What would happen to your veterinary hospital if the practice manager stopped working suddenly? No doubt it could get by for a few days, but the permanent loss of a key employee can cause long-lasting harm in the absence of an orderly transition. Large companies try to mitigate leadership losses through succession planning. Small businesses often wing it, but that response usually doesn’t work well. Therefore, any business in which the loss of a vital person could create instability needs a succession plan.
What Is Succession Planning?
The phrase is used in multiple contexts, but here it means a process to identify and grow future leaders and plan for an orderly transition regardless of whether you hire an internal or external candidate. The strategy focuses on identifying and grooming team members to move up when the time is right and knowing the essential attributes of someone hired from the outside.
Key employees aren’t limited to doctors and practice owners. They include practice managers and other leaders.
Why Is It Important?
The primary goal of succession planning is to quickly fill a critical employee position and cause as little disruption as possible. Succession planning is vital when the hiring environment is complex due to a talent shortage or changing demographics in the type of candidates available to fill a job.
The process has other benefits. First, it can help an organization retain institutional knowledge. I once worked with a veterinary practice whose primary receptionist retired earlier than expected. Not only did the hospital lose a competent 40-hour-a-week employee who could answer the phone correctly and work the computer system expertly, but it also said goodbye to the one person who knew:
- Every client by name and life history.
- The passwords to every account.
- The locations of rarely used supplies and reports.
That’s institutional knowledge.
When done right, succession planning boosts employee morale and retention by investing in the growth of current team members. It helps create a better-trained pool of people who can fill openings someday and gives employees more interesting work.
Because the planning focuses on identifying the skills, knowledge and attributes necessary for crucial positions, a well-crafted succession plan helps reduce the likelihood of hiring someone who isn’t a good fit.
What Are the Critical Steps?
The process of succession planning can range from simple to complex. On one end, it might mean having a notebook of reference materials for an employee stepping into a new job. In contrast, a drawn-out process includes the steps below.
PROJECT PLANNING
Succession planning is usually the brainchild of the practice owner or manager. However, if the owner didn’t push for it, make sure they are on board with the idea and will provide the time and resources necessary. If the task becomes one of many items on a practice manager’s endless to-do list, it will never be completed.
PROJECT SCOPE
A veterinary practice might focus on the basics, like assembling a manager’s notebook, or it might choose a full-blown course of action. Make sure everyone involved agrees on the objectives.
IDENTIFY KEY POSITIONS
For which positions will succession planning be done? Selected management jobs usually include the hospital administrator, practice manager, and department leads or supervisors. Collect the job descriptions for each role and update them to match the current tasks. Now is also an excellent time to consider whether the functions performed by management team members should stay with them or go to someone else. For example, the practice manager might schedule the receptionists, but could someone else do it? Think through the skills, knowledge and aptitudes needed by people in these positions.
IDENTIFY RISING STARS
Every veterinary practice has team members with the clear potential to do more. Who are they in your practice? What roles do you envision them taking on at some point? If you are the current practice manager and have no intention of leaving, considering someone else in your position might seem strange or threatening to you. However, having an idea of who might replace you someday is a good custom and could benefit you. At a minimum, a rising star could become your assistant, making life easier.
Pay attention to employees who show potential, and talk to them. Are they interested in taking on additional tasks? What training would they need? What are their long-term career goals?
The people on your succession list might change over time, but the process is a starting point.
Make sure your practice does everything it can to retain quality employees. If compensation or the practice culture is problematic, change it.
REVIEW AND REVISE
Update the succession plan at least annually. People come and go, practice operations change, and the kind of employees you need will vary. Have a Plan B for filling critical positions if the people you had in mind fall through.
A NEED-TO-KNOW CHECKLIST
Every new veterinary practice manager should have ready access to:
- A job description.
- A copy of the hospital’s vision, mission and core values (if they exist).
- An organizational chart.
- The employee handbook.
- Passwords needed to perform all job functions.
- Forms and reports, including job descriptions for people reporting to the manager; performance evaluations; financial and operational documents; recent marketing materials; client-consent forms; estimate templates; and client handouts.
- Procedure manuals and other training materials.