With a rise in the popularity of video calling platforms, Kelly Games explores how practices can continue to recruit despite another lockdown.
There’s no doubt about it, the COVID-19 pandemic has far-reaching effects on all areas of our personal and working lives.
Businesses have struggled and this has resulted in job losses across the UK. In addition, many people have taken the opportunity to switch careers after having time at home to reconsider their options.
With this in mind, we have seen a rise in dental practices looking to recruit. But it is important to remain conscious that the process is very different to what you are used to.
However, recruiting the right candidate the first time doesn’t need to be a struggle or a chore. In fact, changing your process could be a blessing.
I’ll discuss some measures you can take and how to improve the overall experience. Not just for yourself, but for your candidates too.
Assessments over CVs
A CV and a cover letter does not always determine someone’s suitability to do the job.
On paper, their job history and experience may have you rolling out the red carpet for them at 9am on Monday morning. Yet realistically, the CV can sometimes mask their ability to perform well in the position.
Testing your applicants before offering them a contract of employment can help you to base your decision on the candidate’s ability to carry out the role required.
You can test your applicants on specific skills and tasks that they would perform as part of their job description or daily routine. This could include charting, knowledge of materials and instruments as well as patient care.
You can also uncover personality traits by asking them to take a personality test. This way you can analyse whether they’re a good fit for your team and the overall practice.
Aptitude tests can reveal the candidate’s skills such as problem-solving, ability to learn and critical thinking.
It’s definitely worth applying assessments to your recruitment process to certify that you are getting quality candidates for the next stage of your application.
Virtual-friendly recruitment
The popularity of video-based calling platforms, such as Zoom, has exploded in recent years and COVID-19 has propelled this further. Not only can practices use it to keep in contact with employees if they are remotely based, it is also great for conference meetings, online learning/courses and most importantly, remote interviews.
There are a lot of advantages to online interviews. Including a quick turnaround, the ease of organising around work, and there’s less pressure on candidates to book time off from their current position in order to travel to your practice. It’s also health and safety friendly!
Using a video-based platform can help candidates to relax more within their familiar surroundings. It allows for their personality to shine through, rather than masking it behind interview nerves.
Incorporating video interviews can really enhance the candidate experience. It highlights how you take employee wellbeing seriously.
As you will have already done the pre-screening assessments, it makes sense for this part of the interview process to be a little less daunting.
Cross-trained employees
Practices have been seeking candidates that can wear multiple hats to enable them to do more with less staff.
Not only does it allow for your company to become more agile and efficient, but individuals are generally more motivated. This then creates a better team spirit.
You may come across some resistance. Employees may view cross-training as added responsibility with no additional pay. So it is important to balance their workload fairly.
Ensure everyone has a fair workload. Provide the same training on all aspects of each job that you’re asking them to carry out. This way, the team can fairly distribute and contribute to the list of daily, weekly and monthly duties.
This can also help to fill gaps when an employee is off sick (especially if your practice is small). It will therefore avoid those costly agency fees.
If done well, cross-training empowers employees to share their expertise without recruiting more staff and this saves money and time with the onboarding process.
How we can help?
You’re probably wearing multiple hats as we speak.
With so many dental practices unable to keep up with the demand of patients post-lockdown and the constant cloud of staff calling in sick, there’s no surprise that you are in demand to be in three, four or five different roles at once.
Adding recruitment on top of everything else is stressful. But it’s also something you need to get right.
Here at CODE we can wear the HR hat for you. This allows you to dust those worries from your shoulders and concentrate on running your business again.
Speak to one of our advisers today to see how we can help you.
For more information on CODE’s Total HR service visit www.codeuk.com/hr or call the team on 01409 254 416.
