's dental world. And the topic that I feel is just coming up that's hot is how do you hire dental assistants right now. And so, I just wanted to come on today and give some quick tips and shout outs on how can we actually hire dental assistants. So I think that this is we're moving from the hygiene shortage into the dental assistant shortage.

0:02:38.1 KD: And before I continue further guys, please subscribe, like and review this podcast. Leave us those five stars guys. I really, really, really appreciate you guys doing it. And a simple easy way to do it is you just head on. So if you're on on Apple, that's the main one that I usually use. You just go into the podcast app, you find Dental A Team which you should be seeing right now 'cause you're listening to it. You click on that, you're listening to the episode, scroll down to the bottom we have gosh guys, we're like almost 700 episodes in, snakes, scroll down and you'll see where we have ratings and review. And you can either click the stars or if you scroll a little further, there's a little box that says write a review. So click on that write a review, you can write whatever you want. Why this podcast has inspired you why this has helped and you tap the stars and then click Send. So if this podcast has served you, blessed you, please guys help us out reach more practices just like you.

0:03:34.2 KD: My goal is to positively impact the world of dentistry in the greatest way possible, to remind you guys that dentistry is awesome, to remind you how to do quick dental hacks. It was really fun yesterday coaching in office and their minds were blown by a simple hack that literally takes two seconds to implement and it saved them, I'm not exaggerating at least 10-15 hours per week of time. So that's what my obsession is, to help you guys to help the best dental offices win. So if you feel like that's who you are, please help us inspire and help more people tag us on social media when you're listening. Just take a quick screenshot of you listening, tag our @dentalateam and that helps us get more people but leaving those reviews is the number one way that our podcast is published and pushed to more people. So if you guys could go do that, that would be fantastic.

0:04:21.2 KD: So back on to how do we get these dental assistants? I feel like, like I was mentioning it's just a reverse of what's happening. And I think it's the same reason because a lot of hygiene people left the industry during COVID, a lot of dental people left, dental assistant people left the industry during COVID and then we haven't had the schools generating more dental assistants out there. So if you're interested a really fun thing to do is to actually turn your practice into a dental assisting school and we do have some resources. So if you're interested email us [email protected]. It's a really cool way to just optimize your practice. Also, if you've got team members who want to advance and get paid more it actually could become a separate entity. You could pay them out of a separate entity and they could run this course for you.

0:05:08.2 KD: So a great way for you to bring people in that way too and just another revenue generator for your practice. If that's something you've never thought of, you're interested, email us [email protected] or go to our website the thedentalateam.com and just schedule a call and chat about it because there might be more ways that we could help beyond just that. But that's a great way that you could do this. So I want you guys to just think and this is going to be not just for dental assistants but for hiring in general in 2023. I feel like we've switched and society switched aka it's all on freaking TikTok guys. I'm not like 100% better. I just, guys, getting this face dolled up before I can do podcast, if you guys have ever listened to the book. It's the second book of Essentialism, by Greg McKeown. If you haven't read Greg McKeown's book, go read that one. And then the second book is Effortless.

0:06:02.1 KD: And I remember him talking about startup costs and how you've got to make it very simple. Well it's a podcast that used to be super easy. Run downstairs, super dark, turn the podcast on, just talk to you guys with like all the love in my heart, be driving down the road early in the morning on my way to the airport, talk to you guys. And now, it's like, "Oh, my gosh, I gotta go get ready I gotta do my hair, I gotta put my makeup on, I gotta get Dental A team swag on, then I gotta get the lighting, just right can't do it too dark, can't do it too early." That's a hard startup cost. Anyway I'm off my rant guys. So with this hiring we have switched. So again, like I was saying, the whole rant was we're in 2023 things have changed where people don't want to just listen they want to see. People don't want to have to read long emails they want to just have it given to them very small.

0:06:48.3 KD: Same thing within hiring guys. We have had yet another shift. We had 2020, then we had 2021 of the great resignation and now, I feel like 2022 and 2023 is why should I work for you. Why do I want to work for you. And I think right now is a time where we need to first stand out above the crowd. That's number one. I've been starting to shift even my hiring and I think... So if you're going to play in the world where there's minimal dental assistants, you have to then compete because there's not a plethora of them. So step one was either start a dental assisting school if that's something of interest. Number two is you've got to stand out above the crowd. And I will give a massive shout out right here. I found that hiring was very expensive and so we've got a really cool company we actually have a discounted code for you guys.

