How to Hire the Right Chiropractic Team Without Panic Hiring

[00:00:00] Welcome to, uh, the Chiropractic Deep Dive, which is, you know, a very special part of the Successful Chiro podcast. Yeah, and we really should mention right up front that this deep dive is proudly brought to you by Five Star Management, a premier chiropractic consulting company. Exactly. Yeah. And, um, as passionate members of the Five Star Management team, we are just entirely dedicated to helping you build a better, less stressful practice.

Less stressful being the absolute key phrase there, because today we are talking about, well, panic-driven hiring. Ugh. Honestly, the biggest headache every chiropractor faces at some point. Right. It’s that massive wave of stress. Like, picture this, you have a wonderful CA, right? Oh, I know the feeling. Yeah, and then her spouse gets a job in another city, and there’s this tearful departure.

And obviously you’re happy for them, but inside your stomach just drops. Because suddenly you are left desperately needing a warm body just to fill a role. And that desperation almost always produces, you know, low-quality hires- Yeah … and just low-quality work across the [00:01:00] board. It really does. But the good news is today’s source material gives us a solution.

We are extracting from a master class Zoom call that was led by Dr. Noel Lloyd. Which was entirely focused on building a, uh, a low-stress hiring system in kit form. Exactly. The whole goal of this deep dive is to pull out Dr. Lloyd’s system and the brilliant tips shared by the participants on that call so you literally never have to panic hire again.

So let’s start in what I like to call the danger zone, which is hiring out of sheer desperation and completely ignoring massive red flags. The red flags get completely overlooked when you’re desperate. It’s basically like going grocery shopping when you’re starving, right? Yeah. You’re walking down the aisles, and instead of sticking to a healthy list, you just throw a bunch of absolute junk into your cart.

That makes you sick later. That is such a perfect analogy. Right. And when you’re desperate for someone to just answer the phones, you do the exact same thing with applicants. Yeah. And on the call, Dr. Lloyd and the participants laid out some [00:02:00] specific red flags. Red flag number one is the litigious candidate or someone with a hidden criminal background.

Wait, litigious, like they sue their employers? Yes. A participant gave a crucial piece of advice to check state records to see if the applicant has a history of suing previous employers. Wow. I mean, the logic makes sense. If they sued the last doctor over some minor thing, you are probably next. 100%, and it’s usually public record.

Plus, multiple participants stressed how background checks are completely non-negotiable. Yeah, using services like backgroundchecks.com or GoodHire. I think Checkr is another one. Right, and they only cost, like, 30 to 50 bucks. Dr. Lloyd actually shared this genuinely chilling story about a candidate who’s basically hired, and a late background check revealed a weapons violation.

Oh my gosh. Literally saved from a nightmare by a $30 check. Yeah, and another participant brought up the scenario of hiring a provider and finding out later they have a history of child [00:03:00] molestation. You just cannot skip the legal screening. You really can’t. So that’s the legal side. But red flag number two is more about personality, right?

Yeah. The, uh, the Eeyore and the jumper. Yes, the Eeyore is your chronically negative candidate. A participant shared a story about a hire who couldn’t even say one nice word about a beautiful new office sign. Just complained that the colors didn’t contrast well, just a dark cloud. Exactly. And then you have the jumper.

This is the person who comes in and immediately starts slamming their previous employer Which, you know, a lot of chiropractors hear that and get a savior complex. They think, “Oh, I can fix them. I’ll be the supportive boss.” It’s so tempting to think that. But a participant pointed out that over 90% of brain executions are based on previous patterns.

Meaning they aren’t looking for a home, they’re just repeating a toxic cycle. Right. If they cheat on their last boss by complaining to you, you will be the next boss they complain about. That is a harsh reality. Okay. And red flag number three is just blatant culture [00:04:00] clashes, the hot mess express. Oh, the stories participants shared were hilarious but terrifying.

Candidates showing up in slippers, ripped jeans, 25 face piercings. Didn’t someone show up in a pink tracksuit covered in dried tomato soup? Yes, a tracksuit with tomato soup. You have to wonder, if that’s their best foot forward, what does a random Tuesday six months from now look like? Exactly. And this ties into social media screening, right?

Highly vital. One participant said, “If there’s drama on their Facebook, there will be drama in your office.” Like the story of the new hire calling out sick for two days, coughing on the phone, but Facebook showed her partying at the lake. Ah, yes, the brown bottle flu. It just destroys team trust. He really does.

But knowing what to avoid is only half the battle. Dr. Noel Lloyd emphasizes that you have to know exactly what characteristics you actually want. Oh, right. The five pillars of a rockstar hire. So what are the pillars? I assume it’s more than just being friendly. Much more. Pillar one is [00:05:00] integrity. Simply, do they mean what they say and do what they say?

