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Hiring New Therapists
190 Plays6 days ago
Josh and Emily talk about hiring new therapists, discussing the key qualities to look for and the challenges of finding the right fit. They also share insights on onboarding, mentorship, and building a strong team culture.
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Transcript
Introduction and Key Question
00:00:05
Miranda Materi
Hi, I'm Josh McDonald and we are Hand Therapy Academy.
00:00:08
Emily Kerr
Hi, I'm Emily Kerr.
00:00:11
Miranda Materi
we've got Emily joining us again today. She's gonna give us another question as a staff member. So Emily, what do you have for us today?
00:00:18
Emily Kerr
Yeah, in our um last podcast, we talked a little bit about mistakes and you talked about hiring more so for the front desk staff. But um from a therapist perspective, what are the most important traits that you look for when you're hiring new therapists?
Criteria for Hiring Therapists
00:00:33
Miranda Materi
Yeah, so I put a lot of thought into this over my career. Like I've even before I owned a clinic, I managed a couple different like pediatric clinics and I managed another hand therapy practice. And so I've been in the process, i' been in the world of hiring staff, hiring therapists for a while.
00:00:48
Miranda Materi
And so I've kind of broken it down and have a little like metric system I use um because everything I put a system to it, right?
00:00:54
Emily Kerr
I'm sorry.
00:00:54
Miranda Materi
So I'm looking for three characteristics. I'm looking for someone who's a good therapist. I'm looking for someone who's a good staff member. And I'm looking for someone who's a good person. I want someone who's a good therapist. They're going to make their patients better.
00:01:09
Miranda Materi
They get along with the patients well. They're very personable.
Qualities of a Good Therapist
00:01:12
Miranda Materi
they get like They accomplish goals and they understand like how the rehab process works um because they've worked with therapists who were great people and did the the job they were supposed to, but their patients didn't get better or they didn't progress them like they was they were supposed to. So I want a skilled or willing therapist that's going to be a skilled therapist. Sometimes that takes time.
00:01:34
Miranda Materi
I want someone who's a good um staff member, a good employee. That means from therapist perspective, getting your notes done on time, billing the way you're supposed to. We talk about efficient billing and we talk about how we're going to get, you know, the right units in. So I want someone who's getting that done.
00:01:48
Miranda Materi
Someone who works well with other people, you know, everyone that gets along in the office, um someone who is willing to go like a little extra mile and they're willing to fill lotion bottles when they've got some downtime or they clean the hydroculator or whatever it
Importance of Staff Harmony
00:02:01
Miranda Materi
is.
00:02:01
Miranda Materi
They're willing to like put in some extra effort beyond just like, nope, I'm here to treat pickre patients and that's all I do. I want a good staff member. And then I want a good person. Like, I don't want to hire staff that are just like, yeah, you're you're able to fill the hole. You have a pulse. You can treat patients.
00:02:16
Miranda Materi
Check the box. Like, I want someone who's like, they care about people and they're going to have like this engagement with the other staff members and the um and the patients.
00:02:27
Miranda Materi
So, yeah, I'm looking for a couple of different characteristics in there that says it's this, know, because I've worked with people who, are two of the three, and the third not being there is super
Teachability and Hiring Rules
00:02:37
Miranda Materi
noticeable. I've worked with therapists who were great with patients, like they made good progress, and they did their job well, but nobody liked them.
00:02:44
Miranda Materi
And there was this awkward tension in the clinic, and that just makes for a bad environment all around. So you kind of have to keep that that team concept working and functioning well.
00:02:53
Emily Kerr
Yeah, that makes sense. and do you feel like um some of those traits can be taught? Or like, what's your trial period when you like on an interview, if you feel like a a new therapist, like appears to be a good hire, and then you hire them, and it's not going well, how long do you let that process ride out?
00:03:13
Miranda Materi
In the state of Arizona, it's kind of restricted by the the rules of an at-will employment state. um Ultimately, you have the right to work here and I have the right to employ
Spotting Work Ethic and Teachability
00:03:24
Miranda Materi
you. So in Arizona, if for some reason there's something going wrong, I have to go through a process that says, we sat down and I gave you an action plan and you didn't do it. And they gave you an action plan and two or three cycles of that. And then I can fire you anytime I want in Arizona, but I have to prove that there's just cause or I can be sued later.
00:03:46
Miranda Materi
So my job on the front end is to make sure that I don't have to do that. Right. So you asked if it could be taught. Yeah, I can absolutely teach someone to be a good therapist. Most therapists, right?
00:03:56
Miranda Materi
Some people don't want to learn. Some people just can't quite get it. But most therapists can learn the skills. That's why they went to become a therapist. So that's the most teachable one of those.
00:04:08
Miranda Materi
The work ethic that says of someone who's a good staff member, that's something I want to see in that first interview. You know, I want to see like, well, talk talk to me about your job description in your last place that you worked or You know, tell me about some of the jobs before you became a therapist. If they were a waiter a waitress, chances are they're going to be willing to put in some, you know, some extra work just to make things run smoothly. They're going to help everybody out, those kinds of things.
