Good staff is hard to find, and this statement is true both when the economy is good and when it is not. Retaining staff can also be difficult. Good staff is key to a happy work environment and instrumental to client acquisition and retention. So, what can be done to recruit and retain good staff? The Merck Animal Health 2023 Veterinary Team Wellbeing Study was the first of its kind, and it revealed many interesting findings about members of the veterinary team.1 The vast majority of veterinary staff are invested in their jobs and take pride in their work. They feel like they contribute positively to other people’s lives and have a good relationship with their coworkers. Most staff members scored high in well-being. However, there is one particular area where team members suffered—burnout, primarily related to exhaustion. Photo courtesy Meyerland Animal Clinic, Houston, Tex. Burnout has significant economic implications for veterinary practices. It can lead to decreased working hours, decreased productivity, increased risk of medical errors, and increased turnover of staff members. For each veterinary technician lost from a practice, revenue can decrease by $35,000, and it can cost $24,000 to replace that person.2 Employees who are burned out are also less likely to engage clients, decreasing a client’s overall satisfaction with your hospital, and thus harming the trust between you and the pet owner. Client experience is built upon staff engagement. Happier staff leads to improved client experience, leading to better patient care and improved practice revenue. Creating happiness So, what can we do to retain our current staff and recruit new staff members to our clinics and hospitals? First, ask all your staff members what they enjoy about their job and where they want to grow. Every single one of us has some part of our jobs we do not particularly enjoy, but we have to do it anyway. Then there are other parts that we get excited about. This is true for the veterinarian and the person doing laundry and cleaning kennels. The more we get to do each day that excites us, the more tolerable the mundane things become. Take the time to ask each staff member individually what they really enjoy doing while at work. Then, find a way to help them do it. Do you have a technician who really enjoys educating new pet owners on common topics, such as general feeding advice, housetraining or litter box use, or puppy chewing behaviors? Or a technician with a passion for nutrition, dentistry, or behavior? Have them work with clients, freeing up the veterinarian’s time to do things only a veterinarian can do. Find ways for them to pursue continuing education in their areas of interest so they can expand their knowledge base. They may enjoy mentoring other staff members, as well as educating clients. In some cases, you may have a veterinary technician who is so excited about a certain facet of veterinary medicine that they want to pursue becoming a veterinary technician specialist. Find a way to support their passion. What about staff members who are trained on the job? There are ways to encourage them to grow as well. There are certified veterinary assistant programs to help improve a veterinary assistant’s knowledge base and skill sets. As their confidence and abilities grow, they can also expand their duties in a veterinary clinic setting. Recognize individual and team goals and help staff achieve both. Do you know what your state practice act allows credentialed veterinary technicians (CrVT), certified veterinary assistants, and other staff members to do? While not every state makes distinctions between different levels of credentialing, many states do. Once you know what can be done in your state, find ways to let staff work to the top of their credentialing. Help them get additional training where they need it. Another important way to retain staff is to recognize a job well done. What do you do to recognize someone, whether they consistently go above and beyond or do a stellar job tackling a one-time project? How about rewarding team members who identify ways to improve practice efficiencies or increase productivity and revenue? A supervisor or manager must regularly acknowledge, publicly and privately, an employee’s contributions to the workplace. Identify ways to provide regular shout-outs to those who do something well. Addressing exhaustion It is vital to address the exhaustion that contributes to employee burnout. What can be outsourced or handled by technology? Record-keeping, online booking, and appointment reminders can be managed through practice management systems and artificial intelligence (AI). Client portals that allow for refill requests can decrease the time staff spend on the phone. Another way to address exhaustion is to outsource patient triage during the day or after hours so that staff can focus on the client and patient currently in front of them without having to multitask. Triaging can help manage workflows by determining if a patient needs to be worked in now, tomorrow, or can be seen next week. Call-overflow services are available now that act seamlessly with your practice, connecting overflow calls or after-hours calls with licensed practitioners that follow your practice protocol and expertly handle the situation. They act as virtual team members. In the same way, some client retention efforts can also be outsourced to these call-overflow services. A virtual team member can reach out to clients who have not been to your practice in more than 18 months and boost your bottom line. These virtual team members have the time to educate clients on the importance of preventive care and the benefits of identifying problems early in patients who may be approaching senior and geriatric life stages. Suppose a lapsed client expresses concerns about the financial costs of a veterinary visit. In that case, the virtual team member can explain your practice’s approach to working within people’s budgets and potential payment options. Sometimes, life just gets in the way, and people forget their pet is overdue for a visit. A gentle reminder from someone whose role is devoted to client retention may be all that is needed. Working with a service that can manage overflow calls and provide triage services, as well as help identify and return lapsed clients to your business, allows staff to focus on the people and pets in front of them. Allowing staff to work to the top of their credentials and to follow their passions improves their happiness at work and their desire to stay put. Happier employees lead to more satisfied clients and healthier pets. All of this leads to increased revenue, leading to higher wages for those happier employees. Instead of a vicious cycle, you can be in a virtuous circle. Lori Teller, DVM, DABVP (Canine/Feline), CVJ, is the chief veterinary officer at GuardianVets, a call-overflow service that helps veterinary practices capture opportunities through tele-triage. She also teaches primary care and telemedicine at Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences and is an associate veterinarian at Meyerland Animal Clinic in Houston. Dr. Teller currently serves on the Board of Directors of the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners. References Volk JO, Schimmack U, Strand EB, Reinhard A, Hahn J, Andrews J, Probyn-Smith K, Jones R. Merck Animal Health Veterinary Team study reveals factors associated with well-being, burnout, and mental health among nonveterinarian practice team members. J Am Vet Med Assoc. 2024 Jul 19;262(10):1330-1337. doi: 10.2460/javma.24.03.0225. PMID: 39032503. Neill CL, Hansen CR, and Salois M (2022) The Economic Cost of Burnout in Veterinary Medicine. Front.Vet.Sci.9:814104.
