It doesn’t matter how great your practice is; even if you have the best systems, patients, and clinical skills in the world, if you keep hiring the wrong people, your culture will always suffer. You need the right people in the right seats, and that means improving your hiring process. However, when you truly break it down, I believe that practice owners don’t have a hiring problem . . . they have a question problem!
Instead of focusing solely on a candidate’s credentials, experience, or technical skills, you must include one crucial component: their core values fit. That’s the real key to finding the right people, because while you can learn skills, you cannot learn values.
Asking the right questions is the key, so when you conduct an interview, you want to include all four of these key types of questions:
Credential-based questions
These are basic questions that focus on education, licensing, and certifications, and they’re necessary because you want to confirm a candidate’s qualifications: “Give us specific examples of certifications or continuing education you’ve completed that are relevant to this role.”
Technical-based questions
It’s important to assess a candidate’s ability to meet the job’s minimum performance standards, and that’s where these questions come into play. They’re about competence: “Walk me through how you would handle a crown delivery procedure or insurance claim verification.”
Experience-based questions
These questions help you explore their past duties and responsibilities so you can see what a candidate has done and how they did it: “Tell me about a previous role and what a typical day looked like.”
Behavior-based questions
I saved this one for last, because it’s the magical piece many practice owners are missing! We love Core Values at ACT and truly believe that when you let them lead the way, it makes everything better. This type of question is crucial, because it lets you dig deeper and learn a person’s values — how they think, react, and live. Some great examples are:
You want someone who embodies your core values, and when you let them show you who they are in the interview, you’ll know immediately if they’ll be a good fit instead of finding out six months down the road that they aren’t.
When asking questions — no matter which type — remember what Kirk says: “Specific is terrific, vague is the plague.” You want to ask specific questions that require more than a Yes or No response, because that’s how you truly learn about a candidate. If you’re only hiring based on what a person knows, instead of who they are, you’re going to end up hiring the wrong person and draining your practice culture. Finding the right person starts with asking the right questions, so start adding behavior-based questions to your interviews and see the difference it makes!
To learn more about ACT and how we can help you build a Better Practice and a Better Life, reach out to Gina!
Tune in next time and learn how your Core Values will transform your practice!