Satisfy or risk goodbye

Veterinary team members whose job-related needs are met tend to be happier, harder working, and more productive than those whose jobs are less satisfying. They also tend to be nicer to clients and more enthusiastic about the practice at which they work. In short, they like coming to work—and it shows.

A 2001 to 2003 Gallup Poll of more than 1,700 employed adults measured their satisfaction with a variety of job characteristics ranging from pay to promotion opportunities. The job characteristics listed may or may not match the job-related needs of your employees. But it raises several questions: What are your employees' job-related needs? How satisfied are they? And, if they're less than completely satisfied, what if anything, can you do to change the situation?

Aspects of job satisfaction

There's often a gap between what employees want from a job and what they perceive they're actually receiving. If you fail to heed the implications, you're at risk of having less-than-contented employees—and higher-than-average employee turnover.

Veterinary Economics Editorial Advisory Board member Bob Levoy is a seminar speaker based in Roslyn, N.Y., who focuses on profitability and practice growth, and the author of 101 Secrets of a High-Performance Veterinary Practice (Veterinary Medicine Publishing Co., 1996).

Bob Levoy