0:07:36.8 KD: Viva HR, they... If you let them know Dental A Team came or email us, we'll give you the direct link it will save you quite a bit of money. But Viva HR is fantastic because what they do is they actually allow you to post unlimited ads across ZipRecruiter, Indeed, several others, unlimited for one price per month. So it ended up saving me over $15,000 annually just from placing ads. So that's step two, like we got to we got to have a way for you guys to actually save some money and be able to post a lot of ads because posting a lot of ads simultaneously gives you feedback of what's going on. What kind of ads are people responding to? So many offices I've been talking to who are telling me they're having a hard time hiring. I asked them what their ad says and it's just a very generic basic ad. Well, guys, when we're competing for very few dental assistants in this world right now, you've got to stand out. This is called supply and demand. [chuckle]

0:08:33.3 KD: I'm going to take you guys back to economics 101, supply and demand. Right now, there aren't as many dental assistants out there. However, do not be afraid because I don't think this is going to be a run in a surge like the hygiene's were because hygienists require licenses, dental assistants in most states do not and in the states that they do it's pretty easy to get and there can be chair side training. Step two is stand out above the crowd utilize Viva HR, like I said use our link it will help you guys a ton. And then on your ads, like let's think of some really cool titles. What about there was a female dentist who I saw wrote this, men, I'm not trying to be sexist whatsoever. I just don't think this would land quite as well.

0:09:14.1 KD: A female dentist wrote, "A love letter to my future dental assistant," got hundreds of applicants on it. Men, be careful, it might not be as received the same way and be careful even as female, it might not be received the same way. But that stands out as a title. What about, "Dental assistants who want a work-life balance?" Let's think of all the pain points these dental assistants have. Dental assistants who work for... Like "We're seeking a dental assistant who feels undervalued and underappreciated, our doctors love their dental assistants." What about that? "Dental assistants wanting lunch, we want you." What are their pain points and how can you stand out from the other practices? Now don't put that out as fake bait if you don't actually do that.

0:09:57.9 KD: If you run them through lunch, do not set that expectation up there. But think of their pain points. For hygiene, I just helped an office write an ad for... It was like, "Hygienists who want to feel appreciated, we want you." Because that's a pain point. A lot of hygienists don't feel that way. Hygienists who want to work 60-minute appointments, that's a great reason for them to come work for you. And then in your ad write exactly to that person. "Are you tired of working through lunch? Are you tired of feeling like your doctor doesn't appreciate it? Are you tired of feeling like you're underpaid not because you actually are but because you just don't feel appreciated? We want you. Our practice is different. Come join the different workforce out there and be a part of a different movement." That's gonna attract a lot of different people guys. Now be careful with these words because we don't actually want to put words out there that are going to create an entitled workplace. So be really careful with how you use these.

0:10:57.5 KD: I remember Don Miller had a really cool thing he said, "Words are free use them and use them wisely." So just make sure you're doing that. So that would be my first set piece. And then, in there I also have started changing and I put like, "Why Dental A team? What are the perks?" There are some really cool hiring things out there. There's a company called Willow, that actually you just create a really quick video. Don't worry guys. I did it late at night when my video, my lighting was not ideal. 60 seconds and Willow, it does require people to give you video responses back, 'cause my thoughts are if they're not willing to do that, rock on. I probably wouldn't require that for a dental assistant who's competing with a bunch of other people. But for maybe some of your office manager positions, you can actually have utilize some of these resources out there, that vet, that screen, that have them submit surveys.

0:11:41.6 KD: Also other cool things out there like culture index and disc profiling and see if they're the right personality. However, you've got to make sure that the way you're interviewing and the way you're seeking ads is not deterring people. Sure, I want amazing dental assistants, but if I know that there's only a few of them and I'm competing with hundreds of offices, I need to make it easy and attractive to want to apply. So that's what you guys are really competing with right now, is doing that. So those are a couple ways for you to change up your ads to make them better, to save money on them, to incorporate different technology out there. Guys, I feel like with hiring, we've got to stay up-to-date. Don't worry, I'm speaking to myself about saying up to date with podcast guys. I hear it, I hear it. Okay, I am, I'm there. [chuckle] But we've gotta find a way to stay current in today's society. What does today's society want?

