See our other Successful Recruitment & Selection articles for initial steps to take in finding the right new member for your team. These cover developing a comprehensive position description (PD) and how to shortlist and prepare for interviews, including some example questions for you to include.
Phone interviews
Your first phone call to an applicant is an opportunity to start the interview process and ask some initial screening questions based on some of the essential selection criteria from the PD.
Be non-committal at the start, letting the applicant know that you’re looking to have an initial chat with them about the role. If their responses indicate a good fit so far, you can then offer a face-to-face (or Zoom etc if appropriate) interview. If their responses show you they’re not going to work for the role, you should always feel comfortable thanking them for their time, but not offering an interview.
At the end of the phone interview, briefly assessing each applicant on a scale from 1-4 on some essential criteria, such as communication and response to questions, will help when reviewing later, especially if you’ve spoken to a number of applicants in a short space of time.
In-person interviews
Allow sufficient time to quickly review each application before the interview, and afterwards to make notes and discuss the applicant with others of your team who were involved.
Aim from the outset to put the applicant at ease and minimise the impact of nerves, allowing you to more accurately assess their suitability. This is helped by starting with an overview of your company and how the advertised role fits in. Doing this also helps to build a picture for the applicant of your corporate culture.
As you make your way through the interview questions, be sure to cover thoroughly the requirements of the role and details such as days and hours. You need to be sure they know what will be expected of them if they’re successful.
Toward the end of the interview give the applicant a copy of the PD to read. Answer any questions and confirm whether they’re interested in the role, as well as when they could be available to start if successful. Check that you have a list of their referees and that they’re happy for you to make contact. Be sure to let them know whether a probationary period and other contract requirements, such as a police check etc apply, as well as when you expect to be back in touch with them.
Reference checks
Yes, reference checking is time consuming, but it’s an essential part of the process. Carefully worded questions will enable you to weed out low performers who are simply good in interviews, and conversely highlight star applicants who perhaps don’t cope as well in an interview situation.
Aim to speak with 2-4 referees for each applicant, including at least one who directly managed the applicant.
Put together a standard set of questions to ask each referee, covering applicant skills, job performance, interactions and relationships with staff and clients, their strengths and areas for development etc.
2nd in-person interviews
Don’t hesitate to get your preferred applicant/s back for a 2nd interview. Yes, it takes a bit more time, but the investment will pay dividends when you get the right person for the job, plus have already built a strong rapport.
This second interview might involve other members of your team, including owners, managers or existing team members, depending on what you’re looking to ascertain from this interview.
Include a tour of the practice and introductions to team members if appropriate.
Appoint the successful candidate
Be sure to let all interviewed applicants know the outcome personally. If you advertised the role through an employment website there is usually the capacity to do a bulk mailout to unsuccessful applicants. This doesn’t take long and is a good idea in terms of goodwill – particularly as applicants may be or may become, a patient of your practice.
Next steps
Send the successful applicant all required paperwork, including their contract, TFN declaration form, Superannuation Choice form etc, and welcome them to the team!
Let the rest of your team know the details of their new team member and when they’re starting. It’s a great way to ensure everyone is ready to welcome them, help with their induction and training plan, and assist them to become a productive member of your team as quickly as possible.
We’ve also developed a Position Description Template and a Recruitment & Selection Checklist. These and other resources are available on our Downloadable Resources page.
If you’d like assistance with recruitment and selection, the team at Augmentum provides a broad range of services to Medical and Allied Health organisations, including around HR Management and building effective and efficient foundations and teams. We also provide assistance to healthcare business owners and decision makers in other areas, such as strategic development and planning, patient engagement and retention, and establishing reports to keep their finger-on-the-pulse and drive growth and success. Get in touch to find out more, or check out our website www.augmentum.com.au
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