By Pat Atanas


Whatever business you are in, a common challenge for everyone is to find and keep the right staff. In our profession, there seems to be an even larger problem in this area simply due to the fact that most doctors tend to look for someone who will "run the office" and neglect to expect the additional quality of having that individual also understand the responsibility of nurturing proper health care.

The steps of finding the "right team member" is a process that cannot be accomplished by merely placing ads or having interviews. Since valuable time and money is spent on training new employees, I suggest we take a look at steps we can do during the hiring process which can enhance the probability of attracting people who will be more likely to fill a necessary role.

• Decide Up Front Exactly What Type Of Person You Need For The Job

By creating a "candidate profile" and determining the necessary skills, energy level and personality you would like to work with, your selection process will be forced to meet certain requirements which helps the decision making process to be easier. Be realistic in terms of salary when you are determining employee responsibilities and remember.......You get what you pay for!!

• Have Phone Interviews Before A Personal One

Whether you are accepting resumes or having your applicants call in, set up a specific time to clearly define exactly what you are looking for, hours needed and determine the applicant's salary requirements ( it might be out of range of the allowed budget). Aside from avoiding time wasted in a personal interview (if the position is not something the applicant wants or can do), this process also helps you to know a little about the personality of the individual. For example, ask yourself if the voice you are hearing is clear and friendly? Put emphasis on wanting someone who believes in chiropractic or is interested in learning to help others understand a way of health and find
out if the applicant is willing to travel for seminars to enhance their abilities. In other words, let everyone know up front, this is more than a job......it is a commitment.

• Have a Group Interview With All Applicants

This should be a meeting where chiropractic is described along with job requirements and staff policies in full detail. While helping to avoid repeating yourself many times, it also helps you the employer or office manager to see all of your choices together. Notice how they react to what they are hearing, this will help you to determine who is genuinely intrigued in the position being offered. After the group meeting, mini-interviews should be conducted on a one-to-one basis to finalize your decision process. Notice the applicant's eye-contact, hand-shake and hand-writing. These are tools that show confidence an interest. It is during this time that individual salary requirements will be discussed. Consider having a probationary period from one to two months to see if this situation is what you both want.

• Don't Settle

If no one adds up to your expectations, the bottom line is keep looking!! Think of it like a marriage.....If it doesn't "feel right" in the beginning, it usually does not get any better! It is better to use a temporary service, student or even a relative to help out rather than make a decision based upon urgency rather than competence.

• Set Specific Training Time

While all new staff should have an employee orientation (time to familiarize them with your policies, other staff members and office functions), training should be on-going with seminars and weekly staff meetings to develop ways of giving better service. Education never stops!!!

• Have Periodic Reviews

Quarterly performance reviews can help increase morale and production since feed-back is always important. Have all reviews scheduled in advance to give both you and your employee an opportunity to prepare for the meeting.

• Keep Employee Files

Acceptance of policies, documentation of lateness,absences, insurance forms and warnings are just some of the items that are necessary to keep in a separate file. Many labor disputes have been decided against an employer for not having "cause for termination" when actually all they didn't have was documentation of behavior against office policy.

• Never Look The Other Way

The one thing to remember when handling allemployees is to always let them know what is expected of them. Sometimes I hear "but I'm tired of saying the same thing". When we avoid confrontation, we are not giving the employee the opportunity to perform the job as we require. It is how we say something that creates the effect. Consistency is the key. If certain job responsibilities are important than we need to check and always see that they are being done.

• Be A Role Model

If you expect your staff to be friendly, motivated and service oriented, it must first come from YOU. As you lead, so shall they follow!