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Dental Bun Podcast
Embrace the sassy, classy and messy bits of dentistry with the perfect blend of life and work wisdom.
Dental Bun Podcast
Flexibility, Security, and Support: The Hidden Benefits of Dental Temp Agencies
Dental professionals seeking flexibility often explore temporary work, but navigating the options between agencies, platforms, and independent contracting can be overwhelming. Shannon Ferguson, owner of Assistance on Call, Colorado's longest-running dental temp agency (est. 1983), pulls back the curtain on what truly matters when choosing a temping path.
The conversation reveals how temping can be tailored to fit almost any lifestyle—from the hygienist who travels internationally six months yearly to new graduates seeking diverse experience, to parents requiring specific scheduling to accommodate childcare. Unlike the growing trend toward faceless digital platforms, agencies like AOC maintain the critical human connection that ensures dental professionals receive real-time support when they encounter challenging situations in unfamiliar offices.
What sets quality temp agencies apart are the unexpected benefits that digital platforms often can't match: W-2 employment status rather than 1099 contracting, workers' compensation protection, unemployment insurance, and even retirement benefits with employer matching. Shannon explains how temps can often take home more actual income through proper employment relationships despite seemingly lower hourly rates compared to independent contracting.
Whether you're considering dental temping for the first time or re-evaluating your current temping situation, this conversation provides essential criteria for making informed decisions that protect your wellbeing, professional growth, and financial security.
Assistance On Call:
Denver Dental Temp Agency – Assistance On Call
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Welcome to the Dental Bun Podcast. My name's Janice and today I have a special guest. Her name is Shannon Ferguson and she owns a Colorado dental temp agency, and the reason I invited her on is because there's always questions what does it look like to work with a temp agency? Do I want to work with a temp agency? What are problems that arise working with a temp agency? And she is the expert to help us with all this. So, shannon, thank you so much for being with me today on the Dental Bund Podcast.
Speaker 2:Thanks, Janice. I'm happy to be here.
Speaker 1:Thank you for having me Assistance on Call and here in Colorado we call it AOC for short has been around since 1983. So this is a family-owned business that has gone through all the lumps and bumps of growing a business and is thriving and providing quality dental professionals to dental practices across Colorado. And so when a hygienist comes to you and they're like hey, I think I want to explore this temping situation, what does that look like? I think I want to pick up a couple of shifts, I want to make some extra money, or maybe they want to stay home with their kids.
Speaker 2:Yes, so really great question. Essentially, I think the number one thing when someone is looking to temp is to do your research and really figure out what option, what format fits you best. So I think that's step one, and then, obviously, if we end up being a fit that you think is good for you, it just can really look. However, it needs to look for that individual to pursue their goals, both personally and professionally, and so we really are rooted in our values of integrity, personal connection high quality is really important to us expertise and community.
Speaker 2:So those values are really in everything that we do. So if somebody is wanting to temp, they would be able to completely set their parameters around driving radius. They would set their parameters around hours, even things as granular as like I want to be on call the night before, but literally only till five because I have to arrange daycare the next day. So that value of personal attention comes out a lot through the interview process and the onboarding process. My goal is to really get a sense of what the individual is looking for. Of personal attention comes out a lot through the interview process and the onboarding process. My goal is to really get a sense of what the individual is looking for. And then the really unique thing about us is, because of the longevity of AOC, we have great relationships with our clients. So I feel really confident then that I'm able to pair that individual with an office that meets his or her criteria for what they're looking for.
Speaker 2:We have a lot of offices that are seven to two shifts that work great for working families and working parents. Really and truly, our goal is to make this work for whomever's coming on board. There's no maximum or minimum amount of days, rather that they have to work to be on our employment. Once you're on our payroll, you're on our payroll.
Speaker 1:We can talk through those details in a minute, but really it looks a lot like what they want it to look like and then we work for them to find the jobs that meet their needs when you work with your particular agency, because a lot of the human element of working with an agency is kind of going to the wayside, and so there's a place wayside, and so there's a place for technology, and then also there's a place for that human element to partner with the you know healthcare provider, the hygienist or assistant, because you also do hygiene, assistant and front office, correct, and so you have actual conversations on the phone with your employees, correct.
