When a problematic employee is not working out in a dental practice, one of the biggest reasons is the person is not coachable. Yet trying to determine if a potential new hire is coachable is something practices often overlook. Why is that?
For starters it’s much easier to measure things such as aptitude with dental insurance, chair-side skills and knowledge, or friendliness on the phone. It requires more effort to determine if someone is open to coaching, especially during the honeymoon phase of a job interview.
One of the best ways to determine if a potential new hire is open to coaching is to listen to the questions he/she asks. If someone is new to your practice, you would expect questions about how the front or back flows, what systems you use, and how you like to run your practice. You would expect a coachable person to start thinking from the start how to fine-tune their approach and skill set to meet the demands of the job.
Contrast this with the headaches caused by employees who are not open to feedback and insist on doing it their way. Or with employees who fill the dental practice with negativity because they do not buy-in to your philosophy and vision for patient care.
That’s why it’s critical to discuss your practice philosophy with potential new hires in addition to your expectations for the position. You want someone who is clearly aligned with you and who identifies what they need to learn in order to become an asset for the practice.
Leadership coach John Agno once said, “Once the person commits to being coached, she begins to experience a different, more hopeful world as her perceptions evolve.” Imagine how rewarding it would be to hire team members who are committed to continuous improvement. That’s what you usually get when you hire team members who are coachable.