Okay, the baseline. Pillar two is common sense, the ability to read a room and figure out what needs to be done. Which naturally leads to pillar three, proactivity, right? Exactly. The self-starter. Will they grab a clipboard and just offer to greet people without being micromanaged? And pillar four is reliability, which was super strict on this, uh, Zoom call.

Very strict. It’s proven through flawless references and punctuality. A good attendance record isn’t 90%, it’s ideally 100%. Because 90% means they miss two full days every single month. That’s a huge disruption. Huge. And finally, pillar five is the hustler, a fiercely loyal team member who anticipates the clinic’s needs before being told.

Okay, I have to interject here though. It’s incredibly easy to say just hire a hustler with common sense, but how on earth do you actually spot that when everyone is on their best behavior during an interview? That is the big question, and you don’t just guess. You [00:06:00] use Dr. Lloyd’s specific filtering tools to reveal those traits.

Okay, so let’s get into the low-stress hiring system in action. Step one. Step one is the Zoom pre-screen or automated wedge interviews. Right, because you have to stop wasting time on no-shows. Exactly. Participants highly recommend doing a quick Zoom screen or using software to have candidates submit video answers to preset questions before they ever come in.

So you basically create a friction point. If they won’t record a five-minute video, they definitely won’t hustle for your patients. Yep, it filters out the unmotivated immediately. Then step two is brilliant. The sneaky group interview. Oh, this is so clever. A participant detailed how they invite candidates for a surprise group interview on a quiet Saturday morning.

And you watch who gets uncomfortable and just walks out. Yes. You want rigid people to self-select out. And then you have a trusted petite team member sit quietly behind the front desk. Just pretending to work. Yeah. Like a total spy. Exactly. They act as your eyes and ears. They catch [00:07:00] candidates who roll their eyes when chiropractic philosophy is brought up or who talk smack in the waiting room.

Because that’s the real them. That’s how they act when the doctor turns around. Right. And then step three is the working interview. The job audition. Where you actually see them in action for 30 to 40 minutes. You give them five specific tasks: greeting a patient, taking a mock $147 payment, looking up a file.

And wiping a table. You mentioned that story of a candidate who flat out refused to wipe down a table. Because at her last doctor’s office, she, quote-unquote, “Just sat at the desk.” I mean, we don’t need a chair weight. We need a dynamic CA. If they won’t wipe a table during the audition, they definitely won’t do it six months into the job.

So true. Which brings us to step four, the L.E.A.D. assessment and the bank card test. And I’ll admit, a lot of us just hire people because we like them. Oh, it’s the most common flaw, hiring for similarity instead of capability, and ending up with an office full of friends. Right, instead of an effective team.

So how does the lead assessment [00:08:00] fix that? L.E.A.D. finds their natural predispositions, so you create rocket ship employees instead of weighted vests. Okay, break that down for specific roles, like therapy assistants. Therapy assistants need to be DL or DE, dependable leader or expresser, highly loyal, prioritizing others’ feelings, deeply empathetic.

But you do not want that highly empathetic person running the financial desk. Absolutely not. Financial CAs must be AL or high A analytical. They need to be able to ask for that $147 payment without emotional hesitation. That makes total sense. An analytical person just sees the math. They don’t project guilt.

And what about the front desk? Front desk does well with AD, analytical and dependable, and a participant even admitted trying to outsmart this test out of desperation. Because they just really like the candidate’s vibe. Yes, and it failed every single time. You have to trust the system over your gut. Wow.

Okay, so I wanna leave everyone with a really [00:09:00] provocative thought to chew on today. Let’s hear it. What if the bad hires you’ve experienced in the past aren’t actually a reflection of a terrible talent pool at all? What if they are a perfect reflection of a broken, desperate hiring process? That is so powerful because by implementing Dr.

Noel Lloyd’s kit, you transform from a victim of circumstance into an architect of your own culture. Exactly. You don’t have to just hope for the best anymore. And remember, Five Star Management is here to help you implement these exact systems. Yes. We want you to click the link in the show notes to book a completely free call with Dr.

George Birnbach. He is a master at this. We’d also enthusiastically invite you to join the Five Star team live in Dallas, Texas, on November 14th and 15th. We’ve got two incredible events happening simultaneously: the New Patient Solution, showing you how to get more new patients fast.

And the Win Win Associates event, focused on the Win Win Associate system for more growth, freedom, and success. The link to register is right in the show notes. [00:10:00] Make sure you hit that subscribe button to get more practice-building tips from the Successful Chiro podcast. Thank you so much for diving deep with Five Star Management today.

See you next time