Wise-up Wednesday from Zane Benefits: Recruiting in an online era — 4 tips for dental practices

How you treat your dental practice employees is just as important as how you treat your patients. Why? Two words. Technology transparency.

Most dental practices know the importance of online patient feedback through websites such as Yelp, Angie’s List, Facebook, and Google. But in an increasingly online world, employees, not just patients, are hitting the web to communicate what they like and don’t like about your practice.

Rave employee reviews help you recruit quality employees, while bad employee reviews mean spending resources to fill open positions and attract new patients. To help wrap your mind around this new human resource trend, let’s look at why technology transparency matters to your dental practice’s recruiting strategies.

An employee said what online? As an employer, there is no place to hide when it comes to employee and patient satisfaction. More so than ever before, employees and customers are reviewing businesses online for the entire world to see.

Employees are using standard customer review and social media websites, as well as employment-specific sites such as Glassdoor and LinkedIn, to report on what it’s like to work for your practice. This trend means your employee satisfaction and culture — once hidden behind closed doors — is out in the open. This can feel vulnerable and scary as you wonder, “What are employees saying online?”

Wise dental practices will understand how to use this new trend for recruiting advantages.

4 tips to successfully recruit in an online era
The lesson here is, do not be afraid of online transparency.Employees (and customers) can be great brand ambassadors for your practice. The trick is to know how to leverage it to improve, not hurt, your hiring strategies. Here are four simple wise-up tips to get you started.

1. Take control of your online presence
Regardless if you are part of the online conversation or not, it’s happening. As such, you cannot afford to ignore it. Take control of your online presence by setting up profiles on review websites, posting open positions online, responding to comments and feedback online, and knowing what is being said. Weave in information about your dental practice’s vision, mission, and company culture to show prospective candidates that your dental practice is a great place to work.

2. Provide employees a way to offer constructive feedback, offline
Consider this. If an employee has an effective way to provide constructive or negative feedback to you offline, they may take this route first. As such, make sure employees know how to offer feedback in private, and make sure they are heard. For terminated employees, conduct exit interviews and ask for candid feedback. This gives past employees a way to vent offline.

3. Encourage employees to sing your praises online
Do you feel like your employees are great brand ambassadors? Ask them to post positive reviews on different websites about working for your dental practice.

4. Address the negative, fast
Lastly, if an employee (or former employee) posts negative feedback online, address it in a timely and professional manner. In some cases, consider asking employees to take down their negative comments after their concerns are addressed directly.

Conclusion
Online transparency is changing the way dental practices do businesses in terms of both patient and employee satisfaction. But don’t worry, there is no need to run away from this new trend. Embrace technology transparency by taking control of your online presence, be a high-feedback business, and encourage employees to be your brand ambassadors. For successful dental practices, you’ll see a positive online brand for both prospective patients and prospective employees.

PAST WISE-UP WEDNESDAYS
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5 HR tips to make any dentist’s life easier
How your dental practice can transition to individual health insurance

Wise-up Wednesday is presented bi-monthly from the experts at Zane Benefits. One Wednesday a month features Human Resource issues, and the other Wednesday discusses health benefits. Want more HR tips for your dental practice? Download this complimentary guide from Zane Benefits.