Best practices for hiring staff: Stay current and attract the best candidates

01/03

Hiring staff for the medical practice can fuel success or spell trouble. Also, finding the right staff is as much an art as it is a science. The reality for most employers, including physicians, who engage in hiring staff is that they may not be skilled at the process, or may find it frustrating, and in turn may compromise by hiring staff that are not a good fit for the practice team.

There have been many advancements in hiring strategies, practices, and tools over the past 10 years due to changing markets and economies, supply and demand in the labour force, and the use of technology.

The Right Candidates

Maintaining a practice with a positive office and patient-centred culture will mean that candidates may come to you for job opportunities on a regular basis by sending in or dropping off a resumé. The following tips can help you successfully evaluate whether a candidate is right for the job and a good fit for your team.

The Job Posting

For most offices, a good starting point when embarking on the hiring process is to develop a simple job posting. A posting should set the tone for the position

and your office. Naturally, you should include a description of main duties, expectations and qualifications of the job. You should also include a sentence or two about yourself, your office, and your clinic. For example, an opening sentence that states, “Dr. Wilson has been servicing the Waterloo community in her busy medical practice for over 25 years,” may attract a different candidate than one that states, “Dr. Emmerson is looking for a bright, energetic team member to join his practice at his newly built, state-of-the-art surgical facility.” Both descriptions are correct if they accurately and genuinely portray the office to which the candidate is applying, but each will attract a different set of candidates.

You can also use the qualifications section of a job posting as a valuable screening tool. For example, if the job requires the staff member to be able to work from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. for three days of the week, and to 6:00 p.m. the other two weekdays, state this information in the posting to ensure you only attract those candidates who can fulfil this requirement. Employers often neglect to include such information, and only after investing a great deal of time into contacting and meeting with a candidate do they learn that the candidate is not able to accommodate this important requirement.

Where To Post A Job Opening

Clients often ask for advice on the best websites or online sources to post a job opening in order to attract qualified candidates.

There are many local paid job posting sites that are often linked with media outlets, such as smaller, local newspapers, as well as popular sites such as Workopolis, Monster, and LinkedIn, that are easy and reasonably affordable to access. However, many clients have had considerable success finding qualified candidates on free websites like Kijiji and Craigslist. These popular sites have become beacons for job seekers. Consider posting your job on each site’s “medical” category one week and in the “customer service” category the next week (most sites only let you post the same job in one category at a time). You will quickly see that both categories deliver qualified candidates with direct and transferable skills.

Lastly, remember to leverage your networks by sending your job posting to your professional contacts — they know you and your business best, and this can greatly help in attracting the right type of candidates.

Think Outside Your Industry Box

With the exception of staff who require specific medical or technical qualifications to fill a position (e.g., nurse, therapist), you may wish to consider candidates who possess skills acquired outside of the medical profession to join your practice team. For example, the main skills required for positions such as receptionist, office assistant, surgical coordinator or office manager are transferable skills, meaning that a candidate can acquire and develop core abilities in one setting (e.g., a business office) and transfer them successfully to the medical practice environment.

In our work supporting clients with their hiring process, we have found that candidates whose skills were honed in industries such as hospitality, airline, retail, and food services can transfer successfully into the medical setting. Consider this: would you prefer to hire a medical office assistant who may know medical terminology, but does not answer your phone promptly or engage readily with patients, or would you prefer someone with experience in a retail or restaurant setting, who has learned to

manage customer and guest requests and expectations, prioritize tasks, and is detail oriented? There’s a solid argument to be made that while the second candidate can be taught medical terminology, the first candidate cannot be taught core behaviours and work styles that so strongly define how they do the job.

Read The Resumé

Busy employers are notorious for scanning documents instead of reading them in detail. When seeking the ideal job candidate, look for a skills-based resumé and draw out the transferable skills that may apply to your job posting. Also, look for an outcomes-based resumé, which includes accomplishments, achievements and metrics.

For example, you can deduce more about the skills and competencies of a potential receptionist from a sentence that states, “Reduced patient wait times by implementing new intake process” or “Organized four annual medical education sessions for staff,” than vague descriptions such as, “Responsible for answering the telephone and making appointments” or “Works well under pressure.”

