The patient experience doesn’t begin and end in the consultation room. Patients interact with a number of different personnel, from the front desk staff to nurses and assistants. These interactions shape your patients’ experience and overall perception of your practice, so ensuring that your staff properly reflects your brand and company culture is vital. Here’s what to think about when considering a new hire.
Why You’re Hiring
There should be a business case for every business decision that you make, including hiring. Before you post that job listing, think about the business case that you’re solving and what success looks like. Are you expanding or looking to streamline operations? Striving to improve the patient experience, solve a particular issue, or bridge a gap? Once you’ve determined your needs and goals, take the time to outline a job position with an accompanying list of tasks and responsibilities. This will help you target your job listing to the right kind of person.
What Qualities are you Seeking?
Skills and experience matter – but aren’t all you should be looking for. “Soft skills” such as people skills, ability to communicate, and initiative are all vital qualities that can’t necessarily be taught. Consider your overall brand and culture and what kind of attributes are most valued. For example, empathy and accountability matter in a patient-centered environment, while productivity and attention to detail are key in an environment heavy on admin, such as medical billing. Defining these qualities and the duties an applicant will be expected to perform well makes it much easier to find the right fit.
What Your Training Plan Looks Like
Do you need someone to hit the ground running, or do you have a detailed onboarding process that will help new hires get up to speed? The degree of training required will depend partly on the role and any unique in-house processes or technology that you use – but it’s worth taking into account when making your final decision. Knowing that you have robust training programs in place means that you can give more weight to an otherwise great applicant who might need some onboarding to really thrive. But you’ll also want to take it into account when looking at your overall hiring timeline – will your onboarding process add a day, a week, or a month to the whole process? Get started accordingly!
Who Will Be Doing the Hiring
In a small clinic, it might make sense for a physician-owner to handle the hiring process. However, in general, it’s a good idea to have an HR professional or management-level staff member handle applicant selection and interviews. These individuals will have a good sense of your practice’s culture, needs, and operations and will be able to quickly and professionally identify top applicants. If you’re a smaller clinic and don’t want to handle the hiring yourself, consider using a recruiter or staffing agency. They’ll help handle the administrative side of things but will consult with key personnel before making hiring decisions – ensuring you have the final say over the new hire.
The Right People Matter
At Gittleson Zuppas Medical Realty, we know that the right people are vital to ensuring your business runs smoothly. As medical real estate specialists, we not only hire passionate experts in medical real estate, but we’re committed to robust onboarding and ongoing professional development. Because a right fit for us means a right fit for you when you’re considering expanding or relocating your practice, if you’re hiring new personnel because you’re looking to grow your business, talk to us today!