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With Riverstate, we stepped up our candidate search – and strengthened our laboratory for the long term.
The perfect smile is rarely an accident. Crowns, dentures, veneers – sometimes a lot of work is required to make people happy to show off their teeth. Much of this work is done behind the scenes at dental laboratories like Feine Dentaltechnik 32 GmbH in Mönchengladbach. “We are a reliable supplier to dental practices and manufacture all types of dentures for their patients,” says managing partner Ralph Groß. But even though healthy teeth are more important than ever, dental labs are desperately looking for talented dental technicians. “It’s a craft, so we have to make almost everything by hand, and we urgently need people for that,” says Ralph Groß. “A few years ago, we could still find employees the traditional way, via online portals or newspaper advertisements, but that’s almost impossible in our industry today.” The reason? Due to market developments, many dental technicians have changed careers or left the laboratory for field service. This requires a rethink in recruiting. “There are very few apprentices and correspondingly few skilled workers on the market, so professional recruiting is practically a must in this industry,” says Groß. “At Riverstate, the expectation that we would be reliably introduced to suitable candidates quickly became established during the initial discussions.”
Ralph Groß initially held discussions with several recruiting companies, but their focus didn’t quite match his company’s needs: “Recruiters often focus solely on executives or highly specialized professionals. Riverstate convinced us precisely because of its broad reach in the skilled trades sector.”
However, reach is only one side of the coin at Riverstate. To truly find the right candidates, the responsible lead recruiters put the lab through its paces during the setup day. “If you only communicate indirectly, there’s always the risk of ending up with the wrong candidates,” says Ralph Groß. “We therefore see the fact that both recruiters were there in person as a clear advantage. I really had the impression that Riverstate knew exactly what was important.”
Because Riverstate was able to precisely determine the applicant profile, the decision-makers’ attention was only required when promising candidates were within reach. The managing director appreciates this consideration of his time: “The search with Riverstate required very little effort for us, and the contact itself was always very pleasant.”
The process was particularly smooth thanks to the close collaboration with lead recruiter Christian Wetzler, which was based on mutual trust and understanding. “When contacts constantly change, the effort increases because you constantly have to repeat yourself,” says Ralph Groß. “At Riverstate, we had a dedicated contact person throughout the entire process who always knew exactly what we had already clarified and where the current issues were.”
Not every promising talent impresses in the interview. For Ralph Groß, professional competence is therefore only part of the recipe for a successful new hire. Because he always found a receptive ear for every concern at Riverstate, he never worried that the investment in professional recruiting might not ultimately pay off.
“The biggest fear is being pushed on you with something that doesn’t fit,” says Ralph Groß. “That was really positive at Riverstate: I was always able to speak openly and honestly about each applicant and even offer criticism, which was taken seriously. I always had the impression that the primary goal was to find the perfect person—not just fill the position.”
After eight months, despite the difficult market situation, Riverstate was able to find a dental technician who precisely met the requirements of Feine Dentaltechnik 32 GmbH. “Thanks to Riverstate’s reach and network, we were able to reach applicants who wouldn’t have found us through traditional channels,” says Ralph Groß. “Without Riverstate, our new employee would never have applied to us, and we were also very satisfied with the length of the search, given the difficulty of the market.”
The dental laboratory grudgingly admits that the market situation shows no improvement in sight. Therefore, the involvement of recruiting specialists remains on the agenda, and Ralph Groß is pleased to have found a reliable partner for candidate searches in Riverstate: “The entire collaboration with Riverstate was wonderful. The contact was pleasant, the recruiters were goal-oriented, and we were able to hire a dental technician we wouldn’t have found on our own. Of course, I would work with Riverstate again for future positions.”
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