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Are you struggling to find and retain the right dental team members? Welcome to the struggle of the century.
It can feel like you’re stuck in a constant cycle of hiring, training, and replacing staff. And that cycle can quickly go from frustrating to costly – especially with the growing need for dental professionals across the country.
But what if you could take the guesswork out of hiring and build a high-performing team that actually stays?
On a recent Dawson Academy webinar, dental hiring expert Larry Guzzardo walked through three key steps that can enhance how you attract and retain top talent.
Beyond the basics – such as identifying your key needs and how to connect the dots between professionals and open roles – Guzzardo shows that it’s the simple things many teams overlook that can change how you hire.
Want to watch the full webinar with Larry Guzzardo? Click here to learn more and follow The Dawson Academy online to catch all of our past and future content!
A team member leaving your practice is more than just a hit to your headcount. You’re often losing valuable experience and facing a financial and emotional avalanche that impacts your entire operation.
What is the typical process you follow when someone leaves?
You spend money on recruitment ads to try to gather potential candidates. You then invest hours of time reviewing resumes and conducting interviews – time that could be spent seeing patients.
Then, once you hire someone new, you’re looking at training costs and reduced efficiency while they learn your systems. If patients notice the constant staff changes, you might even lose their trust and their business.
Most practices can afford to spend about 20% of net collections on staff wages, with an additional 5% for taxes and benefits. So when turnover is high, you’re essentially throwing away this investment repeatedly.
But there’s more than just financial costs. When a team member leaves – even under amiable terms – your remaining staff absorbs the extra work.
As pressure mounts and people work longer hours, “nerves start to fray,” and you’ll see people’s true colors emerge – often not in a good way.
This stress creates a domino effect: overworked employees become unhappy employees, and unhappy employees become former employees.
The first step to better hiring is understanding exactly what you’re looking for – and more importantly, what you’re NOT looking for.
Stop hiring for skills and experience. Instead, hire for fit and attitude.
There isn’t anything in a dental office that we couldn’t teach somebody who’s got a good attitude and is ready to work.
Sure, you can teach someone to take digital X-rays or use your practice management software. But can you train a cheerful attitude under pressure? Or to genuinely care about patient comfort?
Before posting any job, create a detailed job description that includes at least 10 specific skills necessary for the position. These could be team performance expectations, such as maintaining a positive attitude under pressure, physical requirements, and clear objectives for the role.
It may seem like a lot, but remember, this isn’t busywork – it’s your roadmap for everything that follows.
Don’t limit yourself to posting on Indeed and hoping for the best. Smart practices are finding talent in unexpected places.
When resumes start flowing in, think elimination, not selection. Your filter for each round should quickly remove candidates who show poor spelling or grammar skills, have unexplained employment gaps, and other red flags.
In short, if they can’t proofread a resume, imagine their patient notes.
Once you’ve narrowed down your candidates, it’s time for the interview – but not the kind you’re probably used to.
First, know the legal aspects of the interview process. This means you stick to job-related questions only.
You can ask about specific experience with procedures, their ability to work required hours, and the physical skills to perform job duties.
Behavioral questions like “Are you a team player?” are likely not going to help you find the right person. These days, everyone who makes it past the resume stage knows the “right” answer.
Instead, use situational questions that reveal how candidates actually think and work:
Always end with: “Who can I contact to verify this?” You’ll be amazed at how stories might change when people know you’ll check!
If possible, consider implementing a 3-5 day paid working interview. This isn’t free labor – you’re paying them to show you what they can actually do.
Watch how they interact with your team and handle real patient situations. Can they learn quickly? Will they adapt?
This relatively small investment saves you from hiring someone who interviewed well but can’t perform.
You’ve found your ideal candidate – now don’t blow it with a weak onboarding process.
The first and most important step? Start building personal and cultural connections before their first day.
You could send a welcome package with office swag or have team members send welcome emails. Better yet? Create a process by which they can complete all paperwork in advance.
An excellent and frictionless pre-boarding process gets new hires emotionally invested before they even start.
Make sure the dentist is actively involved in onboarding. Guzzardo recommends personal greetings on day one, daily 10-minute check-ins for the first two weeks, and monthly reviews during the 90-day introductory period.
These touchpoints seem small, but they allow you space to correct small issues before they become bad habits. And that small moment of personal attention shows new hires that they’re valued team members, not just employees.
Provide a detailed training schedule showing what they’ll learn each week, as well as who will train them (and make the connection in person!) Make sure you share when they’ll be evaluated, and how success is measured.
Remember: it’s much easier to shape behavior in the first 90 days than to change those habits later.
Building a great dental team doesn’t happen by accident – it happens by following a proven system.
This week, review and update your job descriptions for every position. For your next hire, implement the three-step screening, interviewing, and onboarding process.
Always check references for every candidate, no exceptions. Long-term, invest in team development and create a culture people don’t want to leave.
These strategies can enhance how you build your dental team, but implementation is everything. If you’re ready to dive deeper and get hands-on training for your entire team, The Dawson Academy offers comprehensive courses designed specifically for dental practices.
Take the first step today. Learn more online, take the first steps in upgrading your hiring process, and start building the dream team your practice deserves.
Because when you hire right, you don’t just fill positions – you build a practice that thrives.
Learn more about dental team training and practice management at The Dawson Academy
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