Louise Beddow looks at how a report into the dental workforce can help practice owners improve their recruitment success…
Knowing the current make-up of the dental workforce and what it will look like in the future can help to make your recruitment process smoother and quicker. Fortunately, a report providing just that insight has recently been produced by Christie & Co. for the first time.
The Dental Industry 2018: Staffing, Brexit and The Dentist Shortage report in itself is interesting for the insight it provides into the demographics of the people currently working in dentistry. But, the details it contains can also be used to help practices understand more about the needs and wants of those they’re trying to recruit. This means you can ensure your terms and conditions of employment are attractive and that you’re advertising vacancies appropriately. Given that many practices are struggling to fill roles, this will be welcome knowledge.
The report revealed that the majority of dentists in the workforce are aged 31 – 40, and there was a pretty even split between male and female, 51% and 49% respectively. However, the statistics suggest that this gender-split will swing towards an increase in women. Over the past 10 years the number of female dentistry undergraduates has increased by six per cent to 63.4% of the total. If that trend continues on the same trajectory it means that in a decade 70% of dental graduates could be female.
As a practice owner, you can use this information to make recruiting your next team member as easy as possible. If a large portion of the people you will be trying to attract to your practice are millennial (born between 1981 and 1997) and female, there is a high chance that work/life balance and social consciousness will be an important factor when choosing their employer. In which case, offering flexible working and a strong CSR policy, including things such as volunteering days, may be worth considering.
This may also have an impact on where you advertise your vacancies. For example, traditional avenues like newspapers and magazines may still be worthwhile, but you could be missing an opportunity if you don’t also utilise online and social media sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Indeed.
Of course, remuneration is always something jobseekers will be considering when looking for a new role. The report shows that associates are paid less per UDA in areas where house prices are highest; those in the South West earn the most, followed by those in Wales, whereas those in the West Midlands earn the least, followed by London. Clearly, geographical location will have an impact on salary expectations.
Figures also show that the number of European Economic Area (EEA) and overseas-qualified dentists entering the UK workforce is reducing by 39% and 63% respectively. Given that many of this demographic were often recruited into the corporates, this potentially means independent practices and corporates will now be targeting more of the same group (UK-qualified) to fill their roles. Add this to the report’s statistics that corporates and small groups now account for around a third of the market, and practice owners may need to begin putting even more thought into what they can offer in order to compete on with the dental groups.
Practices that are struggling to recruit associates may find themselves turning to the swelling ranks of dental therapists. The report shows numbers of therapists have risen by 65% to 3,684 between 2013 and 2017. As they are able to carry out many of the same clinical duties as an associate, but on a lower salary – practices may consider whether they would be better off hiring a therapist rather than a new associate. Although they will undoubtedly want to think about the impact this may have on the patient journey, and the possibility of greater fragmentation.
The report makes for very interesting reading, and as the saying goes ‘forewarned is forearmed’. With all the discussion in dentistry about the issue of recruiting and retaining staff, understanding the changing nature of the workforce can only help your practice to meet any staffing needs in the future, and to do so with minimal stress.
You can read the report here: https://www.christie.com/news-resources/press-releases/october-2018/christie-co-publishes-first-annual-report-on-the-d/
