Tales from the Frontline: Staff Retention Isn't What It Used to Be
Veterinary medicine is not the only profession who witnessed the “Great Resignation”. Businesses across the country have experienced significant turnover. Veterinary practices have often focused on the percentage of revenue for labor costs and staff ratios to determine the financial health of our practice. Society has shifted and evolved into no longer accepting a position just to be employed. Staff members want more now. Veterinary medicine must adjust to the drastically changing pool of candidates. We’ve been a profession stuck in our ways for a long time. So how do we begin to have a practice that people want to work at?
Show Me the Money
With a smaller number of applicants, it’s time to look at our wage scale. Employees want more now. We must accept that people are not working for wages they would have had 3-5 years ago. If we want staff, we must be willing to look at increasing hourly rates and benefit packages. This is new terrain where applicants are demanding more and if we want to keep up with the heavy caseloads, we have to find a way to compensate appropriately. Regularly increasing prices and fully utilizing team members are a must. The financial health and stability of your team affects the bottom line. Skimping on payroll isn’t an option anymore.
Train Your Replacement
We have all worked in a practice where only one person knew how to do a certain task. Gatekeeping knowledge has to stop. Every member of the team should know how to perform almost every task. Training your team to be able to problem solve, be as knowledgeable as possible and being open to jumping into any role in the hospital is crucial in staff utilization. That one staff member who knows how to do the one task that no one else does isn’t a flex. To ensure a well running practice, everyone must be capable of doing the jobs needed in every aspect of the clinic.
Make A Living While Making A Life
Work life balance is nonnegotiable now days. Allowing sick days, vacation, mental health days and flexible schedules demonstrates to the staff that priorities aren’t on numbers. Our priorities must shift to encouraging and allowing life outside the hospital doors. Supporting teams to rest, recharge and use their vacation is going to allow them to do their best work. Our people and patients deserve that. We have to find balance and know the benefits of time off.
The days of businesses looking at employees as expendable and replaceable are over. We have to be able to bend and adjust to the new demands of job applicants. By ignoring the changes required of us we will continue to work short staffed and overwhelmed. We will not break any generational cycles by digging our heels into the ground or putting our heads in the sand. This is where we are now. Accepting it and do the best we can to provide livable wages, full utilization of positions and allowing people to actually live will create strong team bonds and loyalty.
