Owners

Engaged employees are productive, profitable, customer-focused, safer, and more likely to stay with you. The Gallup Organization measures employee engagement levels by asking employees the following 12 questions:

To help you think about why team members stick around, we asked Blythe Addington, RVT, why she enjoys her work and why she returned to Broad Ripple Animal Clinic in Indianapolis, where she completed an externship, after she finished her degree. Here's what she says:

Your staff members devote a third of their waking lives to your practice. Working at your practice isn't just a job for you--don't let it become just a job for them. Share your vision for the practice and then give them the support and tools they need to make your vision a reality.

What's fair compensation one year out of veterinary school? I'm currently working at a two-doctor practice. What do I need to know to make an educated decision about whether to renew my contract?

What do I do with a relief veterinarian who doesn't stick to my fee schedule?

How much am I expected to contribute to my associates' retirement plans? Does this count as part of the compensation my associate earned based on production?

Set a date for your associate's buy-in, then use this timetable for a smooth transition.

Workers covered under the Federal Labor Standards Act are entitled to the minimum wage of $5.15 per hour. And, should you be paying that low in your practice, you can't deduct money from wages for such items as cash or merchandise shortages, uniforms, and other tools of the trade if those reductions put the employee's wages below the minimum wage or reduce the amount of overtime pay due.

Recently, a veterinarian in the process of hiring a new practice manager asked me "What are the 10 things a practice manager needs to know to be effective?" What a great question! It took a little thinking to narrow the "must-know" list to just 10 items. But whether you're an owner-veterinarian, a practice manager, or the owner's managing spouse, I think you need to apply these strategies to manage the practice effectively.

How many hours should I schedule for my receptionists in relation to the number of veterinarians on staff?

After we hired an associate, my partner started cutting back on the number of patients he sees without consulting me. How should I handle this?

Speculation, rumor, and stubbornness abound regarding such issues as paying employees for overtime and granting maternity leave.

When you know what goals you really want to accomplish, the path to your dreams becomes clear. Here's how to harness the power of goal setting for your practice.

Surveys show that staff members want you to say thank you more often, delegate more, and offer more benefits. Here's why you should.

If surgery is your game, this may be the year to ante up some cash and go shopping. High-tech advancements for the veterinary profession have merged opportunistically with favorable tax law changes.

Of course, the answer to this rhetorical question that has been, and is, asked primarily by academicians in various forums during the past several years is supposed to be "yes," otherwise the respondent is considered uninformed, conservative, or worse, simply a greedy capitalist with his or her clients and patients comprising the victimized proletariat.

Ms. Sue Schmidt provides you with the tools to build a stronger compliance ratio for your practice.

To show staff members how much they earn each year--not just in salary, but in benefits, too--give them a total compensation statement. (PDF)

Redwood Shores, Calif.-Who knows what the future holds? An ethnofuturist, whose job it is to sleuth out lasting consumer trends, says the animal rights movement is changing the way society views animals, and in the next 20 years its increasing influence will become even more evident.