No matter the industry, hiring and retaining employees are two sides of the same coin. When you are in a candidate’s market, like the veterinary profession is, recruiting and hiring doctors is difficult, which makes your retention efforts even more critical. The double whammy for a practice owner is being unable to replace a top employee and the person’s productivity.
Just as the candidate experience is crucial in recruiting and hiring top talent, the employee experience is the key to keeping them.
A veterinary practice’s retention efforts unfold through three stages: early, middle and late. When a candidate accepts your job offer, you must strategically navigate the phases to fortify your workforce.
Early-Stage Retention
Aligning expectations with reality is crucial when employees enter your clinic on Day One. This validation of experience is paramount and ensures that what you promised during the hiring process is what the work environment delivers. Veterinary practices must back up their branding through a company culture that mirrors the expectations set during recruitment. Doing so minimizes the risk of the employee’s early departure.
To examine early-stage retention further, let’s explore the four pillars.
1. VALIDATION OF EXPERIENCE
When candidates accept a job offer, expectations shape their perception of the veterinary practice. Whether the expectations are met or shattered in the initial days of employment can significantly affect employee retention.
The mantra is clear: If you describe your practice in a certain way to job candidates, you must back it up with a culture that fully and accurately reflects the branding. Failure can cause a misalignment that breeds dissatisfaction and increases the likelihood of a team member’s early departure.
To ensure the validation of experience, you must:
- Deliver on promises: What you pledge during the hiring process should be present in the workplace. You must avoid a bait-and-switch scenario in which what you said during the recruitment differs significantly from the actual workplace.
- Pay well: Employees must feel that their contributions are adequately recognized. Competitive compensation is a cornerstone of ensuring a sense of value.
- Show it: A positive work culture involves intangibles like respect, gratitude and support. Consider gestures like an appreciation gift to a job candidate, even for the simple act of interviewing, to underscore the value you place on each team member.
2. CONCRETE EXPECTATIONS
During the hiring process, job candidates are eager to understand where they stand and what lies ahead. The desire for transparency doesn’t diminish after employment begins. New team members need to know “Where am I?” and “Where am I going?” for security and purpose.
In practical terms, it involves:
- Openness: Clearly outline the onboarding process, breaking it down into manageable steps. This approach guides the employee and demonstrates organizational preparedness and an investment in integrating new team members.
- Regular updates: Periodically alerting employees about their onboarding progress keeps them informed and engaged. It also opens an opportunity to address any concerns or questions they have.
- Future steps: Employees appreciate insight into what comes next in their career journey.
3. CONSISTENT COMMUNICATION
Effective communication holds together the early-stage retention strategy. Without the interaction, employees can feel isolated or uncertain, leading to disengagement.
Critical components of consistent communication include:
- Check in periodically: Informal, scheduled conversations can gauge how the employee settled in and reveal any concerns.
- Provide resources: Ensure new hires are aware of how the team can support their journey. Feeling connected to the broader organization helps them overcome the challenges of adapting to a new environment.
- Be responsive: Employees should feel comfortable asking questions to help them understand the workplace and reinforce the idea that you value their voices.
4. GAUGING ENGAGEMENT
The early-stage retention strategy culminates in the crucial task of measuring a new employee’s level of engagement within the first four to six weeks.
The key considerations are:
- Interactions: Is the employee collaborative, enthusiastic and willing to contribute?
- Early warning signs: Be attuned to signs of disengagement, such as a decline in participation, a lack of enthusiasm or increased absenteeism. Early intervention can prevent further disengagement.
- Feedback mechanisms: Consider surveys, one-on-one discussions or regular check-ins with supervisors.
Middle-Stage Retention
Sustaining engagement is a critical yet often overlooked period in an employee’s tenure.
Your middle-stage strategies should include:
- Demonstrate value and show appreciation: Regular verbal praise, privately and in public, reinforces the team member’s importance to the organization. Tangible expressions of gratitude, such as a gift card, add an extra layer of acknowledgment.
- Offer stress-reduction initiatives: Acknowledge and address workplace stressors. Employees who perceive genuine efforts to reduce their stress are likely to be more productive and less inclined to pursue another job.
- Maintain respect: Employees should feel respected by their peers and management. Witnessing consistent disrespect toward colleagues can push a new team member out the door.
- Enforce accountability: While employees are willing to be held accountable for their actions, they expect the same from their peers and management. Inconsistencies in accountability can erode trust and lead to a negative perception of the workplace.
- Embrace transparency: While management can’t share all information openly, the deliberate withholding of critical facts can lead to incorrect assumptions and a breakdown of trust.
Late-Stage Retention
Strategizing at this point might be too late because the employee might have decided to quit. If the team member accepted another job offer and submitted a two-week notice, try this:
- Short-timer bonus: If someone is determined to leave, paying the person extra to stay a while longer gives you more time to find a replacement.
- Counteroffer: Admitting that you underpaid someone for the value they provide isn’t a good look, as most employees who accept a counteroffer leave within 18 months.
Not only do you want to retain your top employees, but you also want them to become brand ambassadors for your organization. In this competitive talent market, the terrific experience you offer job candidates during the recruiting and hiring process must continue once they join your team.
ANOTHER INCENTIVE
Flexibility is a sought-after perk, and while not all professions can offer remote work, additional paid time off, adjusted schedules or creative solutions can enhance a top employee’s job satisfaction.