How to offer veterinary team members the benefits they want

You want to improve your employees' job satisfaction and longevity but you have no idea where to start. The first step is to take a look at your employee benefits package. Ask team members what's important to them. It's likely that talk of fair wages will come up, even though nobody entered the veterinary profession to make millions.

You need to pay your team members competitively in order to keep them on your team. One way to evaluate wages in your area is to conduct research on sites like payscale.com. This Web site provides wage data as reported by employees; however, the information is imperfect due to variance in job descriptions. Still, this tool can help you see how your practice compares in wages and benefits to others in the area.

Team members value time off almost as much as a fair wage. And offering employees additional vacation time doesn't have any costs up front. If you let employees accrue vacation at a faster rate than in the past, you'll increase team satisfaction. And don't forget that genuine appreciation is essential and often inexpensive. Recognize employees for a job well done with gift certificates for fun activities.

—Sheila Grosdidier, RVT, consultant with VMC Inc. in Evergreen, Colo.