Get Better Results

The InterviewInterviews are intended to further qualify and screen job candidates. The interview process requires a serious commitment of time and resources. The following tips and strategies can help make the process more efficient, and the outcome more successful.

ScreeningAssuming that you have a strong job posting, and a posting process that screens candidates based on qualifications and transferable skills, the next order of business is to develop a short-list of candidates to interview.

Screening candidates by phone is still a popular, useful and efficient strategy — it takes five to 10 minutes and often provides an accurate snapshot of a candidate’s communication style, vocabulary, and general demeanour. If you wish to conduct a phone interview that exceeds 10 minutes, it’s considered a general courtesy to let the candidate know in advance by leaving a short and confidential phone message or email indicating the length of time the interview will require. In fact, using email to contact

a candidate is also an effective screening tool as it provides you with an opportunity to experience a candidate’s response time, written vocabulary, and professional tone.

While the hiring process can seem tedious and time consuming, utilizing the strategies outlined above can help make it a more effective endeavour. However, like any process, hiring practices should be critiqued after each trial to determine whether small changes and improvements can be made in order to achieve even better results. The ideal outcome of the hiring process is to attract, hire and retain the best staff to help ensure the success of your practice.

Hiring staff for the medical practice can fuel success or spell trouble. Also, finding the right staff is as much an art as it is a science. The reality for most employers, including physicians, who engage in hiring staff is that they may not be skilled at the process, or may find it frustrating, and in turn may compromise by hiring staff that are not a good fit for the practice team.

There have been many advancements in hiring strategies, practices, and tools over the past 10 years due to changing markets and economies, supply and demand in the labour force, and the use of technology.

The Right Candidates

Maintaining a practice with a positive office and patient-centred culture will mean that candidates may come to you for job opportunities on a regular basis by sending in or dropping off a resumé. The following tips can help you successfully evaluate whether a candidate is right for the job and a good fit for your team.

The Job Posting

For most offices, a good starting point when embarking on the hiring process is to develop a simple job posting. A posting should set the tone for the position

and your office. Naturally, you should include a description of main duties, expectations and qualifications of the job. You should also include a sentence or two about yourself, your office, and your clinic. For example, an opening sentence that states, “Dr. Wilson has been servicing the Waterloo community in her busy medical practice for over 25 years,” may attract a different candidate than one that states, “Dr. Emmerson is looking for a bright, energetic team member to join his practice at his newly built, state-of-the-art surgical facility.” Both descriptions are correct if they accurately and genuinely portray the office to which the candidate is applying, but each will attract a different set of candidates.

You can also use the qualifications section of a job posting as a valuable screening tool. For example, if the job requires the staff member to be able to work from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. for three days of the week, and to 6:00 p.m. the other two weekdays, state this information in the posting to ensure you only attract those candidates who can fulfil this requirement. Employers often neglect to include such information, and only after investing a great deal of time into contacting and meeting with a candidate do they learn that the candidate is not able to accommodate this important requirement.

Where To Post A Job Opening

Clients often ask for advice on the best websites or online sources to post a job opening in order to attract qualified candidates.

There are many local paid job posting sites that are often linked with media outlets, such as smaller, local newspapers, as well as popular sites such as Workopolis, Monster, and LinkedIn, that are easy and reasonably affordable to access. However, many clients have had considerable success finding qualified candidates on free websites like Kijiji and Craigslist. These popular sites have become beacons for job seekers. Consider posting your job on each site’s “medical” category one week and in the “customer service” category the next week (most sites only let you post the same job in one category at a time). You will quickly see that both categories deliver qualified candidates with direct and transferable skills.

Lastly, remember to leverage your networks by sending your job posting to your professional contacts — they know you and your business best, and this can greatly help in attracting the right type of candidates.

Think Outside Your Industry Box

With the exception of staff who require specific medical or technical qualifications to fill a position (e.g., nurse, therapist), you may wish to consider candidates who possess skills acquired outside of the medical profession to join your practice team. For example, the main skills required for positions such as receptionist, office assistant, surgical coordinator or office manager are transferable skills, meaning that a candidate can acquire and develop core abilities in one setting (e.g., a business office) and transfer them successfully to the medical practice environment.

