Top Recruiting Tips for Small Veterinary Practices
Running a small veterinary practice can be challenging, especially given the many hats you must wear in order to keep things operating smoothly. From accounting and payroll to sales and marketing and, of course, human resources and hiring, it’s certainly not for the faint of heart. If you’re in this boat and you’re finding it difficult to fill your open positions while trying to balance everything else you’ve got on your plate, here are six expert tips that should make the recruiting process faster, easier and much more effective.
Incentivize Referrals
What’s the next best thing to knowing the candidate you’re interested in hiring? Working with someone else who knows a quality candidate personally. You can save a ton of time, money and aggravation in the recruitment process by simply asking your existing staff for referrals. Most people won’t stick their neck out for someone who isn’t going to be an upstanding employee, so the odds are in your favor. If necessary, you can sweeten the pot by offering an incentive to anyone who refers a successful hire.
Leverage the power of the internet.
Most people turn to the web these days when they’re looking for a new career opportunity. You can meet these candidates right where they are by using online tools such as job boards, social media and your practice website to spread the word about your open positions. Be sure to also include an email signup where interested parties can share their contact information to receive communications about job opportunities. This will enable you to create a pool of candidates for your future needs.
Be creative with your job listings.
In today’s job market, your best chance at attracting top talent is to find a way to stand out from all the other practices that are also hiring. You can put your best foot forward and make a good impression right from the start by being creative with your job listings. Don’t be afraid to let your personality and practice culture shine through. The more you do, the more you’ll differentiate yourself from the competition and the greater your chances will be of catching the eye of the candidates you want.
Be strategic about your interviews.
As the owner or manager of a small practice, your time is precious. Maximize it by optimizing your interview process. Start by knowing what characteristics you’re looking for so you can effectively short list your candidates. Then, schedule telephone interviews to further narrow down your selection. Maintain a list of standard questions so you can conduct your face-to-face interviews in a timely and efficient manner. The more you streamline the process, the faster and easier it will be to hire right.
Don’t settle.
You may feel pressured to fill that open position as quickly as possible, but given the cost of a bad hire, it’s never a wise idea to rush the process. Settling on the first candidate that comes along may provide a short-term fix, but will likely come back to bite you big time in the long run. Being a little more patient up front may take a bit more time, but if it allows you to find employees that are a better fit with your team and your culture, it’ll be well worth the wait.
Invest in onboarding.
The final step in the recruitment process takes place after your new employee signs his or her offer letter. Onboarding new team members is a great way to set them up for success and has even been proven to boost retention, which means you’ll face less costly turnover by investing in your new employees right from the get-go.
Being a small business owner doesn’t have to put you at a disadvantage when it comes to the recruitment and hiring process. You just have to know how to optimize your time and resources, know what to look for and have a strategy in place that will enable you to do so in the most effective, efficient way possible. The six tips above should provide you with a good foundation from which to begin.
If you’re still struggling to locate and hire the right candidates, it may be time to enlist the help of a pro. Contact us today to learn how we can help assemble your ultimate dream team.
