
Earlier this week I attended a Zoom meeting to meet a potential Practice Manager and conduct a third and final interview for the position.
It's a service I offer to my clients for management appointments:
Review CV's with the client and create a shortlist;
Client then arranges first Zoom interviews with shortlist;
Clients arranges face to face interview with finalists;
Chris Barrow arranges Zoom interview with finalists;
Candidate then chosen.
In this case, we had only one finalist - so it wasn't so much a question of choosing as confirming that we had the Ideal Team Player we were looking for.
The candidate had no previous dental experience.
Surprising because a number of the finalists were previously working for dental corporates and micro-corporates (are they shedding managers at the moment?) - but the client and I took the view that a new pair of eyes on the situation might be beneficial.
Previous experience has shown that, even after all of that search, interrogation and selection, we still won't know if we have made the right choice until three months in to the job.
During my Zoom call, the candidate explained to me that he had been in retail for 20 years, working for a major supermarket chain, and had worked his way through the ranks into a management position, responsible for a number of teams in varied locations.
I asked him, "looking back on your time in management, what would you say is the most frequently asked question from those you were responsible for?"
His answer took me by surprise:
"Help with personal problems."
When asked to elaborate, he explained that, once he had gained the trust and confidence of his team, many of them would approach him as a coach and mentor and ask for his advice on a variety of challenges, both personal and work-related.
It reminded me of a PDF we shared during lockdown and the return to work period.
A time when I encouraged all Owners and Managers to take extra care of their team members and ensure they were available to help.
I attach that PDF below, with a respectful reminder to all Owners and Managers this morning, that you are regarded by some of your team members as their port in a storm.
Be there for them - be the beacon of light - and they will follow you.
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