By Libby Rothschild, CEO of Dietitian Boss; follow her on LinkedIn.
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Now that your private practice is up and running, there’s one tiny problem: You’re stuck with a bunch of administrative work and you are not sure what it looks like to take things off of your plate for good. Maybe you hired someone before and it didn’t work out, or maybe it’s your first time hiring and you want to make sure you set yourself up for success. You may feel apprehensive about this process because—let’s face it—as a dietitian, you didn’t learn how to hire in school.
To successfully scale your dietitian private practice, it’s important to hire help to get your time back. Here is an easy 12-step process we’ve developed that you can also use when hiring:
1. Set aside time in your schedule for hiring.
Keep in mind it takes time to find the right person—plan for the entire process to take three to four weeks on average. This will help ensure you hire the right person as a long-term fit. If you rush and hire a wrong fit, it will cost you more time and money to continue hiring new people. Make sure you have the time and energy for interviews and selection before starting the hiring process.
2. Identify the tasks you need help with.
Identifying what you need help with starts with reviewing your schedule. I recommend documenting your current week and the tasks you currently do in your business. Next, categorize the tasks into three levels—low, medium and high priority.
3. Determine if you want to hire an employee or contractor.
Independent contractors are paid by project or assignment, and there are many considerations when deciding if the role you need fits into an employee or contract role. Check your state laws and IRS regulations to determine the appropriate classification.
4. Set a budget.
Reading through your financial statement can help you to make more strategic decisions. When looking to hire, set a budget and follow it. When you set a budget, allocate proper funding to taxes and pay yourself and your staff, you are learning business skills.
5. Write a strong job description.
Writing a strong job description is crucial to attracting top candidates. And it’s not just about the requirements of the role. The job description should reflect how you run your business. For example, do you value social justice and advocacy? Make sure your values come across in your job description.
6. Create the application.
At the end of your job description, you will provide the link to a questionnaire. This is so you can gather data to narrow down candidates. This form consists of basic info like name, location, email, skills, years of experience, why they want the position, details of related experience and similar questions. You want to ask any questions that will give you enough information to begin to filter ideal candidates based on their responses. I often use Google Forms because it creates a spreadsheet with responses, but you can use other forms, too.
7. List your job.
Once you have your job description and questionnaire prepared, if you have a website, it’s great to post it there. You can also share it on various job boards and your social media profiles.
8. Review submissions.
Now it’s getting fun! Here’s where you review candidate questionnaire responses and narrow down the list. I recommend making a list of your top three picks.
9. Interview your top three candidates.
Now that you have your top candidates, it’s time to interview! Create varied questions that are the same for each candidate. You can document their responses for reference.
10. Make an offer.
By this step, it should be clear who your top candidate is and you should feel ready to make them an offer. Once you have made your decision, email them and extend an invite, saying you’d love to have them join the team.
11. Kindly reply to the candidates who weren’t chosen.
For the candidates who weren’t the right fit, let them down nicely. Write a quick, kind email thanking them for their interest and time.
12. Reflect on your process and improve.
After completing the process, review which step felt the most challenging and why. Ask what you can do differently the next go around to improve and create a more seamless experience. Document your improvements and get better with time!
Hiring takes time, dedication and practice. Following these steps can help you develop a process you feel good about. Remember, hiring—and firing—are some of the hardest and most important parts of growing and scaling your dietitian private practice. You’ve got this!