00:04:30
Miranda Materi
um And the good person is getting to know them, right? Like it's my job on an interview to make sure I'm not going to hire someone who's going to conflict with the rest of the staff or that someone that like, yeah, I just don't get the right vibe from the situation.
Leveraging Personal Connections
00:04:43
Miranda Materi
Like,
00:04:44
Miranda Materi
Like they're just in it for just a paycheck. I want a therapist who's going to bond with other people around them. They're going to have that connection.
00:04:52
Emily Kerr
Yeah, I feel like we or you have been lucky so far, at least since I've been with you, that you've hired mostly um pat or previous students, um even though I know I wasn't a student with you. But um I guess, how would you go about the hiring process if you weren't as lucky to get a student?
00:05:13
Miranda Materi
Yeah, um that's tough. That's about having connections to people. um I encourage when people ask us, like, how do I get into hand therapy? I really want to do it. It's start making connections, start meeting hand therapists, go into clinics, chat with people because.
00:05:28
Miranda Materi
Five resumes sitting on my desk are not nearly as impactful as me knowing a person over here who might be looking for a job. Because if I know that person, I know who they are. I've had some interactions with them. I know what kind of person they are. I know their work ethic. I know how they talk to people.
00:05:44
Miranda Materi
Do they curse every fifth word? You know, like silly things like that. But that resume, that piece of paper doesn't give me nearly as much of that. So i if I'm looking to hire someone and I don't have a student or a previous student who's a potential, then I'm either reaching out to those students or other people to say, hey, do you know somebody? Because that that's an indirect connection.
00:06:03
Miranda Materi
Or I'm trying to pull from therapists that maybe I know to say, like, do you have a good student you used? Or are you looking for a job? That personal connection is way more valuable than just looking for resumes and and hunting through page after page of
Impact of Student Rotations
00:06:16
Miranda Materi
resumes. that's i my My brain glosses over and those don't register anymore after about three of them.
00:06:21
Emily Kerr
Yeah, no one wants to spend that much time doing that.
00:06:23
Miranda Materi
Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
00:06:24
Emily Kerr
um Because you hire so many previous students, do all of this or does all this apply to the screening process for the level two students that you do decide to take?
00:06:36
Miranda Materi
um No, not so much. I have had ah one of the first therapists I hired to work with me um didn't initially have interest in doing hand therapy.
00:06:47
Miranda Materi
He, his wrote his level two fell apart and a friend who was his professor called and said like, Hey, can you, pick this student up and just help him. So he graduates. I'm like, yes, absolutely. We can, we can fit him in. Wasn't, a but wasn't a big deal.
00:06:59
Miranda Materi
And he ended up loving the, the feel of hand therapy. So I don't necessarily hold my students to that same expectation because you're still so new in your formation as a therapist and as an adult, like, right? Like you haven't actually worked a real full-time job yet. So you don't know that's like that.
00:07:19
Miranda Materi
that work ethic can still be taught. And being a good therapist, you're not yet. No one expects you to be because you've only done this for three months in a setting somewhere where someone was holding your hand for six weeks. So I don't expect the same level from students, but I want to see that progression. If I have a student in the first three, four weeks and I think, oh, this is Students doing great. Maybe we have some potential here. If I'm, you know, I can see a need in the future and I want to, you know, maybe this person has a potential down the road higher.
00:07:45
Miranda Materi
I want to see them progress in those three categories. And I want to know they're going to get along with everybody. They have a a good heart and they have a ah desire to work with people. but they're just not willing to do the extra stuff and I ask them over and over again and they're just not jumping in and getting someone else's patient a hot pack or putting someone else's stuff away and they're just not getting that, that's that's kind of a a non-starter for me as we get to know that person.
00:08:09
Emily Kerr
Yeah, as a student, I always felt like each one of my rotations was like a three month long interview process um i at each different place. So that makes sense.
00:08:18
Miranda Materi
Yeah. And I think students don't always realize that we get a number of students who feel like it's another box to check before they graduate. And then when they graduate, then they'll go look for a job. Then they'll go and like, this is a working interview. And it's a small enough world in most communities that if.
00:08:36
Miranda Materi
that I know enough therapists and I know enough professors at universities that if someone says, Oh, Josh's name is on their resume for their level two rotation, they're going to call me and going to give an honest review, right? Like I'm going to, I'm not going to, you know, i'm not going to open myself up for defamation
Contact Information for Queries
00:08:50
Miranda Materi
of character stuff. I have to careful with that.
00:08:52
Miranda Materi
But if I say, yep, they were a student with us and that's all I say, then they probably know that that, you know, that that was that three month working interview did not reflect well on what that student can do. So, Students need to realize that that is, if not an interview for that job, it could easily lead to connections for other jobs.
00:09:09
Miranda Materi
Yeah.
00:09:09
Emily Kerr
Yeah, definitely.
00:09:11
Miranda Materi
Yeah. So that's a whole bunch of information. But yeah, if you guys have any questions about the whole small business side of things, hiring, all of that, someday we'll talk about firing people because that's super fun too.
00:09:21
Miranda Materi
um But maybe not this cycle. um You can reach out to us, info at handtherapyacademy.com or reach us on our social media platforms at Hand Therapy Academy.