Hiring for your practice: How to overcome the top 5 recruitment challenges

Hiring is one of the biggest decisions you'll make for your practice, and one of the most expensive to get wrong. Research from Seek found that a wrong hire can cost a small business around $16,000. 

Many practice owners come from clinical backgrounds, not HR, so there’s often uncertainty around the process. Read on to discover how you can overcome the top five hiring challenges you’re likely to face.

One problem many practices have is not knowing what attributes to screen for. A useful filter is to separate what you can train from what you can't:

• You can train systems and processes: the practice management software, booking rules, billing, recalls 
• You can't easily train judgment, temperament and the ability to lead people. 

Write down two or three capabilities that are genuinely non-negotiable and separate them from the things you can train. 

Another challenge is spotting the difference between candidates who simply “interview well” and those who will genuinely be effective in the role. What are the red flags you should look for? Keep an eye out for candidates who: 

• Give vague answers with no specific examples 
• Can't describe a real situation in any detail 
• Blame previous teams or managers 
• Are reluctant to describe how they've handled conflict. 

One way to see if a candidate is more than simply a good interviewer is to ask them to demonstrate their capability through specific examples: 

• Ask for a specific instance: For example, "Tell me about a time you had to hold a team member accountable. Walk me through the actual conversation." 
• Make them recount it: Ask what was said, how the person reacted and what happened next. Rehearsed answers become harder to sustain when you ask for the play-by-play. 
• Follow the thread: Ask, "What would you do differently?" and "What happened the following week?" These questions can help distinguish someone who has genuinely dealt with the situation from someone who simply knows what a good answer sounds like.

Many practice owners are unclear on how involved they should be in the hiring process. Some believe they should lead it, while others see recruitment as something they can delegate to the practice manager.  

In most cases the best practice approach is for both to be involved. The owner can identify the non-negotiables, define what "good" looks like and stay close enough to understand the hiring decision. 

The practice manager can lead the day-to-day recruitment process, including sourcing, shortlisting and interviews. For a senior hire, both can be involved in the final stage, where the cost of a poor fit can be significant.

Salary benchmarking is difficult, particularly for senior operational roles. To benchmark with confidence, practices can: 

• Check the relevant award as a floor. Many practice support and administrative roles sit under the Health Professionals and Support Services Award 2020, which sets minimum pay rates you can build from. 
• Review current job ads for comparable roles in your area to see what similar practices are advertising 
• Consult published salary guides from major recruitment firms, which break pay ranges down by role and region 
• Seek an independent benchmark from an HR specialist when a role is senior, unusual or difficult to compare. 

Not every practice has the time or experience to manage every part of recruitment. Screening, interviewing, role scoping and salary benchmarking are all learnable skills, but they take time to develop. Getting them wrong can be costly in both dollars and disruption. 

Where there's uncertainty or you lack time and resources, an HR specialist can provide an independent perspective and keep the process structured and compliant. They can run the recruitment for you, taking the whole process off your hands so you can stay focused on your practice. 

If your practice needs a hand, Avant’s HR Advisory can manage the entire recruitment process or step in where you need support.  

From finding and selecting the right candidate through to onboarding, our experienced HR consultants provide practical, hands-on support tailored to your practice.  

Book a meeting with our team today to discuss how we can support your next hire.