“I started off somewhat timid to the idea of hiring therapists that knew more about treating than I. The supportive folks at Survival Strategies really aimed my efforts into the right direction. Simple things like wording ads that look for the right candidate, where to look for the right candidate, spotting their emotional tone and asking questions to pull the candidate out when interviewing or just talking. This became useful when at one point. I had a landslide of hiring within a 2 week period. Talk about on the job practice! I was hiring an aide, a receptionist, and interviewing/pursuing a therapist in the same period of time.
What is most important is that I am excited, ready and willing to search for the right people and without hesitation.
As far as retention goes, we have initiated a bonus salary structure (just for therapists so far) that is exciting. I have put together an excel spreadsheet that calculates bonus based on production. I always want to pay therapists well and now I can to those deserving. At one point we had a therapist to whom we paid generously. He ended up not returning the favor. If we had paid him a base salary with bonus, I think he would have performed better. Our recently hired therapist is excited about the new salary structure.”