My dog, Bella, loves snow. Whenever fresh flakes fall, I try to get her outside to catch snowballs and climb snow piles. On one cold, blistery January day, we approached the park, and I threw a ball into deep, fluffy snow. Bella ran to dig out the ball and bring it to me. She sprinted after the next ball but didn’t sprint back. Instead, she hopped to me on three legs and dropped the ball at my feet. I immediately called Bella’s veterinarian. The prognosis wasn’t good. My hyper, energetic agility dog had torn her ACL and needed TPLO surgery. I sat in denial for two hours before calling the specialist across the state to see when Bella could get the pricy surgery. Four days later, she had a plate in her knee, and I was getting her into the car for the three-hour drive back. “Done. All fixed now,” I thought. Well, not quite.
There is no such thing as a quick fix for a torn anterior cruciate ligament. The surgeon reminded me that Bella’s recovery would be a long journey. Her words echoed as I spoke to a practice owner struggling with employee turnover. “I am constantly hiring,” she said. “How do I fix it?”
I replied, “It is a long journey.”
Get Busy Now
Practice owners often look for a convenient, quick fix. High employee turnover is one area in which they tend to seek an easy correction, whether that means paying for a practice management class or hiring a consultant. And yes, those are good starting points. But like in Bella’s case, the condition won’t improve overnight.
The sooner you change, the sooner your practice will feel the financial upside. After all, turnover is costly. Gallup research shows the replacement cost of a manager or leader is 200% of the person’s salary, compared with 80% to replace someone in a technical role and 40% for a frontline employee.
And it’s not only the replacement and training costs. Imagine the lost efficiencies and reduced productivity that come with employee turnover.
Measure It
Let’s quantify your employee turnover before you do something about it. What is your practice’s rate — not only overall but for each position?
Start by grouping your employees by position. Calculate the average number of workers per position by adding what you had at the beginning and end of the year and dividing by two. For example, you started 2024 with seven veterinary assistants and ended the year with nine. That is an average of eight.
Next, count how many employees you terminated or who left your practice during the year. Divide the number of lost employees by the average number employed in each department. Multiply by 100 to get the percentage.
In our case, four veterinary assistants left in 2024. Therefore, your employee turnover for veterinary assistants was 50% (4 divided by 8 and multiplied by 100). According to an American Animal Hospital Association study, the average turnover is 23%.
Minimize Bad Hires
The next step is to understand why your employees leave. Did you terminate them because of poor patient care, unprofessional client interaction or tardiness? Or did they quit on their own, and if so, why? You might find that you made a poor hiring decision. Perhaps the employee doesn’t fit the practice culture, underperformed, had a consistent negative attitude about work or displayed poor decision-making.
If you have been a practice owner for a while, you probably regretted some hires. Here are some of mine:
- Two weeks into the job, a receptionist said she disliked talking to people.
- On his second workday, an employee said he was terrified of barking dogs.
- An employee didn’t show up for work after the first day.
Examples like those point to the need for changes in the hiring process. Start with a job description. Communicate the expectations, necessary knowledge and skills, and work environment. Do not assume people know what it is like inside your practice, especially if the job candidate lacks veterinary experience. Structure your interview process by asking the same questions of interviewees and objectively assessing everyone.
Prioritize Onboarding
Onboarding is essential for new employees. Even people with skills and experience don’t know your procedures and processes. Easing people into your workflow is much better than throwing them in to see if they sink or swim. Consider assigning them a mentor or buddy. The new hire will have an ally right from the beginning, which can be very beneficial. In addition, regular feedback and check-ins are crucial.
Conduct Stay Interviews
Gallup research discovered that almost half of employee turnover is preventable but is often ignored. Stay interviews and regular check-ins are one way to take each employee’s pulse. In his book The Stay Interview, Richard Finnegan said the overriding purpose of the stay interview is employee retention and creating a culture where workers are open about how they feel about the job and what they want from it.
If you do decide to conduct stay interviews, here are some of his tips:
- Tell the employee about the meeting’s purpose.
- Emphasize that the session isn’t a performance evaluation. The primary objective is to learn about making your practice a great workplace.
- Ask questions such as, “What do you like the most about working here?” “What are you learning?” “What is most challenging?”
- Embrace the silence, and do not get defensive.
After a few stay interviews, you might see a pattern. You can then implement changes to boost employee retention.
Your options are endless. Employees want to be fairly compensated, feel appreciated and enjoy a rewarding workplace. You will learn what is essential to everyone and what they think about working for you.
Hobbling Along for Now
Fixing Bella’s ACL required an expensive procedure and a long recovery, but I somehow hoped for an overnight miracle. Similarly, you might have thought I could solve your employee turnover in one article. Unfortunately, employee turnover has no easy fix. Solving it takes persistence and time.
Bella faced many obstacles and challenges during her recovery. By Day 3, she figured out what cloaked her gabapentin capsule, so she avoided it. On Day 4, she got around her inflatable cone collar and managed to irritate her incision site.
Do not get discouraged. Just stick with your plan and keep your eyes on the prize. Measure changes in employee turnover, learn to minimize bad hires, boost your onboarding program, and nurture relationships through stay interviews to keep you on track for excellent retention.
PLEASE DON’T LEAVE
In her article “Why Exit and Stay Interviews Matter,” Dr. Karen E. Felsted wrote: “Conduct stay interviews regularly. For example, schedule them after several months of initial employment, every six to 12 months afterward, and whenever you sense employee disengagement.” Learn more at go.navc.com/stay-TVB.