Winter 1999 Executive Director's Report:

Based on a presentation by Dave Allison, "Hiring the Right People," on October 14, 1999, sponsored by the Northern California Chapter of the American Society of Association Executives

When one of your employees quits, does it create a crisis in your practice? Do you advertise in the local paper for job openings? Do you hire new employees primarily based on experience? Are your job applicants more prepared than you for the interview? If so, you’re following the standard process used by most small business owners. I’ve got some news for you.

In early October, I had the pleasure of hearing Dave Allison talk about the hiring process. Dave has a long career in human resources and presently serves as an employment consultant and public speaker. During the talk, he debunked many common hiring concepts and expressed some new and exciting ideas, which I will review here. While the basis for the article is from Dave’s presentation, the comments about the applicability of his concepts to an orthodontic practice and my association management company are mine.

Staff Attrition

First and most importantly, Dave believes that staff attrition is a constant. In fact, I bet it’s likely that more than one employee in your office is now making plans to leave - maybe sooner, maybe later, but certainly some time in the foreseeable future. Typically, small business owners do not make plans in advance for filling vacancies. Dave insists that we need to change from being faced with filling positions in a crisis mode to building a pool of potential job candidates. And further, advertising in the classifieds is mostly a waste of money, since there is no way of pre-screening the candidates who respond. Instead, we need to customize our search by working in advance of the situation.

Dave suggests we begin the process by paying attention to and keeping track of people we might consider hiring at a future time, in or out of the profession. As an example, let’s assume that during a social function you see and meet someone you like and who could be appropriate to work in your practice. Consider letting that person know that you are looking for potential employees and ask if you can keep their name on file. Explain that although you are not looking for a new employee now, that might not be the case in six months or a year or two. Begin building a file of potential candidates and when an employee announces his or her departure, you have a place to start.

Quality or Quantity?

Second, Dave states that the source of quality employees is quantity. In other words, the best way to find high quality employees is to interview many potential candidates. It can be difficult to locate large numbers, particularly with the current tight job market. However, I think settling for one of the first candidates interviewed, no matter how well qualified, could be a mistake. The more candidates interviewed, the more likely to have a selection of good candidates and to find the right one.

Third, we tend to hire on experience. That’s what I’ve done and it has not always been a wise decision. In Dave Allison’s opinion, there are other, more important factors to consider, specifically attitude and people skills. For example, assume you are considering two candidates for a position. Candidate A has great experience and technical skills, but poor people skills and attitude. Candidate B has a great attitude and wonderful people skills, but lacks the experience. In most cases, if forced to make a choice, many of us would hire Candidate A with the experience. Unfortunately, our experienced candidate, now employee, probably can’t be taught attitude and people skills, which in today’s business environment are crucial. Candidate B, given a great attitude, most certainly could be trained in the skills necessary to perform the job.

Attitude Counts

Let’s face it, employees with a good attitude and people skills can add a great deal to the office environment and help create a more pleasant workplace. A bad attitude can destroy much of what we’re trying to achieve and create problems for the employer as well as others in the office.

As to the resume, Dave Allison doesn’t give it much regard. Typically, the document has been prepared as a way to impress those who read it and may or may not be a true account of the applicant’s history. However, I believe the resume can serve as a resource for questions during the interview. Just don’t assume the resume information is completely accurate.

Typically, employment references are contacted after the interview when there is serious interest in the candidate. I’m now calling references prior to interviews as a way to help me learn more about the candidate and be better prepared for the interview. It may be necessary to call references again after the interview.

Much has been written about appropriate questions to ask references. Many employers are reluctant or refuse to answer questions that might influence a hiring decision. However, penetrating questions about responsibilities, attitude, attendance history, achievements, strengths, and weaknesses are important to ask and may result in useful responses.

Be Prepared

Fourth, Dave’s experience suggests that the candidate is often better prepared for the interview than the employer is. Consider that the interview is probably the most important activity for the candidate that day or even that week. He or she will likely have spent much time preparing in a number of ways: learning about the industry, profession, and position, developing the resume, and accumulating references that will support the candidate. The employer, on the other hand, is running a busy office and the interview is just one more item on that day’s list. I would suggest that employers could do a much better job of preparing in advance of the interview. In light of the importance of the hiring, we owe it to our businesses, our staff, and ourselves to be well prepared.

And finally, we need to use the interview to determine whether or not the candidate will fit well into our organizations and help us accomplish our business goals. By asking intelligent, probing questions we have the opportunity to form an opinion about the suitability of hiring a candidate.

Dave had some great ideas for questions to ask during the interview. I’ll list them below with some of my own commentary. He did suggest that, when appropriate, we follow up candidate’s answers with additional, exploratory questions like "that’s interesting, tell me more" and "how did you react to that?"

Here’s the list:

1. What were your responsibilities in your last position? Usually, the candidate tells us what they did, not what they were responsible for. Answers to this question can help determine the past level of responsibility and allow the candidate a chance to explain their role in their last position.
   
2. What did you like the best about your last job? This can help establish if the job we’re offering will be a good fit for you and the candidate. The obvious follow-up is "what did you least like in your last job?"
3. Why did you leave your last job? How did you react to the separation? Here we can begin to get a handle on the candidate’s emotional stability.
4. What one recommendation would you make to your prior boss? If you did make such a recommendation, how was it received? How did you feel about the boss’s response to your suggestion? Answers here might give us a clue about the candidates understanding of the overall business and their ability to develop solutions.
5. What have you done that you’re most proud of? Question need not be limited to work and will help establish a sense of pride, which is important to the quality of work we could expect.
6. Describe the best and worst boss you’ve ever had. As the potential new boss, listen carefully for answers that would suggest a positive or negative working relationship.
7. What is/are your greatest strength(s)? Don’t ask for their worst, as the answer will probably be meaningless.
8. What motivates you the most? The answer might help determine if the proposed job and work environment will provide the proper motivation.
9. Tell me about the ups and downs of your energy levels? While employers are restricted in questions about a candidate’s health, this may shed some light on that issue.
10. How do you feel about training? Tell me about the last seminar you attended. When was the last seminar you attended that you paid for yourself? What was the topic? Training is usually part of any new job and this is particularly true in the orthodontic profession. Answers to training questions may help determine how the candidate will respond to the training and their interest in learning in general.
11. What magazines and newspapers do you read? What was the last book read? What are your favorite activities? These answers help define the "well roundedness" of the applicant.
12. Where do you want to be in one year? It can be important to match up the candidate’s expectations with the reality of advancement. Also, employees need the employer’s help to reach their employment goals. Therefore, it’s necessary for employers understand their employee’s goals.
13. Describe your ideal work environment. Also, describe the environment that would be most harmful to your work performance. Again, we are seeking information that will help us match up expectations with reality.

The questions above need to be integrated into the entire interview process and with other questions that might elicit answers to questions particular to your practice situation.

The hiring process is personal and individual. The suggestions presented here must be considered within the context of individual management style and needs. My desire is to offer potentially useful information. Use at your own risk!

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