Congratulations on making your dental associate hire! Sometimes it may feel like getting an associate in the door is the hardest part of hiring, but the challenging portion really comes when you start trying to train and acclimate your new associate into your practice. How you bring in the person you choose will significantly impact whether they will strengthen your practice or do more harm than good.
During the first week, you will likely go through introductions, paperwork, training, and your employee handbook. Things always seem to be a little up in the air during the first week with a new employee, and a dental associate is no different. Thankfully, we have included a need-to-know guide that you can use as you work through this process—both during the first week and beyond.
What Does Onboarding Mean?
In general, onboarding is the act of integrating an employee into your organization. The new associate gets familiar with you, your staff, and your practice. They also get a feel for the overall culture of your practice and how they fit into that culture.
The onboarding process is critical. It can “make or break” a new hire. In fact, statistics indicate that 20% of turnover occurs within the first 45 days of employment. These stats are even higher for today’s “emerging adults,” who have different definitions of success compared to prior generations. Getting the onboarding process right can help you get people in the door who will stay and integrate well into your current culture.
Onboarding a new dentist includes some of the more mundane “paperwork” items and understanding their job tasks and responsibilities, but it also goes further than that. The onboarding process gives your associate the knowledge they need to be an effective member of your team. Successful onboarding empowers the associate to work well with your existing team and confidently treat patients.
Effective onboarding a dental associate actually starts in the interview process. You should be honest and forthcoming about the culture of your practice, the expectations in the associate role, and how you envision a new associate fitting into their role. Being straightforward with your expectations will allow you to find the right candidate who will stay with your practice for years to come.
Below are some practical and “big picture” tips to make the onboarding practice successful in your dental practice.
In every new hire, you have to ensure that you are compliant with applicable employment law at the state and federal levels. You have likely encountered the same type of requirements for staff, but adding a new associate often adds another layer of compliance that you must consider.
Having help with your human resources requirement can be extremely beneficial. Software programs like HR for Health are a great way to ensure that you have all of your HR paperwork organized and in one location. Payroll solutions specifically designed for healthcare, including dental practices, are a great way to stay ahead of HR requirements that affect your practice.
If you are considering software solutions for your HR needs, you might want to review features that help with the following areas.
While you can track time, payroll, and other HR matters manually, having a digital solution makes things faster, easier, and more organized.
Below is a checklist of items that you need to cover with your new associate. Not every practice will need to address these items, and some practices will need to do a bit more than listed below, but it is a good starting point to help you avoid overlooking a particular topic.
You should be sure to gather very basic information about your associate to put in their file. This includes things like contact information, mailing address, date of birth, and emergency contacts. This form can often be a quick one-page information sheet. You can also have the employee input this information directly into an HR software, like HR for Health.
Every employee needs to have tax withholding and eligibility verification. These are generally on forms W-4 and I-9. Your state might require additional forms for tax purposes as well.
You can use the information on Form I-9 to confirm worker eligibility to work in the United States through E-Verify.
If your associate wants their wages to be direct deposited, you should have another form to provide you with that information.
The Work Opportunity Tax Credit is a voluntary program that provides a tax credit to employers who hire individuals from certain targeted groups. These individuals include veterans, those who have previously been convicted of a felony, or those who receive supplemental security income benefits, just as a few examples.
While the average associate will likely not fall into any of these targeted groups, it certainly does not hurt to screen all employees for potential qualifications for this credit.
Screening employees for this tax credit involves asking the employee or potential employee to fill out Form 8850, Pre-Screening Notice and Certification Request for Work Opportunity Credit.
An employee that will see, touch, or hear protected health information must fill out a HIPAA Confidentially Statement. Most of your employees likely need to fill out this form, but your dental associates will certainly be required to fill out this form as well.
Your employee handbook should include information about must-have items, like Title IX, paid family leave, jury duty, general paid leave, workers’ compensation, harassment policies, disability accommodations, and other matters.
You might want to consider having a different employee handbook for your associates and your employees. While a lot of the terms will be the same or overlap, there are likely items that your associates need to know that your staff simply does not need (or have, such as certain benefits or continuing education requirements).
While you likely have most of your company policies in the employee handbook, you might also want to consider having your associate sign off on a list of your “top” policies. This separate form calls out these items to showcase their importance and forces your associate to acknowledge that they are aware of these policies right out of the gate.
Apart from the paperwork involved, successful onboarding requires a full emersion into your practice’s culture. It requires some organization to delegate duties and responsibilities in a way that is going to be helpful for you and the patients you serve. You should put some thought into the following items and incorporate them into the onboarding process.
A good way to set your dental associate up for success is to assign them to specific patients. Choosing the right patients is critical. In general, it is a good idea to go through your records and target specific patients who need reactivation. Look for patients who have been with your practice for at least two years but you have not seen them in 12 months. These patients are primed to reconnect with your practice, and you can start building relationships between your new associate and the patient.
Having the right assistant can be a game-changer for a new associate. Pairing the new associate with a veteran assistant will help the dental associate get up to speed quickly and help them buy into the efficiencies you have already established in your practice. It also helps with continuity from the patient’s perspective—the dentist may be new, but at least the assistant is the same person they have seen before.
You and your new associate will work in the same building, but you are rarely going to have time to sit down and work side by side. As a result, having clear reporting expectations will help you keep tabs on what your associate is doing. Having a method to compare notes and check in regularly, at least for the first few months, will be a great learning opportunity.
In addition to reporting requirements, you should also pencil in regular case reviews. These case check-ins are a great way to continue your involvement as a mentor and keep up with patient needs. Case plan collaborations also help you serve your patients better over a long-term period and ensure that your practice continues to run how you want it to function.
You can choose the best time to do these in a way that works for practice. Maybe it is once a quarter, or maybe every six months makes more sense—just be sure you make a schedule and stick to it. Consistency is key.
Training new associates vary a great deal across the board. It is a function of both your teaching methods and the associate’s learning methods. Having a conversation with your associate about how they want to learn can go a long way toward effective training. Ask whether your associate prefers to train by watching for some time first or if they want to just jump in after seeing you interact with a few patients. Ensuring the associate has the tools they need to be successful and ongoing support is a huge part of the overall onboarding process.
Making connections with the people in your practice is a huge part of ensuring that the associate feels like they are part of something bigger than just the practice. Connecting with professionals who are associated with your practice is also just as important. It provides a sense of belonging and empowerment that is vital to not only keeping the associate but having a successful practice overall.
Introduce your associate to your specialty partners, so they know who to refer patients to as needed. Building that community connection is also extremely important to serve your patients as well.
Livelong education is critical for every professional. Overseeing your associate’s education will help show them that you are invested in their future—and it builds a better associate to help with the longevity of your practice. Sit down with the associate to map out a year-by-year plan that focuses on progression. Attending many of these classes or educational events together will also help further your bond with your new associate.
Following the steps above will help you have a successful onboarding process when you bring on a new dental associate. Taking a laissez-faire approach to onboarding will rarely get you the results you want. Instead, having an effective HR program (https://www.hrforhealth.com/) and being intentional about training and integration will help your practice (and your practice’s culture) thrive for years to come. When you are ready to learn more or hire your first dental associate, the dental attorney team at Dental and Medical Counsel is available to help. Contact us to set up a complimentary consultation with attorney Ali Oromchian.
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