Have you ever hired an experienced staff member who did her job for over 20 years at another podiatry office and thought, this is going to be great? I don’t even have to train her that much.
Well, talent is not enough. Attitude trumps talent on any given day. How many times have you thought that your favorite sports team is going to win it all this year because of all the talent they have? In more cases than one, your team falls short. This is because you not only need talent and attitude, but you also need a team that is prepared and ready to practice.
There you have it, the winning team formula.
Talent + Attitude + Preparation = A Successful Team
Now, hiring a person with tremendous experience has its benefits and detriments. When interviewing this person, you must ask questions like:
- What were some of the qualities of the best boss you ever had?
- What were some of the qualities of the worse boss you ever had?
- What kind of job duties do you love, and do you hate to do?
- Are you truly open to learning a new way of doing something?
Now, of course, they will say they are open to learning new things, but you need to listen to the tone of the answer and then continue to dive deeper into this. Ask this person for specific examples of their processes and see how they match up with yours. Let them know how and why you do something.
The best way to find out about a person’s attitude is to have them come back and shadow the person in charge of that department. So, someone applying for a medical assistant position should shadow one of the present MAs.
Share with the new staff member the vision, mission, and purpose of the organization. Then go through a thorough training system. Just don’t throw the new staff member into the fire, no matter how experienced they are. You don’t want a no it all. Your present staff member, who has been with you for several years, will be totally turned off, which has tremendous potential to affect the overall mood of the office.
Remember, one bad apple will spoil the whole bunch.