In our work supporting clients with their hiring process, we have found that candidates whose skills were honed in industries such as hospitality, airline, retail, and food services can transfer successfully into the medical setting. Consider this: would you prefer to hire a medical office assistant who may know medical terminology, but does not answer your phone promptly or engage readily with patients, or would you prefer someone with experience in a retail or restaurant setting, who has learned to

02/03

manage customer and guest requests and expectations, prioritize tasks, and is detail oriented? There’s a solid argument to be made that while the second candidate can be taught medical terminology, the first candidate cannot be taught core behaviours and work styles that so strongly define how they do the job.

Read The Resumé

Busy employers are notorious for scanning documents instead of reading them in detail. When seeking the ideal job candidate, look for a skills-based resumé and draw out the transferable skills that may apply to your job posting. Also, look for an outcomes-based resumé, which includes accomplishments, achievements and metrics.

For example, you can deduce more about the skills and competencies of a potential receptionist from a sentence that states, “Reduced patient wait times by implementing new intake process” or “Organized four annual medical education sessions for staff,” than vague descriptions such as, “Responsible for answering the telephone and making appointments” or “Works well under pressure.”

Get Better Results

The InterviewInterviews are intended to further qualify and screen job candidates. The interview process requires a serious commitment of time and resources. The following tips and strategies can help make the process more efficient, and the outcome more successful.

ScreeningAssuming that you have a strong job posting, and a posting process that screens candidates based on qualifications and transferable skills, the next order of business is to develop a short-list of candidates to interview.

Screening candidates by phone is still a popular, useful and efficient strategy — it takes five to 10 minutes and often provides an accurate snapshot of a candidate’s communication style, vocabulary, and general demeanour. If you wish to conduct a phone interview that exceeds 10 minutes, it’s considered a general courtesy to let the candidate know in advance by leaving a short and confidential phone message or email indicating the length of time the interview will require. In fact, using email to contact

a candidate is also an effective screening tool as it provides you with an opportunity to experience a candidate’s response time, written vocabulary, and professional tone.

While the hiring process can seem tedious and time consuming, utilizing the strategies outlined above can help make it a more effective endeavour. However, like any process, hiring practices should be critiqued after each trial to determine whether small changes and improvements can be made in order to achieve even better results. The ideal outcome of the hiring process is to attract, hire and retain the best staff to help ensure the success of your practice.

Hiring staff for the medical practice can fuel success or spell trouble. Also, finding the right staff is as much an art as it is a science. The reality for most employers, including physicians, who engage in hiring staff is that they may not be skilled at the process, or may find it frustrating, and in turn may compromise by hiring staff that are not a good fit for the practice team.

There have been many advancements in hiring strategies, practices, and tools over the past 10 years due to changing markets and economies, supply and demand in the labour force, and the use of technology.

The Right Candidates

Maintaining a practice with a positive office and patient-centred culture will mean that candidates may come to you for job opportunities on a regular basis by sending in or dropping off a resumé. The following tips can help you successfully evaluate whether a candidate is right for the job and a good fit for your team.

The Job Posting

For most offices, a good starting point when embarking on the hiring process is to develop a simple job posting. A posting should set the tone for the position

and your office. Naturally, you should include a description of main duties, expectations and qualifications of the job. You should also include a sentence or two about yourself, your office, and your clinic. For example, an opening sentence that states, “Dr. Wilson has been servicing the Waterloo community in her busy medical practice for over 25 years,” may attract a different candidate than one that states, “Dr. Emmerson is looking for a bright, energetic team member to join his practice at his newly built, state-of-the-art surgical facility.” Both descriptions are correct if they accurately and genuinely portray the office to which the candidate is applying, but each will attract a different set of candidates.

You can also use the qualifications section of a job posting as a valuable screening tool. For example, if the job requires the staff member to be able to work from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. for three days of the week, and to 6:00 p.m. the other two weekdays, state this information in the posting to ensure you only attract those candidates who can fulfil this requirement. Employers often neglect to include such information, and only after investing a great deal of time into contacting and meeting with a candidate do they learn that the candidate is not able to accommodate this important requirement.

