How to Find and Keep Good Employees in Your OMS Office

Do you struggle with human resource issues in your OMS office? If you answered yes, just know you’re not alone. In fact, we could write a blog every week about the human resource challenges and triumphs OMS administrators face regularly. We all know it’s difficult because we’re dealing with real people, real personnel issues, and even real moral dilemmas. But we need to take care of our employees by making sure they have the tools and training to do their jobs to the best of their ability to provide high-quality, patient-centered care.

Today, we’re going to focus on on-boarding and how to keep good employees, because let’s face it, they’re our most valuable asset toward practice success. They’re also hard to find and sometimes even harder to retain.

Setting Up Employees For Success

If you have time, we’d recommend you read the book called It’s Our Ship by Captain D. Michael Abrashoff. The book expertly summarizes the lessons the author learned while leading the United States Naval ship the USS Benfold. He says to successfully lead others in the office and find the right employees you need to first lead yourself or be the leader of your life. This is helpful when working with current employees and when you’re bringing new faces to your OMS office.

Here are our top 5 helpful guidelines we hope you’ll be able to put to good use:

1. Helping your new employee feel welcome – Do what you can to make your new hire feel valued before they even set foot in your OMS office for their first day on the job. Consider sending a floral arrangement to show the new employee that you’re thinking about them and that you’re excited to be gearing up for their start date. When someone starts working with you and your team, it’s essential to make them feel welcome and show them you’re excited to have them join your team. After all, the experiences someone has when they first start working with you is going to shape how they feel about their job and your practice long-term.
2. Making a good first impression – We hope your new employee is going to do their very best to make a great first impression, but it’s also on you and your current employees to do the same. Make sure your team is informed of the new hire’s start date and introduce them to everyone as an important addition. Show them around your office with a thorough orientation, helping them to feel welcome and wanted. If your new employee feels you and your team have high hopes for the impact they will make at the practice, they are more likely to strive to live up to that expectation.  
3. Taking care of paperwork – We all know how much paperwork is required when hiring a new employee. So to avoid confusion or missing pieces, consider creating a system for your on-boarding process so that all new employees enjoy a similar experience. You can create a binder or digital folder to keep original forms you will need and hiring notes for your reference. Creating checklists for yourself can also help so you are sure to obtain copies of their necessary certifications, credentials and/or vaccine history. Consider creating a custom printed folder with all of the paperwork and valuable information they’ll need to succeed in your OMS office, including things like benefit options, a quick reference guide, forms to be signed and a welcome letter. Having a straightforward system will show your new employee that you took time to prepare on their behalf and that you care about their success.
4. Creating the right expectations – It’s also a good idea to set up a checklist for your new employees outlining the various things you’d like them to accomplish during their first 90 days of employment. Make sure they also know what to expect their first day of work. Consider taking your new employee out for lunch with the person who will be their main point of contact for training, assistance, etc. When you start learning about someone on a more personal level, it helps to create and grow a more meaningful relationship. The lunch can also help solidify authority and make day two on the job that much easier.
5. Following up regularly – Be sure to mark your calendar to do regular check-ins with your new employee. When you meet, review the training progress, ask them about their experiences so far, and give them specific feedback relating to their progress. These touch points need to be two-way conversations so that you can establish a trust relationship and the new hire can be confident that you are someone they can go to for support and guidance.

We hope you’ve picked up a few things from these guidelines to help smooth your on-boarding process at your OMS practice. If you’re unsure how to get started, we recommend using this on-boarding  checklist, courtesy of CEDR Solutions. As always, if you have any questions related to human resources for your OMS office or want further assistance with improving your on-boarding process, please don’t hesitate to join our SOMSA members-only forum. We’re all in this together!