Employee retention Tactics to improve job satisfaction
By Karen D. Lockee

Every successful practice starts with a strong team of highly motivated staff. With constant changes in insurance billing and clinical procedures, your staff’s proficiency, competency and consistency are key elements of your success.

Most doctors think that once they train their staff, the work is done. The initial training is just the beginning; ongoing staff training is essential. Education is just one aspect of a stable team; retention is another. That is why it is more important than ever to offer a superior benefits package to your employees, especially when the perfor-mance of your staff affects the success of your practice.

Does employee retention matter? Absolutely! Employee turnover is always costly. How much money do you spend on searching for a new employee? How many hours do you spend sorting resumés and interviewing prospective employees? How much time do you invest in the initial training?

Failing to retain a key employee is costly. Various estimates suggest that losing a chiropractic assistant can cause a 20 percent to 30 percent reduction in patient visits and collections. This is why cultivating long-term employ-ees is invaluable to your practice. Not only does staff turnover affect your bottom line, but it also causes un-necessary stress for the doctor(s) and other staff members.

So what causes an employee to quit?

• Feeling undervalued,
• Lack of feedback on performance,
• Insufficient explanation of procedures to be completed,
• Inadequate organizational communication,
• A doctor’s underestimation of their staff’s needs,
• Inadequate training,
• Lack of earning potential or poor perception of earning potential,
• Lack of employee benefits.

These causes fall into three categories: communication, training and economic incentives.

COMMUNICATION

You have heard that communication is key. Employees want to know how they are doing. Make an effort to communicate every day with each employee about the job they are doing.

Of course, formal evaluations are also very useful to both the doctor and the staff. Evaluate each staff member after 90 days of employment, six months after that and on an annual basis after that. After each evaluation, review the employee’s entire compensation package. If an employee is productive, motivated and on task, make sure you reward him or her, but try not to link reviews and raises. This tends to make reviews a negative experience.

Use weekly staff meetings to keep everyone, including yourself, encouraged and up-to-date. Create an employee manual and a procedural manual for your clinic. When your staff knows what they are supposed to do, they can exceed your expectations.

TRAINING

Keeping up with the constant changes in insurance billing and clinical procedures requires a proficient, competent and consistent team. Investing in staff training allows you to set standardized procedures that every member of your team will be able to follow, and will improve your prac-tice’s efficiency. Three things you can provide in-house to every employee are clear and complete instruction on procedures, the right tools for the job (such as up-to-date coding manuals and efficient billing software) and adequate time and training to learn how to do their job well.

Offering professional development opportunities is another tactic for retaining quality employees. Attending professional workshops, seminars and continuing education classes puts employees in charge of their own careers, helps keep them motivated and provides a support system for their skills and talents.

The contacts they make through these opportunities form a network of knowledge and support that they can use in their job, which directly benefits your practice. If you invest in your employees, they will invest in you. They will put in maximum effort, vigorously collect for all services rendered and look for new ways to increase your patient base.

ECONOMIC INCENTIVES

Another way to invest in and retain your employees is by offering benefits. The Chiropractic Economics 2005 Salary and Expense Survey indicates that most chiropractors provide incentives or bonuses (54.7 percent surveyed) and paid time off (67.8 percent).

Tailor these benefits to suit the needs and wants of your employees. And communicate the value of the benefits you offer to your employees as their “total compensation package.” (See sidebar, “Which benefits should you provide?” for more insight on specific economic incentives to offer.)

See your team members for what they are — your most valuable resource for the continued success of your practice — and treat them accordingly. Do not fall victim to chronic staff turnover by failing to communicate your expectations, provide the right tools for the job or offer a competitive benefits package. If you don’t provide these things, your staff will seek an employer who does. Look at the time and money you put into communication, profes-sional development and competitive benefits as a great investment to keep a great team of employees.

Karen D. Lockee is the co-founder, vice president and CFO of ChiroMecca (www.chiromecca.com). She has also served as business administrator of Greenspan Chiropractic in Asheville, N.C., since 1989. She can be contacted by e-mail at Karen@chiromecca.com.