Where To Post A Job Opening

Clients often ask for advice on the best websites or online sources to post a job opening in order to attract qualified candidates.

There are many local paid job posting sites that are often linked with media outlets, such as smaller, local newspapers, as well as popular sites such as Workopolis, Monster, and LinkedIn, that are easy and reasonably affordable to access. However, many clients have had considerable success finding qualified candidates on free websites like Kijiji and Craigslist. These popular sites have become beacons for job seekers. Consider posting your job on each site’s “medical” category one week and in the “customer service” category the next week (most sites only let you post the same job in one category at a time). You will quickly see that both categories deliver qualified candidates with direct and transferable skills.

Lastly, remember to leverage your networks by sending your job posting to your professional contacts — they know you and your business best, and this can greatly help in attracting the right type of candidates.

Think Outside Your Industry Box

With the exception of staff who require specific medical or technical qualifications to fill a position (e.g., nurse, therapist), you may wish to consider candidates who possess skills acquired outside of the medical profession to join your practice team. For example, the main skills required for positions such as receptionist, office assistant, surgical coordinator or office manager are transferable skills, meaning that a candidate can acquire and develop core abilities in one setting (e.g., a business office) and transfer them successfully to the medical practice environment.

In our work supporting clients with their hiring process, we have found that candidates whose skills were honed in industries such as hospitality, airline, retail, and food services can transfer successfully into the medical setting. Consider this: would you prefer to hire a medical office assistant who may know medical terminology, but does not answer your phone promptly or engage readily with patients, or would you prefer someone with experience in a retail or restaurant setting, who has learned to

03/03

manage customer and guest requests and expectations, prioritize tasks, and is detail oriented? There’s a solid argument to be made that while the second candidate can be taught medical terminology, the first candidate cannot be taught core behaviours and work styles that so strongly define how they do the job.

Read The Resumé

Busy employers are notorious for scanning documents instead of reading them in detail. When seeking the ideal job candidate, look for a skills-based resumé and draw out the transferable skills that may apply to your job posting. Also, look for an outcomes-based resumé, which includes accomplishments, achievements and metrics.

For example, you can deduce more about the skills and competencies of a potential receptionist from a sentence that states, “Reduced patient wait times by implementing new intake process” or “Organized four annual medical education sessions for staff,” than vague descriptions such as, “Responsible for answering the telephone and making appointments” or “Works well under pressure.”

Get Better Results

The InterviewInterviews are intended to further qualify and screen job candidates. The interview process requires a serious commitment of time and resources. The following tips and strategies can help make the process more efficient, and the outcome more successful.

ScreeningAssuming that you have a strong job posting, and a posting process that screens candidates based on qualifications and transferable skills, the next order of business is to develop a short-list of candidates to interview.

Screening candidates by phone is still a popular, useful and efficient strategy — it takes five to 10 minutes and often provides an accurate snapshot of a candidate’s communication style, vocabulary, and general demeanour. If you wish to conduct a phone interview that exceeds 10 minutes, it’s considered a general courtesy to let the candidate know in advance by leaving a short and confidential phone message or email indicating the length of time the interview will require. In fact, using email to contact

a candidate is also an effective screening tool as it provides you with an opportunity to experience a candidate’s response time, written vocabulary, and professional tone.

While the hiring process can seem tedious and time consuming, utilizing the strategies outlined above can help make it a more effective endeavour. However, like any process, hiring practices should be critiqued after each trial to determine whether small changes and improvements can be made in order to achieve even better results. The ideal outcome of the hiring process is to attract, hire and retain the best staff to help ensure the success of your practice.

For inquiries about this content or OMA Practice Management & Education, please contact us.1.800.268.7215 or 416.599.2580 | practicemanagement@oma.org | OMA.org

For additional information on hiring and managing your medical office staff, please refer to the OMA Practice Management & Education (PME) guidebook, “Managing Your Medical Staff: An HR Guide for Physicians”. PME resources aim to help physicians maintain a successful medical practice, including skills development, usable tools, and medical billing support. Additional resources on these and other topics are available at www.oma.org.

This article was written by Ildi Wiley and originally published in the June 2013 issue of the Ontario Medical Review.