Speaker 1:It's not like going to like a voice service and I feel like sometimes, when I'm online on Facebook and I hear like I can't get a response from anyone, and it's because the technology is there, but you still sometimes need to talk with a person Absolutely For your company. That's something that I know that you provide. The technology is there, but you still sometimes need to talk with a person Absolutely For your company. That's something that I know that you provide.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, somebody, a real human, is available pretty much 24-7, right, like not when we're sleeping, but right before we go to bed at 10 pm and at 5 am we're answering anything that has come in overnight.
Speaker 1:So if someone is ill, for example, and they text us in the middle of the night.
Speaker 2:We will get that at 5 am. Call our client, try to find someone to fill their spot, if we can, but there's pretty much always someone here to support them.
Speaker 1:Since you've been open for so long, what does that look like for someone that's like coming at a school, or maybe they're just wanting to pick up a day or two? Like, how do you serve those people that are new to the experience?
Speaker 2:Absolutely, yeah, so like there is such a broad spectrum of people who come to us and they're looking for X, y or Z. Everyone's needs are so unique and everyone's level of experience is so unique. So I think essentially, like you kind of asked like what's the you know, what does that look like? I feel like it really looks like there's a level of support here from us to listen and hear what skillset are you coming in with? What are your anxieties? What is the ideal office for you? If you want a single column, one hygienist, really mellow practice, then that's what we try to match you up with until you maybe start to get your feet a little wet and you gain a little bit of confidence and then we can branch out a little bit. Some people come in and they're like.
Speaker 2:I just want to see all types of offices. I moved here from Texas and show me all the offices I can see within 10 miles so I can get a feel and I can learn a lot about Colorado.
Speaker 2:The scope is so broad and wide but I think the key thing is that, like, wherever you're coming from on that scope from a new grad to an experienced hygienist moving in from out of state our job and like our commitment to the temp is that I'm going to listen and pay close attention to what you're comfortable with and I'm really going to work to pair you with those types of offices or consistency, because it is difficult to go into a new setting every day, learn your the lay of the land and the culture and the expectations and all of that consistency.
Speaker 2:If that's something that's a priority to you, we can do that and match you up with the same office all month and then that evolves. So it's kind of cool because as people get more comfortable, more confident, whatever, then that sort of can change and we can just continue to have those conversations around what that individual is looking for professionally and also say I create a schedule for a temp and they go to this office and they're scheduled there every day for the month and they're like holy buckets, this place is not a good fit for me. Then we just back up and we try again, because that's real. I can know as much as I can about someone and then send them out and it still could not be the best fit. But we just back up and we try again. That communication is so important. I can swap and move and tweak things. It's what we do. That's like our commitment to the temp is. It's not their stressor. That's what we're going to do is figure out a better situation if needed.
Speaker 1:And when you talk about the temp, really in your company they're your workers. Because they are your employees. Like temp is, of course, temporary worker, but for you you are accepting responsibility for them as your employee and by you doing that that gives them added support and added benefits and what are those?
Speaker 1:Because there is a conversation on all the time on Facebook or wherever. It was like I'm doing a 1099 or I'm doing a W-2 or what is what does being an employee of a temp agency benefit a person who wants to work in that setting?
Speaker 2:So, like with us, you were just saying you know they have an employer who protects them and we, of course, absorb a certain level of responsibility for them.
Speaker 1:There's really two models.
Speaker 2:There's an independent contracting model, and then there's the W-2 model.
Speaker 1:And then sort of in the middle people will claim.
Speaker 2:Some services will claim to kind of provide a little hodgepodge of both. So maybe you're getting some 1099s and some W-2s, so then again it's like this bigger scope. But we sit right over here where we are solely your employer and we W-2, one W-2 a year. So we pay the temp and we build a client, and of course, yeah, we have to build a client more than what we pay the temp, but they're going to only be paying for what they get, and what we're billing the client is just to absorb our costs and to keep us as a functioning small business Right.
Speaker 2:I feel like we're really fair. I feel like we're really competitive with what I research is being charged on other platforms.
Speaker 1:What do you get with us, you?