0:12:31.2 KD: I've heard from quite a few people they're like, "Gosh Kiera, new employees are just not like the old ones." You're right, they're not. They want different things. Just like our generations, whatever generation you're in wanted different things than the generation prior. That's called evolution of humans as well. And then, it turns into a culture thing, not a generational thing. You can still expect GSD hard work, no entitlement within your culture from young employees to older employees. That's called culture. That is not a generational piece. That is a you piece, and you get to determine how they respond and you get to set the precedence and see if they fit to it. Not the other way around but the way we're hiring, the way we're writing our ads, the way we're attracting people, that does need to morph and evolve.

0:13:18.0 KD: So I just wanna put it out there, between the dental assisting school and how to hire. And then, the third piece with hiring dental assistants for you guys is really get scrappy. You guys, dental assisting is thankfully one of the easier positions to hire. Notice I didn't say easy, it's an easier, it's not going to be without hardship, it's not gonna be hard. Like it will be tricky. But you guys can actually train dental assistants. So on our website, the dentalateam.com, we do actually have a dental assistant course which I purposely made for people who have zero dental experience. It's not a hundred percent perfect. I don't sit there and teach them exactly how to suction or how to exactly retract. It's not like, guys, I'm not teaching a full-blown dental assisting course. However, it does have all of dentistry 101.

0:14:03.9 KD: So even new hires who have no dental experience, it has tooth numbers and all the instruments and all the different procedures and what these procedures are and the types of trace setups in there. So that is a resource for you. And a lot of offices have actually started utilizing our online course. Again, it's over at the dentalateam.com. Just click on virtual academy and the dental assistant course is right there for you and you can use it for all of your employees. Plus we also have training videos. So if you guys want access to that, be sure to reach out and ask for those 'cause those are a really, really, really, really great resource for you guys who don't have a lot of time, but they're using that and then they're training those dental assistants. So then they're going and finding people at Starbucks, people at McDonald's, people in fast food restaurants, people who have that grit, hustle and wanna show up but just don't know dentistry. And they train them to be excellent dental assistants.

0:14:51.9 KD: I have an office that every quarter trains three dental assistants on their own. They don't have a dental assisting school 'cause the state of New York is real tricky. And they literally train three of them for their five practices every single quarter, every quarter. And they have made it up, they've utilized a lot of our online program, they've created them on their own and within three months they can have a full blown dental assistant. So I just wanna expand your minds. And if you guys want help with that, that is something we do help and coach with, of you want help on how do I attract people. And then the fourth piece of advice, I guess maybe this is my fifth, I'm not quite sure. One is dental assistant, two is writing better ads, three is training them up. So I think four, make sure that your culture and your workplace is a place that people actually wanna be at.

0:15:34.5 KD: You can't compete with the best unless your practice is actually a pretty killer place to be, a pretty awesome place to be. And that starts with you as a leader. That starts with your team, your culture, and really rising. So guys, if we can help with that in any way, email us [email protected]. This is what we do with our offices. This is how we problem solve for them directly. We write their ads for them, we help them figure it out. We're constantly strategizing with them. So if having a constant strategist and pretty much a little dental hacks fairy godmother in your pocket that literally is working on your practice with you, that's what Dental A Team Consulting is all about. And I would love to work with you. So don't take the hard path when it can be easy because I truly believe that this could be easy. And with Dental A team, it can. So reach out, [email protected] or head to our website and schedule a call. I'd love to chat with you and I'd love to help take your practice from where it is today to where, you know it can be.

0:16:25.2 KD: Good luck hiring those dental assistants guys. Make sure that you have a place where people actually wanna be. And as always, thanks for listening and I'll catch you next time on the Dental A team podcast. And that wraps it up for another episode of the Dental A Team Podcast. Thank you so much for listening and we'll talk to you next time.