Staff Retention
Full Stop—Retain Not Retrain Now, by saying this, I am NOT saying we should disregard the new teammates our veterinary practices so desperately need. What I am saying is to instead, switch the effort. Bring up, build up, boost up the reserves, those team members who have been in the trenches, buried in cases, and all the muck that goes with them. Let me elaborate.
Actions Speak Louder I am most definitely a hands-on learner, as are the majority of us in our profession. It’s difficult to learn how to place an IVC theoretically. You have to feel that “pop” into the vein to fully appreciate and understand what it is that you’re doing. And I can say with a fair amount of certainty that most veterinary team members will tell you they learned so much more on the job than from a textbook. That being said, we cannot learn all that we need to within 1 to 2 months, and sometimes not even in 1 to 2 years in practice. Having the education and credentials to back up your what (skills) with the why (science) is essential in becoming a fully integrated member of a veterinary team. Honing any skill takes time, and mastering that skill takes more of it, along with effort and determination. No one is going to be able to run a solo TIVA case within their first week (just entering the field, freshly graduated, but if you’ve got the experience and are simply new to a practice you might!). Gaining the trust of your teammates, supervisors, and doctors is crucial. Fine-tuning your skills and gaining confidence—not arrogance—is critical. All of this takes— you guessed it—time.
It’s Not Easy Being Green Kermit spoke the truth, it’s NOT easy. But I’m clearly not speaking about the color here. Being the new kid at work is challenging—learning names, finding your way around, 14 | Keystone Veterinarian
protocols, processes, workflow, oh and yes, all the veterinary medical skills on top of that! Every practice, regardless of its location and/or size, should have some type of orientation or onboarding program in place. Depending on a person’s work and life experience, skill set, learning type, and communication style, this can—and should—encompass anywhere from 2 to 8 weeks. The first week should be spent, ideally, off the floor and focusing on workflow, computer skills, and acclimatization. Unfortunately, this is the exception, not the rule, which is what Empowering Veterinary Teams (EVT) is aiming to change, but I digress. It’s worth noting that the recruitment, interviewing, hiring, and training of a new veterinary team member in the United States costs anywhere from 50 to 75% of their annual salary,¹ and that’s only for them. Take into consideration the extra time of their trainer(s). And let’s please, please not forget to address the mental and emotional toll this can take on the entire team— trainee and trainer, management, doctors, and patients. The entire team dynamic changes when any one member leaves and then again when a new member joins. This is an essential process and one that is incredibly rewarding and worth every penny and each ounce of blood, sweat, and tears. But (you knew there was going to be a but), it’s a LOT, especially with short staffing, exponentially amidst a pandemic. What are we to do? Read on.
Remember Me? Heads down, noses to the grind, not a complaint, and getting completely and utterly burnt. The pillars of the veterinary practices, those dedicated and determined to “do it all” and “save everyone” teammates. They’ve been in the field for more years than most know, and sometimes more than they’d like to admit. Backs and knees aching, creaking, and breaking. Brains
