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9-Hiring the right
people – your most valuable investment
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"When you
hire people that are smarter than you are, you prove
you are smarter than they are. "
- R. H. Grant.
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Most doctors take a very casual approach towards employing
staff. Vacancies are filled as and when they arise, and employees
are left to muddle their way through, till they either learn
to do the job, or walk off. Most doctors can get away with
this , because labour laws in India are still very primitive,
and there are few safeguards for employees working in doctor’s
clinics. However, not only is this very wasteful of the doctor’s
time and energy, it is also very shortsighted. After all you
need to remember that just like you spend a lot of time and
money and energy before buying an ECG machine , you need to
spend a lot of time before employing a new staff member. Remember
that your employees are an investment in a successful practice
and you need to build a high-quality staff to keep your practice
running smoothly so you can spend your time practicing medicine
The basic rule is hire tough - a simple, yet powerful principle,
because hiring the right employee will reduce staff turnover.
Your formula for managing your staff should be: Hire tough
- Manage easy. If you are a good manager, you should be able
to go on a two-month vacation and come back to a clinic which
is functioning as efficiently as when you left. A good manager
is one who has truly learned to manage: to get the work done
through other people. You need to teach your employees a sense
of responsibility for their tasks , and should not need to
constantly monitor whether they are fulfilling their duties.
The secret is to hire a person with the right attitude, and
then teach them the skills they need to get the job done.
Each employee represents a major investment. Unfortunately,
doctors only consider how much they actually pay
each employee , and since this is usually a small
amount, they tend not to devote much thought or
energy to hiring the right candidate. However, remember
that hiring the wrong employee can prove to be very
expensive ! If you lose even one patient thanks
to the inefficiency of your staff, this can be a
major financial loss to you. Your employees are
your public face – they represent you to your
patients, so select them with care !
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The quality of your clinic can never exceed the quality of
the people who make it up. You need to have a systematic method
towards employing staff, and you can learn a lot from the
techniques employed by the HRD departments of large companies.
Losing an employee can cause havoc in your practice, because
training a new employee is a time consuming affair. To avoid
costly staff turnover, hire the best personnel possible -
and then make your medical practice a place they won't want
to leave.
Prepare Job Descriptions
Start by writing a job description – what duties does
this job entail ? You also need to write a person specification,
which describes the type of person you want for the job, detailing
skills required, qualifications needed and personal qualities
necessary. Advertise appropriately, then screen resumes to
find those applicants with all or most of the necessary skills,
education and experience to meet that position. You can also
ask your present staff to suggest people who they feel would
make good employees.
Pre-screen Probable Candidates by Phone
Pre-screen those candidates by phone who look best on paper.
A brief conversation can help judge the candidate's telephone
manner. If you don't get a positive feeling, neither will
your patients. Just a few minutes on the phone can eliminate
some candidates and save time that would be wasted in an interview.
Use an Application Form
Develop an application for your practice or use a commercially
available one. Do not just accept the applicant's resume.
Having the applicant complete the form also allows you to
judge his handwriting and spelling skills.
Interviewing
When interviewing, watch for clues that the candidate will
mesh with your practice philosophy and culture.
Consider Testing
To give you an idea of how the applicant will perform on the
job, develop some basic skills tests or use commercially available,
standardized tests for English, spelling, math and keyboarding.
Checking References
When calling for references, provide the applicant's name
and dates of employment shown on the application and mention
the position for which she has applied. Ask open-ended questions
and encourage the person to keep talking. Suggested questions
are: Was the candidate reliable? What were her strongest and
weakest points? Why did she leave? Would you rehire her?
Hiring
When you find that perfect candidate, hire her. Be sure your
salary and benefits are in line with those in your area. A
qualified candidate may have several job offers and you don't
want to lose that individual for a few dollars. Hire qualified
people and give competitive compensation. Many doctors take
pride in paying the absolute minimum to their receptionist
– and this explains why staff turnover is so high. Turnover
generates hiring costs and undercuts efficiency, since it
takes time for employees to get to know your patients, your
idiosyncrasies and the system of patient flow. Consider offering
a few thousand rupees more than the average salary for your
area. If that’s what it takes to have a first class
person representing you at the front desk…it’s
well worth it.
