What's This Episode About? Better Benefits for Veterinary Teams.
This week on the podcast, Dr. Andy Roark and veterinary practice manager Stephanie Goss weigh in on a great question from the mailbag about creative ways to offer benefits for veterinary teams:
“Our clinic has always paid good for our area, but we have never offered much in terms of benefits. I am losing great staff members because they can get retirement plans, more vacation time, better discounts, etc. at other practices in the area. What do you recommend I do (as a practice manager who can’t really put anything into place without the owner’s buy-in) to help show that we need to offer better benefits? How do you recommend a clinic add benefits to their employment package without breaking the bank?”
Let's get into this episode!
You can listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or wherever you stream!
What Are Some Alternative Job Benefit Ideas for Veterinary Teams?
In this episode of the Uncharted Podcast, Stephanie promised to share some of the outside-the-box job benefit ideas she loved that don’t break the bank! Here they are:
- Barkbox for Pets
- Insurance for team pets (discounts are available for veterinary professionals!)
- Gym memberships – Is your team into something like yoga, Zumba, or BollyX?
- Meal in a box subscription – who has time to meal plan when they get home after a long shift? Make it easier on them with ready-made food options at home!
- Stocked kitchen for the practice – SNACKS, FTW! Don’t just limit snacks to junk food either. While most everyone appreciates a Snickers bar or other quick sugar choices when you really need to jump your blood sugar up, consider healthy options like veggies, fruits, nuts, hummus, cheese, yogurt, and hard-boiled eggs for quick, on-the-go options.
- Freebie days off for things like birthdays and anniversaries
- Remote work – Start a rotation and give everyone the opportunity to work from home for a shift or two every so often! Chart audits, paperwork prep, phone calls etc. can all be easily tackled by almost every position within the practice.
- Flexible schedule (Andy and Stephanie recently tackled this topic on the podcast! Click Here to listen to the episode.)
- Give them a half day or whole day off during holiday season to shop or a day off in busy season to enjoy the sunshine. Who doesn’t need a mental health day once in awhile that doesn’t mean staying in bed and wishing for a do-over?
- Tickets to activities they enjoy – this is where knowing your team comes in handy. This option provides endless opportunities for us to reward our people with the things they are involved in outside of work!
- Commute assistance – Do you have people on your team who drive far and could use a little boost in the form of a gas card? Could you load $50 on their fast pass account for toll payments? Gift them a year ferry pass?
Got a question for the mailbag? Submit it here: unchartedvet.com/mailbag
Upcoming Events
August 14 – The Secret Sauce To Optimizing Workflow with Senani Ratnayake, RVT
The way we are doing things isn’t working. At least, not working well. Some inefficiencies might feel normal to us because we've always done it that way and we don't even realize there might be a better way to move forward.
This 4-hour workshop is here to help.
Dissect your hospital’s workflow with Senani Ratnayake, RVT so you can get out of the woods in 4 strategic steps. Then, talk through what it will take to get your team on board to lean into your strengths and address your weaknesses.
All upcoming Uncharted events: unchartedvet.com/upcoming-events/
A UVC MEMBERSHIP IS YOUR KEY TO FINALLY GETTING THINGS DONE AND GROWING YOUR VETERINARY PRACTICE.