Speaker 2:get one W-2 a year, you get full workers' comp protection. That really is not something that I am aware exists with some of the other companies. It comes in handy when you need it. Unfortunately, we have several claims a year. Somebody slips on ice, they hurt their wrist in the parking lot of their assignment. They come to us and that's a protection they have through us as their employer versus something that they're paying out of pocket. We obviously pay into unemployment, so in the event that something happened and they needed to file for unemployment, that's there. Therefore, when the employee needs to access it, it's there. You're not going to have that kind of protection if you are independently contracting.
Speaker 2:Also like what's appealing is just flexibility and having. I have a gal who comes home to Denver every six months and she travels internationally the other six months and her job is here waiting for her when she comes home. There's no questions asked. There's no. Oh my gosh, you're leaving for six months. It's like you go girl. That's like why you would tempt so you can, so you can have those experiences if that's a priority to you. It just allows for people to have that.
Speaker 2:Also, like we have people on our payroll whose offices are, for example, closed over the holidays. So they'll reach out and be like I need work, can I pick up a few days? Yes, and they maybe haven't worked with us in a year and that's totally welcome. And then we have people who temp with us full time. We are their sole income. People who work with us full time do qualify for vision and dental benefits. It's a great package and it's really affordable doing it through AOC. I think individuals are like 35 bucks a month and then it goes up if you're having like a family on board. But that's a great perk. We have scheduled hours are protected. So if you're scheduled from eight to five with AOC and that's what the office confirmed and they tried to send you home at three if you don't want to go home and you want to earn your full day's pay.
Speaker 2:I let that office know. Hey, you confirmed eight to five, that's what you're going to be charged. And then the office has the choice to either send you home yes, they'll eat the cost or to keep you and have you like, clean their kid's teeth or the front reception person's teeth.
Speaker 2:We really try to protect our people If you're ever in an office and something is like just really not great. We encourage people to call us and like let's see if we can problem solve and get through the day and ultimately, if not, we don't want you to stay. That's not good for you and it's really not good for our clients either there's just somebody here for our people, always if they need it.
Speaker 1:What you provide is very unique because there aren't a lot of temporary services that give those added health benefits and I love that you are ticking off those boxes of need for dental professionals because a lot of us don't even have that small little package that you're offering. As a hygienist in a private practice, I love that you support the hygienist. It looks like you really help kind of coach them through that process. You have a new employee and they're straight out of school. I want to know a little bit about what that looks like because I do feel that new grads want to start with temping but they're a little nervous.
Speaker 2:Totally. It's totally understandable. I would be too so. For our new grads, the interview process is really helpful, so we either meet virtually or they come into our actual office here in Lakewood and I really just try to get a sense of them and like where I see a lot of strength and a lot of confidence and I really just try to leverage those points in them and encourage them to.
Speaker 2:It is nerve wracking. You know, I try to do some coaching essentially around where I see strengths and then areas where I see them kind of like lacking a little bit of confidence. We just kind of peel back the layers of those. So it's kind of one like kind of broad thing that I do and then, oftentimes we don't tell our clients this hygienist is brand new, fresh out of school.
Speaker 2:But sometimes I'll have some hygienists that actually feel like better. They're like please let the office know I'm new and if that's their comfort level, just so that going into it the office knows like hey, provide a little extra support. This is this person's very first day as a dental hygienist. We're happy to do that. So we do have a little bit of dialogue just about.
Speaker 2:I feel you've done, you've done the work and I know going into the field is different, of course a little bit but that you should show up and be confident and take it as an opportunity to just like learn and grow and know that if, like you crash and burn, that's like everyone's biggest fear like step away, give me a call and like let's talk through it. When, even if I need to call the office and be like here's what's happening, this is this person's very first day camping as a hygienist. This has been really challenging for them. So maybe it's the software, maybe it's the way in which they I don't know have their instruments organized, but I just kind of seek out like support from the client we want, we want our person to get through the day successfully.
Speaker 2:And we want your patients to be serviced to the high quality standard that we say that we're going to provide. So how can we get there?
Speaker 2:I encourage them like if you're totally having a moment, just politely excuse yourself, give us a call and we'll talk through it. So I mean there really is support here. But I try really hard to get ahead of that in the interview process. I know my clients that I've sent new grads to a lot and they're they totally love them and they're fine with our new grads. They're always like they're so amazing.
