HR FORUM

Hiring 101

Start the year off on the right foot by creating a winning staff recruitment plan

Clearly, a skilled and motivated team is your most valuable asset. Yet many ECPs miss the mark when it comes to their hiring processes.

For some ECPs, hiring is a dreaded task. Many scurry to replace a parting staff member, taking a reactive approach to hiring. Others simply hold on to staff who, other than filling the slot, are otherwise not a correct fit.

TURNOVER COST

Mis-hiring is an expensive proposition. The shift in the employee market as a result of the current generational change is having a tremendous impact on ECPs because of the high cost of turnover. According to recent labor studies, the average cost to replace an employee can reach up to 2.5 times his or her salary.

This cost rarely shows up on your Income Statement, as it’s buried in recruiting costs, time, stress, reduced productivity, and the cost of retraining. However, the cost of staff churn can actually be the largest part of your practice’s overall labor cost.

Your staff is a key element of your brand. Hiring should never be left to chance. For example, your front desk person sees 100 percent of your patients and represents the face of your practice. That should never be the entry-level or lowest-paid position.

PROPER PREPARATION

This year, make successful recruiting part of your New Year’s resolution by using some simple but powerful preparations. Careful adjustments to your recruiting preparation will allow you to hire the right fit, reduce staff churn, and better enable you to flex with whatever future challenges arise.

— Ginamarie Wells

RECRUITING PLAN

Try the recruiting techniques that Cleinman Performance Partners uses to help build your recruiting plan for the New Year:

No. 1

Recognize that recruiting is an ongoing process, and likely one of the most important jobs of a leader.

No. 2

Take stock. Do you have team members who aren’t as productive as they could be? Consider an overall staff assessment, behavioral study (right person/right job), and culture review to establish hiring guidelines.

No. 3

Are you questioning certain positions? Is there an indication that a member of the team may be moving on? Don’t wait for someone to quit before you start recruiting.

No. 4

Take time to think about the result you want to achieve before hiring. Analyze how a specific position contributes to and shapes your practice. For example, if you want more revenue coming from optical sales, then strive for at least a 2:1 optician-to-OD ratio.