WORKFORCE WANTED

PROMOTING YOUR INTERNAL CULTURE TO RECRUIT CANDIDATES

Cameron McPherson

As many dentists and business owners know firsthand, employers across the country are continuing to experience difficulties filling job positions. According to spring data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the United States has two job openings for every person who is unemployed. In other words, the labor market is tight, competitive, and at times, exhausting.

Careers in the dental field are rewarding and bring smiles to the faces of both patients and staff. Local leaders and organizations, like the Virginia Dental Association (VDA), are working to ease workforce challenges and connect more people to dental team positions.

We know promoting your organization’s culture is an important part of marketing an open position. A recent poll by job review website Glassdoor revealed that 77% of respondents consider a company’s culture before applying. When it comes to recruiting new team members, your dental practice’s social media platforms are an important tool for highlighting your practice’s culture and attracting candidates – and can show why your dental office is a place they want to work. “When it comes to recruiting new team members, your dental practice’s social media platforms are an important tool for highlighting your practice’s culture and attracting candidates.”

Here are some tips and best practices to keep in mind.

Spotlight staff through employee profiles

Employee profiles can be among the easiest content to produce on your social media pages and the most effective. Create a few questions that showcase the personality of your staff and snap a photo of the team member. The profiles not only help attract patients, but they also help job seekers get a feel for your business’ culture and their future colleagues. Keep in mind that there should be a level of privacy. For instance, consider using only first names and that some teammates may not feel comfortable being promoted on social media.

Here are a few questions to consider:

• What’s your favorite hobby?

• What’s your favorite thing about your role?

• Where was your most recent vacation?

For some inspiration, follow Northside Dental Co. on Instagram (@northsidedentalco). Its team consistently features engaging staff profiles.

Go behind the scenes

Maybe you organize an annual team lunch or dress up for Halloween, or perhaps you go ax-throwing like the Bitty Bites dentistry team (see above right). It’s all content you’ll want to share on social media, too.

These team activities support employee retention and show prospective candidates how your organization cares for its employees.

Pro tip: When you’re having fun, it can be difficult to remember to take pictures. Assign a team member to take photos during the events, so you have visuals you can publish on social media and in the break room.

Celebrate employee anniversaries

Do you track employee anniversaries and milestones? Highlight your team’s years of service on your social media accounts. It’s a simple and effective way to acknowledge the hard work of the team by publicly saying “thank you” while signaling to prospective employees that your office is a great place to work. Virginia Oral & Facial Surgery shares employee anniversaries with the hashtag #VOFSversary, a combination of the company’s acronym and “anniversary.” By clicking on the hashtag on Facebook, you can find all the anniversary posts for the practice. It’s a smart approach for organizing social content.

Show off your personality

Dental offices are full of compassionate and creative teams. Use your social media accounts to display the personalities of staff members – and have some fun! The team at Pediatric Dentistry of Reston consistently reshares self-made Tik Tok videos onto its Facebook page featuring staff and celebrating various holidays. You’ll see waving, dancing, and big toothbrushes that represent the welcoming and kid-friendly atmosphere of the office. It’s a helpful marketing tool for parents and shows job applicants how much the staff enjoys their roles.

Other ideas to consider

When it comes down to it, social media is a great opportunity to publicize the many ways your office is unique. Engage your employees for ideas they want to post on your company’s social media pages. Consider organizing “employee takeovers” once a week or month where a team member can share aspects of their work. It’s also a good idea to highlight your new employees early as the first 90 days in a new position are crucial for their long-term happiness at work. Don’t forget to be consistent with highlighting your company culture on social media – you’ll want to give candidates a lot of content to scroll through before they apply.

As always, when you’re sharing content on social media make sure to adhere to HIPAA rules and respect patient privacy. For more information, the ADA provides several online resources to help you and your employees use social media ethically while protecting your practice from HIPAA violations.

By sharing content on social media today, you may be inspiring a future hygienist or dental assistant to enter the profession tomorrow. Good luck as you grow your team.

Editor’s Note: Cameron McPherson is VP of Advocacy at The Hodges Partnership.