[ad_1]
The veterinary field is currently facing a severe staff shortage, with professionals lacking in all areas of veterinary practice, including veterinarians, technicians and support staff. This shortage creates challenges in animal care and negatively impacts employee job satisfaction. Therefore, increasing employee recruitment and retention is an important measure to improve talent shortages. The American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) released data collected from an employee retention survey.1 The survey gathered responses from more than 14,000 individuals who hold various roles in small animal practices.
AAHA found:1
- 30% of veterinary practice team members plan to resign from their current position.
- Of this 30%, half plan to leave clinical practice entirely, and once they do, 90% will not return.
- The financial cost of attrition ranges from $1 to $5 billion; the emotional toll is even greater.
- New veterinary graduates alone are not enough to address the shortage.
AAHA recommends that practice leaders need to listen to what employees want their employees to do to stay. Gain a deeper understanding of what drives people to leave and make changes to encourage valuable employees to stay.
AAHA emphasizes that retaining employees is more important than rehiring lost employees because the cost of rehiring is much higher than retaining current employees and compensating them fairly. According to the Society for Human Resource Management’s Financial Burden Findings, the cost of replacing an employee can be as high as 50%–60% of an employee’s annual salary.1,2
AAHA CEO Garth Jordan told AVMA News that the average turnover rate among veterinary team members is 23 percent annually and increasing. “The findings outline clear solutions for the entire team and by role to help individual practices and the industry as a whole strive to significantly improve employee retention,” Jordan told AVMA News.3
AAHA also found that most respondents valued factors such as teamwork, meaningful work, flexibility, appreciation of work, and fair pay on the job. The authors of the AAHA white paper on the survey said: “Different roles may have very different goals and perspectives. For example, a veterinarian may have very different reasons for entering the field than a customer service representative. The motivations that influence a team member’s decision to stay may be very different than those of a customer service representative.” people are different, especially when considering the owner versus employee perspective.”1
Michele Drake, DVM, CVA, owner of Drake Veterinary Care Center in Encinitas, California, said in an article about practice culture, “Achievements no matter how big or small. Deserves recognition. Whether your team had a particularly tough day or went above and beyond for patients, celebrating wins is critical.”4
AAHA’s complete findings on retention can be found at Please stay: Factors supporting retention and reducing attrition in the veterinary profession white paper.1
refer to
- Please stay: Factors supporting retention and reducing attrition in the veterinary profession. American Animal Hospital Association. February 16, 2024. Viewed March 5, 2024. https://www.aaha.org/practice-resources/research-center/white-paper-form-the-path-to-increasing-retention-in -veterinary-medicine /
- Alan DG. Retaining Talent – A Guide to Analyzing and Managing Employee Turnover. Society for Human Resource Management. January 2008. Viewed March 5, 2024. http://researchgate.net/publication/266223246_Retaining_Talent_-_A_guide_to_analyzing_and_managing_employee_turnover
- Lederhouse C. Research: Fair pay and appreciation of work top employee retention factors. Press Releases. March 4, 2024. Viewed March 5, 2024. https://www.avma.org/news/study-fair-pay-appreciation-work-top-factors-employee-retention?utm_source=delivra&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=todays-headlines -Message
- Drake M. Culture 101: Creating a Healthy Practice Environment. dvm360. January 8, 2024. Viewed March 5, 2024. https://www.dvm360.com/view/culture-101-creating-a-healthy-practice-environment
[ad_2]
Source link