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Welcome back to another episode of The GrowOrtho Podcast. In today’s episode, we chat with our guests, Wiseman Strategies, about creative and effective ways for orthodontists to attract talent and optimize organizational structures within their practices in order to promote growth.

Wiseman Strategies is a 29-year-old company that “[helps] companies inside of the talent space. “Their goal is to help companies learn how to leverage their ability to attract, invest in, and retain great people.

Tune in to hear more about:

  • Best practices on making the right hires, attracting (rather than finding) top talent, and altering organizational structures to reflect company culture and growth
  • The “talent life cycle”
  • How these recruitment and organizational strategies apply within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic era employment crisis
  • What practices should know if they want to scale their businesses (without losing themselves) and the problem with just “hiring more people” as a default growth strategy
  • Effectiveness vs. efficiency
  • Why it’s so important to look beyond the résumé when hiring
  • What makes a person want to stay at a company—and the four main reasons that make people want to leave
  • How to prepare for a great interview with questions that help you understand “the heart, the head, and the briefcase” of each candidate
  • How to amplify the skill sets of your leaders and give them a path for growth
  • The difference between turnover and retention

We start off the podcast by asking Tony of Wiseman Strategies what he thinks is the “secret” to making a great company. (Yes, a bit of a doozy right off the bat!)

His answer: “The biggest investment you’ll ever make in your organization is your people.” He observes that companies who are successful after years of growth are the ones who know how to find the right people and “coach, train, and mentor” them in a way that ultimately advances the values and mission of the company—regardless of their industry.

Craig of Wiseman Strategies also has a great response to a question about how orthodontists should approach scaling their practice. In short: Ensure there’s a long-term vision of where they want to go, and develop a strategy to get there.

He goes into a lot of detail about this approach, adding that scaling ultimately depends on hiring and retaining the “right people [who are] doing the right things,” and then helping them advance their skills and stay engaged with the company mission.

To make sure the “right people” are doing the “right things,” Craig also encourages orthodontists to ask themselves: “How are we going to manage practice growth from a people strategy?”

Here are a few other topics you can expect to learn about:

  • We talk about the Predictive Index, which helps organizations “understand the drives and motivations of an individual and how they align with the job they are being asked to do as well as the company’s mission and values.” Tony argues that a nuanced tool like this can be a lot more useful than many common behavioral assessments, which tend to fall short of ensuring team members align with the company mission and values.
  • Here’s a question you’ve probably never asked yourself as a business owner: “What am I not willing to coach and teach?” Tony says this is an essential question that will help you streamline your hiring process.
  • Beware of the four “forces of disengagement.” Tony says: job fit, cultural fit, leadership or management, and teams.
  • Kelly of Wiseman Strategies also has some great insights on the difference between attracting (vs. sourcing) the right candidates, and why the former is the more optimal approach for businesses. Using target words and “hooks” in job listings that truly speak to the heart of the right candidate is an important start, she says.
  • Being consistent, setting up a verbal agenda, and requesting intro videos prior to bringing a potential hire in for an interview are also valuable strategies that can make the interview process great.