Job mobility is a strategy dental leaders must execute with some amount of care as it’s a strategy that can disrupt dental teams through constantly changing dynamics and instabilities. The regular movement taking place due to job mobility can lead to increased competitiveness within dental teams, motivating team members to work harder to move upward within a practice or showcase their skills in another department. Also, with the ideal candidates, dental offices gain the sort of renewed perspective and diversity needed to progress an otherwise static workforce. 

The increased hiring of temporary dental professionals makes things easier for dental practices in need of talent, making job mobility more plausible. Dental temp hiring has been on the increase during the new normal as dental practices try to make up for lost revenue caused by pandemic-related shutdowns. For dental leaders considering job mobility, here’s how dental temps ensure your job mobility strategy becomes successful. 

Dental Temps Can Work Across Different Positions

Dental temps have become more attractive to practices trying to offset the labor shortage that has been gripping dentistry throughout the pandemic. One reason why dentists have found it convenient to hire dental temps is that they can fill in at any position on demand and are paid hourly.

Working as a temporary dentist helps dental temps gain valuable experience and show their flexibility as they can develop and showcase multiple skills based on the responsibilities they’re tasked with daily. As time evolves, dental temps develop a reputation within their dental practices and earn the trust of dentists so they can potentially move up or earn promising opportunities in other practice areas. Dental temps can fill in for hygienists, associates, administrative staff, and other roles. 

Plus, dental temps can take shifts at any time, allowing dental practices to accept last-minute appointments. The availability of dental temps makes them attractive as they can be counted on to take on different roles and develop their abilities quickly, whether they have experience in the industry or not. 

Dental Temps Don’t Require Additional Management

woman in blue scrub suit sitting on black chair

Dental temping also helps with job mobility because temporary employees don’t require micromanagement from dental leaders as they shift from one role to another. 

Dealing with dental temps is straightforward for dentists because temporary dentists can name their fees and leave at the end of workdays with a check. They work at their leisure, and dentists don’t have to offer them extensive benefits to stick with the job. The more work offered by dental practices to dental temps, then the more opportunities they will have for career development, making them prime candidates for better internal positions. Also, if some dental temps don’t stick around and decide to move on to different practices, working with a dental temp agency allows practices to identify more talent and bring in temporary dentists at will. 

Furthermore, with a strong work culture at the practice’s core, dental temps can simply come into the office and leave, avoiding any drama or politics. Dental leaders must encourage a culture of collaboration and innovation so dental temps feel comfortable contributing immediately to their teams and acquire the knowledge necessary to successfully move across different roles. Exposing dental temps to too much negativity will have them look to other practices for jobs, especially knowing that their temporary statuses allow them to move freely at any time. 

Plus, constantly giving new responsibilities to temporary dentists ensures increased engagement and productivity, helping them develop a dynamic skill set while getting to work with varying staff members and patients, so they’re always interacting with fresh faces.

Dental Temps Are Good At Learning on the Fly

woman having a dental check-up

Dental temps are always learning and constantly willing to move around to gain experience. As a result, dental leaders can leverage temporary dentists for job mobility by having them interact with experienced staffers to learn how to adjust to daily operations within the dental office. 

Dental leaders should encourage dental temps to take the initiative each day they enter their office for work. Temporary dentists should seek advice from hygienists and assistants to understand how to operate technologies, learn key tips on how to interact with patients, and see team members in action so they can pick up new skills on the fly, utilizing those skills for any future tasks. 

Dental temps often rotate, meaning they’re used to dealing with different co-workers and patients. They can easily adjust to any scenarios and transitions thrown at them, making them ideal for job mobility because newness rarely phases them. Dental temps are constantly engaged and getting high-value work for their shifts. Shifting dental temps to different responsibilities increases productivity without the need to make costly hires outside of the practice. 

TempStars helps dental leaders identify dental temps and other employees who will be instant contributors to productivity and enhance your practice’s job mobility. Sign up today and learn more about our trusted services!