Although compensation can get dentists in the door of a dental practice, it may not be what keeps them there.
Four executives at Becker’s Future of Dentistry Roundtable Sept. 14-15 said the organizations that win the next wave of hiring will be the ones offering something harder to copy — equity, predictability and a workplace built around what their workforce actually needs.
Note: Responses were lightly edited for clarity and length.
Question: What will winning dental organizations do differently to attract and retain dentists, hygienists and other members of the workforce?
Jaspreet Gill, BDS, DDS, Founder, Countryside Smiles (Murphy, Texas): The fresh [dentist] graduates who look to join DSOs come out with a lot of debt, so they need to consider helping them with debt payments or having profit sharing and an equity percentage so that the dentist can look forward to having that passion for doing dentistry. A person goes to a dental school to be a dentist and craft beautiful smiles. It’s art and science. As far as the other members of the workforce, they need to feel empowered with their work with access to technology [and] proper training. Sometimes we launch the technology but the proper training is not there, so it’s chaos within the front and back and nobody is actually using that technology in the proper way, so people end up having stress and burnout and the turnover continues.
From a DSO point of view, it has to be an implementation of the workflows to launch something. And, of course, the women workforce. You have to take care of women’s issues. If somebody’s requesting time off, give them time off flexibility. Now, we are graduating with a lot of female dentists. The workforce in DSOs is changing to female dentists, so you need to consider providing childcare support or on-site childcare so that the female dentists and the workforce can have some kind of support.
Ashish Bagai. Co-CEO at Vitana Pediatric & Orthodontic Partners (Plantation, Fla.): This is assuming that compensation levels are at market. Obviously that’s where you want to start, but it’s not just about compensation. We’re big believers that equity drives behavior. Not just for our owner doctors, but associate doctors also have equity in the practices. We’re starting to implement programs where key office managers also have equity, which is a new concept in dentistry, but we think we’re onto something there and we’re pretty excited about that program coming up. So, that’s number one.
Secondly, beyond compensation, people really value predictability, stability and meritocracy. I think if people can reliably understand what their paycheck’s going to be, you’re going to have stability for about 80% of that workforce. Along with the feeling of fairness, I think that goes a long way. I think the third thing groups can do is just reach out really early in a person’s journey, so residency programs and educational programs, to start developing relationships really early in someone’s career.
Justin Lai, DDS. Chief Dental Director at Dent-Well (Houston): I think it’s about aligning the organization’s goals with the same goals as the employees. For some employees, it might be money. For some employees, it might be benefits. For other employees, it might just be that they just really love dentistry. It comes down to finding people who align with your goals and recognizing them and just treating them fairly.
Brian Groeschel. CFO at More Dental Solutions (Huntersville, N.C.): On the attraction side, I just think of this analogy in that you can turn your porch light on and you’re going to get a whole ton of bugs come, and then occasionally maybe a butterfly will show up. That’s kind of what I feel like most of us do when we’re trying to hire new staff. You put the Indeed ad out, and maybe every now and then you’ll get a good one. You keep having that Indeed ad out, but you keep having this churn, and it’s like, “Oh, well, it’s not that expensive,” but it really is because of poor performance, constant turnover and just so many different problems. Really, if you had just hired right the first time, spent money maybe even on a Headhunter — and yeah, they look really expensive up front, but if they’d gone out and found the right person, it’s actually cheaper. [With] retaining — [they’re] right about the equity, especially with your dentist. If you want to keep them, they’ve got to be in. If there’s skin in the game for them especially, that’s huge.
At the Becker's 5th Annual Future of Dentistry Roundtable, taking place September 14-15 in Chicago, dental leaders and executives will gain insights into emerging technologies, practice growth strategies and the evolving landscape of dental care delivery, with a focus on innovation, patient experience and operational excellence. Apply for complimentary registration now.
