Transparency is Essential to Recruiting Top Talent

Dental hiring isn’t as tough as it was during the height of the pandemic, but it’s still no picnic either. A big chunk of talent simply retired over the last three years — and hasn’t yet been fully replaced by up-and-comers.

That’s why practice leaders can’t drop the ball when it comes to recruiting.

Now, a discussion of good recruiting practices could fill a book. Probably many of them. So we want to focus on just one point here.

When it comes to appealing to top candidates, the smartest practices emphasize transparency.

Our friend Ron Brush, the Dentist Agent, is a recruiter who specializes in matching dental talent with the right practices. He tells us that “from a recruiting perspective, transparency is the most important thing. It will set you above everybody else.”

Part of this is because you want to give candidates a really clear idea of what they’ll be getting themselves into if they join your team. The more you paint an honest picture of what you have to offer and what your practice is like, the better chance you’ll have of attracting folks who are a good fit.

Counterintuitively, perhaps, this may involve opening up about the challenges of whatever role you’re hiring for. After all, you want someone who can hang in there with the ups and downs. 

By talking about that stuff during the hiring process, you’ll be appealing to candidates who appreciate the opportunity to tackle something tough while offering those who don’t the chance to move on.

But the greater value of transparency boils down to trust. Whether you’re hiring an associate, hygienist, or front desk team member, every job in a dental practice is one that directly impacts the lives of your patients.

You need to be able to trust the folks you hire. And that means they need to know they can trust you. 

Transparency in your hiring is the first step in building that trust. As you open up about what working at your practice is really like, you’ll be giving candidates permission to be more vulnerable with you — to trust and be trusted. 

You’ll be building real, honest relationships instead of simply doing the superficial interviewing dance. That’ll pay off when it comes time to extend an offer. 

When it comes down to it, wouldn’t we all be more likely to accept a job from someone we already trust?

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