A: Staffing, in my opinion, is the most challenging aspect of my private practice. Most independent optometrists are highly driven, motivated individuals, and we look for these qualities in our staff. After all, we are hiring our staff to be extensions of ourselves and our vision for our practice.

The conundrum is in finding these individuals; identifying who would be a good fit and then making them happy, successful long-term staff. Here are some ideas I have found useful:

IDENTIFY YOUR CANDIDATE

The recruitment of what may seem like a “good” candidate is not difficult. I’ve (unfortunately) found that many people may interview well, say all the right things and have fantastic references, but later on reveal tendencies that make me wonder, “What did I miss in the interview? I should have known something like this would happen.” I have questioned the whole hiring process. So, how can this front-end exchange be improved?

• Employ a phone screen. This should be done before engaging in a person-to-person interview. Things you are looking for in the candidate: Are they articulate? Do they project well on the phone? After all, phone conversations are something almost all staff will perform with patients, even if just occasionally. If there is an inability for effective communication, this may be the end of their candidacy for the job.
• Have the candidate interview with staff. If the initial phone screening goes well, bring them in for an interview with management. This is another test of the applicant. Are they on time? Do they present well? Have they researched the practice, and do they have questions? They should.
  The interview itself should proceed with the standard questions we all know, such as “Tell me about your work history.” Then see how well-spoken they are in verbalizing their history. But, it’s more about how they respond. Did they answer your question? Were they wordy, or really short? Are they listening and engaging? I would recommend you have two key staff members sit in on this interview. They may catch different aspects of the candidate’s conversation and, thus, help in the decision making.
• Have the candidate interview with the owner-doctor. If the candidate is a frontrunner for the position, this is when you schedule the second interview with the owner-doctor or highest management. This will serve much of the same purposes as the first interview, but I am expecting the candidate to have more questions, specifically for me. I ask them pointed and respectful questions about their long-term goals and history of employment to help fill in the gaps.
  Interestingly, we had an equipment rep who was in our conference area last week when I and several key staff were going through this exact step. As he was repairing our equipment (and was there with the consent of the candidate), he told us later that we asked “hard questions” of the candidates but he was impressed with our overall process. As I told him, these “hard questions” could save us a lot of “hard” days and weeks in the future. Examples: “If you weren’t here interviewing for this job, what would you want to be doing instead?” “Why are you interested in working here?” and “What intrigues you about this job?”
• Check references. I know it may seem that all references are going to be stellar. You would be surprised at how many references I’ve talked to who have given mediocre recommendations, or who are alarmingly upset their name was even given as a reference. Take the time to check, as you never know what you may find out.
  A consideration: This process takes time and energy. It may not be the best use of a doctor’s time, and you may not have upper management to help you handle it all. There are services available that can take part of this process on for you.

TRAIN STAFF

Having a great training plan in place is critical to successful staff members. Perhaps you want the new staff member to rotate and be generally training in all areas before ending with the primary role and doing “major” training there. Or, maybe you are super-focused on having them become experts first in their position before opening up training in other areas of the office. Either way, a plan with quality checks, such as having specific tasks assigned to them and seeing how well they follow up along the way, to ensure information is being retained is key.

Also, check in with the new staff member. Primarily, I am looking for resourcefulness at this stage. I don’t expect a new staff member to know everything, but I am looking for the individual to display the drive to ask or to find out what is needed.

CHECK IN WITH EMPLOYEES

• One-on-one meetings. Our practice hosts these meetings every month, or as needed, with each staff member and my office manager and operations manager. One-on-one meetings have proven key this year for me. These meetings serve as a “check in” and are for the staff member to talk about how work is going for them and any concerns/questions they have. Unlike performance reviews, these meetings are a platform for a staff member to voice their opinions confidentially and feel empowered. Employees have shared with me that this is what they value the most in our new managerial structure, and our culture of positivity shows this.
• Performance evaluations. This is done biannually now at my office. In this meeting, unlike one-on-one meetings, the management reviews the employee’s performance. The main shift we made this year, though, is not only to ensure the employee is meeting basic job requirements, but that the employee is working well as a team member.
  We had found at my practice that staff members may have the skills to perform the job, but not the interpersonal skills to succeed. As we all know, a knowledgeable and skilled employee doesn’t always make for a good employee. I am now perfectly okay letting go very skilled staff members who create drama or have constant issues with co-workers. This has done wonders in maintaining a positive culture for those employees who stay.

GROWTH MINDSET

Lastly, I believe it is very important to inquire and encourage growth for each staff member within their current role and in possible expansion. The value of a staff member who can lend help in other areas of the office, yet be a master of their chief role, is incredible. But, as I’ve evaluated this over the past year, I realize it’s more about the growth mindset than anything else. Do your staff members want to learn? Grow? Challenge themselves? If not, they will stagnate, and I find that this creates apathy on the part of the staff member and frustration on the part of management. No one wins in this case. I’ve found setting expectations that growth is a part of the roles in my office, which may feel uncomfortable and challenging, helps identify staff who embrace this concept.

New ways of finding and retaining good staff are something I’m on the lookout for constantly. This process is dynamic for me and my practice. It will likely look slightly different a year from now, and the year following that. It took me some time to be settled with that concept, but people are ever-changing. We should be, too, to have the best for our practices. OM

DR. WESLEY practices at Complete Eye Care of Medina, a Vision Source practice, which she opened in 2008. She was honored as Minnesota’s Optometrist of the Year in 2011. Email drwesley@cecofmedina.com.