Know staff needs to reduce turnover

Your most capable receptionist's hubby's job just got transferred 92 nautical miles from your Center For Applied Dog/Cat Maintenance & Repair.

She tearfully lets you know that the two hour commute each way interfereswith her lifestyle. You did, however, come in a very close second in thechoice between hubby and you.

Easy problem to solve just keep calling all the other hospitals in thearea and tell their receptionists, "If someone applies for a job asa receptionist and you can't use that person, please tell them that we arehiring and offer a great place to work with above average wages."

You can be sure that if you call a dozen hospitals in your area, oneor probably more of their receptionists is fed up with something or otherabout working there and will be scooting over to see what you can offerfor someone with such extensive experience.

Ethical? No! Tacky, but effective? Yes! And done every day.

You want your receptionist sliding over to your colleague's hospital?Do ya? You know how to defend yourself from bait casting in your labor pool?Do ya!

You just cannot stop competing hospitals from sneak attacks with tackybut not illegal recruiting practices. You can prevent their success, however,by working with your current staff to assure that they are not tempted andstay just where they are now.

The question is not, why do employees leave? but rather, why does mystaff stay with me? After all, I'm not the perfect employer. My medicaltraining is the opposite of any human resource training. All I do all dayis look at patients for the least thing that is wrong and may be hidingas a disease. I seldom if ever tell clients, "Your pet is perfect andyou are taking perfect care of it." And I think my tongue would fallout before I could mouth the words, "You are doing a great job andyou are a real asset to my practice."

Staff members, yours included, are humans with five basic needs and failingto clearly understand those needs is the surest way to increase your costof labor through the magic of excessive employee turnover.

These needs, first described by ol' Abe Maslow in the 60's include;

1. Basic and trivial needs such as air, water, food and shelter.

2. Safety needs like security and continuity of lifestyle.

3. Belongingness needs such as friendship and affection.

4. Esteem needs like respect and the sense of being valued.

5. Last, but important, is a sense of purpose in life.

Enough of the academic stuff. How does this help me keep my staff? Ineed everyone on board to stay on board.

Basic stuff

Basic needs are actually, in fact, no kidding, basic needs. Until a staffmember earns enough money to have a place to live and enough to eat, thereis no contest; they will think of nothing else. You should never hire anyonefor a receptionist or assistant position, who is totally dependent on theirincome from your practice to survive. It cannot be done unless you are willingto convert your attic into a small apartment for them. They will be ableto afford an apartment of their own or a reliable and insured car, but notboth. Even if they take a roommate to share an apartment and that roommateblows their rent money, your employee is homeless. This employee will acceptthe first offer from anyone.

Safety needs

Basic needs satisfied, we must look to the safety needs. You need toassure the staff that the neighborhood you practice in is safe and thattheir job is safe. That means that you do not intend to retire or go outof business in the foreseeable future. If there is turmoil in your practice,with mini-lay-offs, sending people home on a slow-season afternoon, moremoney may not lure them away but better working conditions are a temptingoffer. These employees will often leave, but harbor a twinge of regret whenthey go. Touching, isn't it?

Belongingness

Belongingness needs are simple. Does your staff feel that they are partof a team or are co-workers out to steal their job? The old friction betweenthe front staff who feel that the back gets to do all the "neat"stuff and the back staff who think that the front has it real easy is dangerous.If you have strictly compartmentalized staff to reception-only or kennel-only,you may be raided by a so-called "colleague" who offers more cross-trainingand that they can be "part of a team." These staff leave withgreat reluctance, but gone is gone. Really!

Esteem

Then there are the esteem needs. Staff constantly seeks recognition tofeel satisfied, self confident and valuable. While daily feedback from co-workersand you are important, the best way to prove the person's value is withpositive constructive performance reviews.

Annually is just not good enough and this consultant recommends reviewsevery four months for optimum staff effectiveness. It tells a good workerthat, "We value you you so much that we want to help you to be thebest you can be in all aspects or your work."

These staff members are difficult to steal. They will very rarely leavewithout letting you know that they are unhappy. You'll notice that theystop doing any extra work and wait for you to come to them to see what'swrong. Not being attuned to your staff's feelings is the only way you aregoing to lose these valuable staff members.

Purpose

And finally the need for a "purpose in life"-the need to feelthat they are making a difference in the world. Staff needs to be givena chance to explore within their daily tasks to discover for themselveswhat skills they feel most comfortable with.

Dr. Snyder, a well-known consultant, publishes theSnyder Advisory Letter, a newsletter for practice productivity and is availablefor in-practice consultation. He can be reached at 17094-1 Boca Club Blvd.,Boca Raton, FL 33487-1225; (800) 292-7995; vethelp@gate.net; FAX (561) 989-8558.Dr. Snyder is online at www.veterinaryproductivity.com.