HR Considerations When Starting Your Dental Practice

October 16 2021 - Running a dental practice was much easier a few decades ago than it is today. There are several laws, audits, scrutiny, and disciplinary committees that regulate the running of the practices. Human rights, public health regulations, and privacy are other concerns that dentists need to incorporate into their practices. Dental owners and dentists must ensure they follow all checks and their licences are up-to-date.

Running a dental clinic is similar to a business. There are legalities, documentation, accounts, software, inventories, and even human resources (HR) considerations. Most dentists forget that just having basic knowledge of running a business, managing people, and understanding finances are not enough to succeed. The tools, implements, and equipment used in the dental practice are as essential as the people you hire.

While we can help you understand the HR consideration when starting your dental practice, you should order supplies and implements from well-known UK dental supplier Kent Express. Having good quality tools and implements will help boost the practice and improve its reputation.

Documentation:

HR compliance requires that all reports and incidents be filed neatly and to help with the due diligence. Interactions with late employees, excessive phone usage, surfing restricted material from the computers in the reception area, and more should all be filed correctly.

People mostly file all accounting and finance-related documents but fail to understand the legal implications of not having HR documentation ready. While no singular regulator requires you to file all HR documentation, it is best practice to document all critical interactions with employees. These reports may come in handy during annual reviews, appraisals, and performance training.

You may also use these documents in court if you are ever called for a legal matter concerning an employee. Since many dental practices are required to file their papers, it is good to have the HR documentation on hand to help save you thousands of pounds in case you are sued.

Human Resources (HR) Policy Manual:

While you may feel your dental practice is a start-up and will not require a Human Resource Policy Manual, you should get help in making one. The HR Manual is key to ensuring you have all the rules, regulations, behavioural guidelines, wage structures, leaves, bonuses, and other vital aspects of your company laid out.

The HR Manual should also have the ethical behaviour, non-tolerance policies, notice periods, and policy changes mentioned. You should also consider the legal ramifications of the rules and ensure they are in line with the HR policy mandates in the UK. While making your HR Policy Manual, you should remember to tailor it to your start-up and its needs.

You may need to think carefully about temporary and permanent staff, and will also need to consider the benefits you will offer. Sharing the HR Policy Manual with all members of your practice will help clear any confusion that the employees may have. Having an HR Policy Manual will help set the tone for the business culture and interaction with patients.

Onboarding and Recruiting Processes:

Many dentists and dental practice owners feel there is no need for such processes for a start-up. However, deciding how to frame job descriptions, salaries, reference requirements, experience levels, education levels is not easy. You should post the job ads on social media, print, and other areas that can get great responses.

Having a set process will help streamline the recruitment and will allow you to keep track of all applications. It will also help prospective employees with the onboarding process since you will understand the level of each application and the skill sets required.

Some things you should include in the onboarding process are:

• Offer Letter
• Equity Paperwork (if applicable)
• Employee Information
• Employee Agreements (intellectual property, non-compete, and so on)

Onboarding processes are excellent for setting the tone for excellent employee culture in the long term. If you are using any software in your dental practice, you should also set up training sessions for employees to ensure that your practice runs smoothly at all times.

Regulations for Health, Safety, and Compliance:

Making the work environment safe is required by law. You should ensure you have strict regulations about safety (emergency exits, phone numbers, medical supplies and more) and behaviour (sexual harassment policies, equal employment, and non-discrimination). Since HR regulations help keep the dental practice safe with clearly outlined rules and regulations, it is best to ensure you have everything ready before starting the recruitment and onboarding process.

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