People are the key to a successful veterinary practice. Your people. From your vet assistant to vet tech and DVM, they make all the difference. But how do you find – and keep – the right employees in your practice? Here are some ideas.
Think like a marketer
When marketing a product or service, a good marketer evaluates what they are offering to determine what makes it special/unique and what value it could bring to the targeted customer. Before writing a job posting, look at your practice and the specific job you are advertising like that marketer. What are the things that make your practice special, unique and potentially valuable to the applicant? Here are some examples:
- The culture of your team (for example, “a small but mighty team of talented, yet quirky individuals”);
- The location of the practice (for example, next to a public park with awesome bike paths – or the best gourmet donut place that you supply for the team every Monday);
- Opportunities provided for professional development (mentorship, in-house training and/or reimbursement for successful completion of certification courses/exams);
- Specifics of the practice focus (types of patients, especially if less expected, such as “only practice in the area with a sub-specialty in reptiles”).
Create a page on your website to highlight “why you should join us” – whether hiring one or 10 people, this gives you a place to provide pictures, quotes and highlights of what it means to work in your practice. Creating a good job description and job post is about stating clearly what is required and essential about the role – but highlighting what sets your practice apart from the crowd can help you attract those who would be a best fit. Then it is about getting that posting to the right sources online: the career centers/job boards at the colleges/universities, trade schools, trade associations; etc.; posting on your own business’ website, Facebook and LinkedIn pages; and postings in yours and/or your community’s newsletters. Most importantly, be sure to share with your employees and reward them if they bring you another wonderful employee like themselves.
Keeping the good
The cost of turnover can destroy your business’ revenue. Of course, your employees are looking to be paid fairly and equitably (based on market) for their jobs. But that is not the only things that cause people to leave. They can include:
- Lack of recognition: it can cost little to nothing to say “thank you” and “good job”. Don’t wait until someone is going out the door to tell them how wonderful they are. Recognize them now – and in front of their peers to amplify the effect.
- Quality of life negatively impacted: Long hours, poor scheduling and/or lack of flexibility to adjust for family needs can make it hard for employees to be there for their family. If this is an issue for your team, consider finding some help with creative solutions. You may not be able to completely solve it but may find some ideas that could alleviate some of the pressure.
- Compensation and benefits not what they want/need: if you are below the market value for the compensation or benefits offered, then your team needs to have other reasons to stay. These could include support (financial and/or time-off) for additional education, fun culture and/or deep friendships among the team.
In this job market, many practices have struggled to find and keep their teams. For those concerned about losing the non-equity veterinarians, it could be time to consider providing them with an investment in their future – a path to partnership. This is not to be taken lightly, but it may be one way to hold onto that expensive talent that is so valuable to your business. Talk to your advisors about their thoughts and how it could work.