Speaker 2:They have no idea. So I also know which clients like are a better fit for new grads than others. I think that's really key. Ultimately it's it's getting to know each individual person's kind of strengths in the areas where they're still growing and try to support them along the way through where I'm intentionally placing them. And I want to say one more thing we also offer profit sharing with a three percent match. So that's really unique, uh, like that's what a full-time employer should do. So whatever you put aside, we match up to three percent. I forgot to say that earlier. So you also help with retirement, yeah, and our pay can sometimes look like it's less hourly than a 1099, but naturally so when you're going to probably have to give back, like 18 K ish If you're, if you're independently contracting, like that's kind of a minimum amount that you will have to set aside to give back. So our hourly appears less but after all the taxes it's oftentimes more in your pocket at the end.
Speaker 1:Gotcha, I can't believe how much you provide for your employees, because they really are, even though we call them temporary workers like you have created this employee package that is so desirable. You have 24-hour support, except for when we're sleeping to. They have the ability to call you. There is no um making you feel bad. If you feel sick, you just say, hey, I'm not making it. You're flexible with their time, on how they want to work, when they want to work, how far they want to travel. You give them medical benefits to be able to go to the doctor and not actually go to the doctor and not feel like they're going to have to pay gazillions of dollars because they have no health care. And on top of that, you do retirement.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's for anyone. You could work like two days a week with us and we let. That's a perk, I guess.
Speaker 1:That's. I mean, what a wonderful employee package. When you look at a hygienist all of the wonderful things that you provide and say they don't have the luxury of being in Colorado and working for you because if they are living in Colorado they should come work for you, I mean it's like a no brainer, come on. But if they don't work, if they don't live in Colorado and don't have access to assistance on call, should they be looking for in an agency?
Speaker 2:I think it's like employee preferences. I think a lot of companies sort of will say that they take into consideration, like your boundaries or your values. But like, how, how is that actually playing out when the rubber meets the road? Because if all you're doing is kind of mentioning it in a little blurb on a profile but nobody's actually having like a conversation with you, how, what does that look like when your schedule is actually comes to fruition? Are you seeing them actually honor the things that you said were important to you?
Speaker 2:And I don't know I don't know how some of the platforms that, like I'm familiar with that, are much more digital, digitally heavy or however you want to say that. I don't know how they honor that. I know you can probably put a lot of filters in and I'm sure they're thoughtful about how they try to hear what the individual needs and wants when it comes to temping. But what does that look like when it plays out? And then what's the support like if it's not playing out? Is the support just rating an office low when they have some unethical things happening? Like that's like a level of support, but to me that's a very low level of support. You should probably have some dialogue about an office that has. If there's an office that has a low level of ethical support, because otherwise, like I just think it kind of gets lost in the one star, five star review. It's like a little bit gray. So I think, just seeing how you can tell if they carry those things out, I think anytime you could have an opportunity to talk with someone who works for that company, I would do it anytime.
Speaker 2:I have like an out-of person. I always offer that up, like if they're obviously moving to Colorado, I have I have like a handful of full-time people. I can give you their phone numbers and you could call them and you can ask them if we are what we say we are, because they're going to be honest. So if you could actually talk to someone or connect, even like through some type of Instagram or message system, I would really recommend doing that. Don't be so focused on pay, because if the pay is so, so, so high, like astronomical, I just would ask yourself why, where is it lacking that they're willing to pay me that much?
Speaker 1:money.
Speaker 2:Not that it's you know, it does, it does happen, you know. But just just kind of like dig into that a little bit.
Speaker 1:There are multiple options out there and they poo poo. I mean, it's not, it's not a secret. People poo poo on temp agencies, but there's so many benefits to being part of a temp agency. Well, shannon, thank you so much for giving us insight on what it looks like to be an employee of a temp agency, whether you're working with an agency or whether you're working with an online brand, because there are positives to each. Then, of course, knowing that you have been open since 1983, that there is work there for you, it's not going to dry up. You've got those relationships going and you can provide a vast variety of business settings. That in itself speaks volumes about assistance on call. So thank you so much for sharing your knowledge in the temping world. I really do appreciate you so much for being a guest on the Dental Fund podcast.
Speaker 2:Thank you for having me.