Simon Palmer, March 2011 - There is an old maxim that says that “a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush”. The saying is supposed to make people appreciate what they have over seeking something better that is out of reach.
While I am sure this saying has merit in a lot of situations I am fairly sure that it was not meant to hold dentists back from having more than one option when recruiting or trying to sell their practice.
Looking to Recruit
Recruiting a dentist based solely on word of mouth, personal referrals and people who walk in the front door handing you a CV is without a doubt the cheapest way to find someone to work in your practice. But will a dentist who comes to you through those avenues be the best possible candidate for your practice of all the people looking for work right now?
It is possible… but highly unlikely.
The best results for most employee searches would be achieved if the net were cast as wide as possible, and then the best possible candidate would be chosen from all the candidates available at that time. Asking for word of mouth referrals is a good start, but if you want your pick of the best candidates available you should back this up by advertising the position in the most common places that people look for jobs in that industry (for dentists that means the ADA publications and www.djs.com.au). Listing your requirement on any job listing service will cost you more than relying on the free options mentioned above. The hiring process will take longer and involve more work for you in the short term too because you will have more candidate CVs to read and interview. But this investment of time and money is well worth the investment when you ask yourself these questions:
- How much could the right person mean to my practice? The right dentist can mean higher production, better patient retention, more patient referrals to your practice and a higher functioning team.
- How much could the wrong person cost my practice? The wrong hire can lower morale, increase stress throughout the practice, lose patients for the practice and damage a practice’s reputation.
With so much at stake when you are hiring a dentist, an informed decision knowing all the options that you have available is vital.
Looking to sell
Many times Dentist Job Search have come across situations where a dental practice has told me that they were selling their practice to a buyer or employee in the practice but after many months of waiting for the buyer’s financiers, lawyers and accountant to all give the green light, the buyer changed his mind or asked for some unreasonable change to the deal.
While I can only imagine how frustrating this must be and I am always very sympathetic when I hear stories like this, I’m not sure why so many sellers give exclusivity to a buyer for long periods of time in the first place.
The laws of supply and demand tell us that the more demand there is for a product the better the conditions and price the supplier can get. With your dental practice, the ideal would be to have several buyers interested in your practice each outbidding the other with better prices and terms of sale for you.
Giving exclusivity to a buyer for a long period of time like this gives them a lot of power at the negotiating table. They can take their time with financing, lawyers and accountants knowing that the seller won’t have another offer on the table to consider. They can reduce the price or terms without fear of being outbid by someone else.
A bird in the hand
Recruitment of a dentist and selling your practice are two of the most important decisions that a practice owner can make. If you do have someone interested in working for you or buying your practice make sure it’s the right “bird in the hand” for you and your practice before you move forward. With so much at stake it is not a time where you can afford to go with the path of least resistance and take the first option that presents itself.
