With the downturn in the economy it’s been a “time to
fire” for quite a while—but things are starting to turn
and you just may be in the market for new employees once
again.
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After a few years of employee cutbacks because of the
economy, government sources report that businesses are
starting to hire once again. The job market may finally be
taking a turn for the better this year. In fact, Labor
Department figures show that between November 2009 and
November 2010, job openings increased by 32 percent. With
more businesses starting to hire again, it’s time for
companies to think about getting back into the game.
Competition for top-notch employees will only continue to
grow as business—hopefully—starts getting back on track. |
Looking for Applicants
Hiring isn’t what it used to be. One of the biggest
changes over the years has been the methods for finding new
employees. Back in the day an eyecare practice might have
just hung a sign on their door and interested applicants
would walk in. Today, there are so many new methods to look
for applicants and the business world is taking advantage of
them. In fact, more companies than ever before are relying
on social media sites to seek out new employees. A survey by
The Corporate Executive Board Co. found that almost 80
percent of companies surveyed planned to use sites like
Facebook and LinkedIn to look for new hires. Using the web
is a great way to reach a far wider pool of applicants.
Tony Sterrett, practice administrator with Price Vision
Group in Indianapolis, IN, says that although he has tried
using the local paper to place job ads, he gets the biggest
bang for his buck using online job postings. “Most
recently I had excellent results using CareerBuilder.com.
For less than $500 I received 100 resumes during a 30-day
posting. Fifty of the applicants were good candidates.”
Sterrett, who handles the hiring for Price Vision, says
the practice expects to be adding to their workforce in
2011. “In fact, I hired an additional Certified Surgery
Tech two weeks ago,” he says. “As soon as any department
reaches and sustains 25 hours of overtime in a pay period,
it’s time to start looking for help. But we’ll still be
cautious not to over-hire.”
That seems to be the outlook that many practices
currently have. While things seem to be improving, there’s
a long way to go and remaining cautiously optimistic appears
to be the wise move. Eyecare practices are hiring, but they’re
doing it slowly and surely.
Interviewing your Candidates
Most eyecare businesses have done plenty of hiring in
their practice, but with at least a few rough years,
practice managers and administrators may be more used to
firing than hiring.
The interview is really the key component to hiring. Of
course with a huge pile of applications, it isn’t feasible
to interview everyone. Sterrett says that he narrows down
the applicant pool by first requiring that job seekers meet
minimum criteria that he sets. “Once they make it over
that hurdle, then it’s time for the interviewing process
to begin,” he adds.
Applicants to Price Vision Group must undergo not one,
but a series of interviews to be considered for any given
position. Sterrett says that this is not only ensuring that
the practice finds the candidate to be a good fit, but also
vice versa. The candidate needs to embrace the position as
well. It brings up an important point that hiring is not
only about finding a new employee that is qualified for the
job, but one that will really enjoy their new position. A
happy employee tends to be a good employee. “Job
applicants have to meet a few of our current staff members
and follow them during part of the day,” says Sterrett.
“It’s important that they see what is expected of them
before we move forward. It’s a waste of time for both
parties if either one doesn’t feel comfortable and
excited.”
Sterrett also believes that a little bit of stress during
the interview process can be a good thing. If the applicant
perceives the interview as being too easy, then they won’t
value the position as much. “The interview should be a
little stressful so we can have the opportunity to see how
they handle pressure,” he adds.
Once Sterrett feels confident the applicant has the
necessary technical skills for the position he’s hiring
for, he’ll focus on the personality. “I can train a new
hire on techniques and testing equipment, but I can’t give
them a new personality so this is an important step,” he
says. “I look for eye contact, a smile, and comfortable
body language.”
For any given position Sterrett tries to narrow it down
to about 10 initial phone interviews, and then invites the
top four candidates for face-to-face interviewing. “I stay
away from the typical questions during interviewing,” he
says. “I prefer behavioral interviewing. I’ll ask them
to describe a time when they have to work with a difficult
patient or coworker and how they resolved the situation. I’m
looking for them to describe the issue, the options they
considered to fix the problem, the action they took, and the
results. If I am interviewing an applicant for a managerial
position, they need to describe how they’d handle various
situations.”
Of course Sterrett also believes strongly in requiring
potential employees to supply references and he does call
applicants’ previous employers. “I do this with the
final three applicants,” he says. “This way I have
backups in case I have to eliminate somebody.”
While most people tend to look at the interview process
as the potential employee selling themselves to the person
doing the hiring—convincing them that they’re right for
the job—it goes the other way as well. Certainly that’s
the key part of interviewing, but selling the job to the
employee is also part of it as well. As more jobs become
available, eyecare practices are going to start thinking
about getting competitive again. Job applicants are going to
start having more choices. “Once I’m interested in a
candidate, I sell them on the benefits,” says Sterrett.
“We pay for 100 percent of our employees’ health
insurance premiums, which is a big investment. But our
turnover is only around 5 percent. I’d rather invest in
happy employees than to have to hire replacements on a
regular basis.”
