By Brandon Hess, CVPM, CCFP
It doesn’t matter if it’s called “baptism by fire”, “sink or swim” or “thrown to the wolves.” Taking this approach is a sure-fire way to ensure your new hires do not have a good on boarding experience. How do you make sure that your stellar new hire doesn’t quit suddenly? Check the following 5 boxes, and you will have the best chance at turning that new-hire into a long-term, team player.
1. Hiring the Right Person: Hiring with the “hire fast, fire slow” mentality is one of the worst mistakes one can make. While it can be difficult for practices to find credentialed techs and DVMs, you should ensure they are the right fit for the culture and direction of the practice. If your practice’s bus is headed in one direction, and you hire someone that is trying to pull the steering wheel in another, they will naturally become an outsider. Seasoned staff members will not want to engage with that person, let alone train them.
2. Current Documents: One of the most common frustrations that new hires mention is unclear, or unknown expectations. Setting clear expectations of employment starts during the interview process. When interviewing a candidate, it is essential that you provide them with an updated job description. This lets them know what the practice expects from them. It also allows them to ask questions and gives you a chance to clarify anything that was unexpected. In addition to this, a new hire should review and sign an updated employee manual prior to beginning work. This allows the candidate/new hire to understand the policies and procedures, which they will be held accountable for.
3. Phase Training: A new employer, new staff members and potentially a new career is enough to overwhelm a candidate. If you throw an unorganized, or overwhelming training process into the mix, it may be enough to force them out of the practice. When developing an on-boarding training program, break it into phases. Once one phase is completed, the employee should review it with the appropriate member of management. The employee should then receive their next phase. This not only makes it less overwhelming for them, but it also has built in touch-points with the supervisor.
4. The Right Mentors: Ask yourself the hard question: “Do I have the right people in the mentorship/training roles?” The easy thing to do is to elevate someone who has great hard skills, such as: placing IVC, drawing blood, working the computer etc. Yet, they are not always the ones that have just as good soft skills (communication, engagement, buy-in etc.). A trainer/mentor must have both. If that person has great hard skills, but isn’t approachable then the trainee will not trust voicing concerns, or asking questions.
5. Follow-Up: A few weeks ago we posted a blog about 30/60/90 day reviews. These are essential to the success of a candidate. If the suggestion in #3 is heeded, then you will already have follow-ups in the works. Refer to the blog link above for further information about these reviews.
By following these 5 steps you will be giving your new hires the best chance of success with your practice. Instead of feeling like an outsider, they will feel empowered and like part of the team.