All new hires should be given a probation period
during which time you can assess their on the job
skills. As your interviewing skills are honed, this
period should just be an affirmation that you selected
the right person to fill the job. Once the probation
period is over, it’s a good idea to sign a
formal employee contract. This gives your employee
the job security they need – and also helps
to give you peace of mind that they are likely to
stay with you for at least the period of the contract.
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Just hiring a new person is not enough – to make the
most of them, you need to train them as well, so they fit
in well into your office ! Unfortunately, most doctors simply
employ a new person, and then expect them to learn on the
job itself. Training new personnel can be a source of frustration
for medical practices. It is, after all, quite an undertaking
to try to remember all the tasks related to a particular position
and then to train the new employee to perform that mountain
of tasks .Unfortunately, in many practices, new employees
are forced to learn their duties on the job, often by trial
and error. While this method has long been in use, it is less
than optimal and can lead to poor performance, poor patient
care, low job satisfaction and high employee turnover.
A simple way of having a formal training process is to have
a checklist of the duties a new employee is supposed to master,
and then to provide training in each. When new employees know
what is expected of them, they can take a more active role
in their training and feel they are truly succeeding. In turn,
this can boost job satisfaction for all employees in the practice,
increase efficiency, improve patient care, reduce the rate
of employee turnover and decrease long-term practice expenses.
A four-step training approach is recommended when you are
breaking in a new employee.
1. Demonstrate the skill as you want it performed.
As you demonstrate, point out the important aspects so that
your employee understands why each part is important.
2. Role play with the employee. Always give
the employee an opportunity to practice with you first. Don’t
force your staff to experiment a new skill on a patient.
3. Give the employee feedback on what was done correctly.
Too often managers only correct mistakes. Positive feedback
is much more important in training new skills. Once you have
explained what was done appropriately, give feedback on what
needs to be improved.
4. Supervise the skill in a real-life setting.
This last step gives the employee an opportunity to ask questions
if necessary. After you watch the skill, give feedback. Be
sure to point out the strengths before you point out areas
that need improvement.
A procedure manual is a useful tool for training. It simply
sets the standards that the entire clinic lives by in writing.
Since procedures are formalized, they guide the performance
of everyone in the clinic and help to keep things uniform
and consistent. Every clinic should have a procedure manual,
but sitting down to write the manual can be dull, dry work,
so ask your staff to pitch in. Each can write down how they
perform their own duties, and you can then correct this.
Some of the details a procedure manual should
contain include:
1. Telephone procedures—answering techniques, calling
missed appointments, scheduling new patients, handling problems.
2. Regular patient procedure—sign in, filling treatment
rooms, scheduling next appointment.
3. Collecting money—what to say, handling unusual problems,
sending statements, phone call collections.
Since writing procedure manuals is a new experience
for most people, there is one important technique
that makes it easier. Each step should be an action
step – it should describe a specific action.
If you start each sentence with a verb, you will
have an action step. Here is a simple example of
the procedure which needs to be followed when opening
the clinic in the morning. Writing all this down
might seem like a lot of trouble, but if you set
up systems , you will find they save you time, energy
and money.
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OPENING THE CLINIC
1. Unlock doors
2. Turn on lights
3. Turn on air conditioner
4. Check messages on answering machine
5. Put on computer
6. Check for cleanliness
7. Check bathrooms for toilet paper, towels
8. Check appointment schedule
9. Pull out patient charts
Remember that working in a doctor’s clinic
is a stressful job, with constant distractions,
and the need to handle multiple jobs at a time –
greeting patients, collecting money, answering phones,
putting patients on hold, and ensuring the doctor’s
workflow is running smoothly. However, most doctors
still treat their staff as ordinary clerks , as
a result of which they still overwork and underpay
their front desk employees. The time, money and
energy you invest in hiring the right person will
pay off hundred-fold ! .
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