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Guide · Practice growth
You cannot treat patients you have no one to treat them.
Recruitment sits outside most marketing conversations and belongs inside them. A practice that cannot fill a surgery cannot convert extra demand, and the same reputation that attracts patients attracts clinicians.
Recruiting dental staff in the UK is difficult because demand for treatment has grown faster than the available workforce, and because associates increasingly have options about where and how they work. Practices that recruit well tend to do three things: they are visible and credible online before a vacancy exists, they describe the actual working conditions rather than posting a generic advert, and they treat the first few months as seriously as the interview. Your patient facing brand does a lot of this work, because clinicians research a practice the same way patients do.
- Constraint
- Workforce, not patient demand
- Where candidates look
- Your website and social, before applying
- Biggest lever
- Being known before you have a vacancy
- Most neglected
- The first three months
Why this is a marketing page
If your constraint is capacity rather than demand, then filling a surgery is worth more than another campaign. Practices routinely spend thousands generating enquiries they cannot service while a surgery sits empty. It is also true that the assets are shared: the same website, the same photographs, the same reviews and the same social presence that persuade a patient also persuade an associate deciding whether to apply.
Candidates research you exactly like patients do
A dentist considering a position will look at your website, your Google reviews, your Instagram and what the practice looks like inside. A practice that appears busy, modern and well run attracts better applicants than one with an outdated site and four reviews, regardless of what the advert says. This is the cheapest recruitment advantage available and most practices have never thought of it that way.
Be known before you need someone
The strongest position is being a practice local clinicians already know and think well of. That comes from being visible in the local profession, present at events, active online, and known for the kind of dentistry you do. It cannot be created in the fortnight after somebody hands in notice, which is why practices that treat recruitment as an emergency always pay more for worse candidates.
What to actually put in a vacancy
Most dental adverts are interchangeable. The ones that work are specific: what the patient base is like, what the private and NHS split is, what equipment there is, what the existing team looks like, what the realistic earnings are, and what a normal week actually involves. Candidates are trying to picture the job. Vague enthusiasm gives them nothing to picture, and it filters out the confident candidates first.
The things that decide whether they stay
A named person responsible for their first three months. Clear expectations. Equipment that works. A nurse they are not sharing with two other surgeries. Being introduced to the team rather than left to work it out. None of this is expensive, and the cost of losing an associate at six months is substantial, both in recruitment and in the patients who followed them.
Associates have options, and that is the market
The commentary on UK dentistry consistently points to workforce pressure, an ageing profession and movement away from NHS work. Whatever the exact figures, in a practice it means good associates choose between offers. Practices that recognise that and compete on the working environment rather than only on percentage tend to fill positions faster and keep people longer.
Nurses and hygienists
Frequently the harder recruitment problem and the one most likely to actually cap your capacity, because a surgery without a nurse cannot run. The same principles apply and the visibility argument matters even more, since nurses tend to recruit through word of mouth within a local area.
What we would do
A careers page that shows the practice honestly rather than a paragraph on the contact page. Photographs and video from the same content day that produces your patient marketing. Reviews and social presence kept current, because candidates check them. And a paid campaign for a specific vacancy where needed, targeted locally, using the same tools as a patient campaign.
Where it usually goes wrong
The mistakes we see most often, in roughly the order they cost the most.
- Starting recruitment the week somebody resigns
- A generic advert that could describe any practice in the country
- No careers page, or a paragraph at the bottom of the contact page
- A website and social presence that make the practice look quiet
- Competing only on percentage rather than working conditions
- Nobody responsible for a new associate’s first three months
- Advertising for patients while a surgery sits empty
Questions and answers
Common questions.
Why is it so hard to recruit dental associates in the UK?
Demand for treatment has grown faster than the workforce, and clinicians have more options about where and how they work. In practice it means good candidates are choosing between offers rather than applying for one.
Does our website affect recruitment?
Considerably. Candidates research a practice much the way patients do, looking at the website, reviews and social presence before applying. A practice that looks busy and well run attracts better applicants regardless of the advert.
What should a dental vacancy advert include?
Specifics: the patient base, the private and NHS split, equipment, the existing team, realistic earnings and what a normal week involves. Candidates are trying to picture the job, and vague adverts give them nothing to picture.
How do we keep associates once they join?
A named person responsible for the first three months, clear expectations, equipment that works, and not sharing a nurse across surgeries. Losing an associate at six months is expensive in recruitment and in the patients who follow them.
Is recruitment really a marketing problem?
It is when capacity is your constraint. Generating enquiries you cannot service while a surgery sits empty is a poor use of budget, and the assets that attract patients attract clinicians too.
Should we run paid advertising for a vacancy?
It works, targeted locally, using the same tools as a patient campaign. It works considerably better if the practice is already visible and credible online before the vacancy exists.
Related
Where this connects.
Next step
Want to talk it through?
Thirty minutes, no obligation, and we will tell you honestly which parts of this apply to your practice and which do not. If the answer is that you do not need us, we will say so.