Turnover is never pleasant but
when you lose a staffer who's been the veritable linchpin
of your practice — it really smarts.
A Montreal GP who had been in practice
for almost 30 years recently closed her doors when her
receptionist's husband retired and the couple moved
to Victoria. Faced with the prospect of finding and
training some new person Friday, the doctor opted to
work part-time at a clinic instead.
She's not alone. Few physicians
have the time to deal with the disruption of hiring
and retraining new employees. It makes sense then to
practice some preventative medicine to keep your present
staff happy and productive.
VALUABLE
NURSES
Because of a national shortage and aggressive American
poaching, nurses are the toughest employees to hold
on to. Here you are competing with other physicians
in the area and with hospitals who can offer generous
overtime pay to those who want to take it on. Fortunately
for you, some nurses put the quality of their working
life ahead of the size of their compensation. One strategy
that's worked for your colleagues is to provide perks
that aren't available in hospitals — flexible vacation
time, personal days off, a day off on birthdays,even
picking up the tab for a dinner in a nice restaurant
once a month. Still this may not be enough, you may
find you have to pay a couple of dollars an hour over
hospital scale to attract and keep high quality medical
personnel. For most practices, it proves to be a good
investment.
Losing other employees can be a
real setback as well — as the Montreal practitioner
discovered. Your receptionist may know more about your
patients than you do and losing a good gatekeeper can
throw your practice into chaos. What's more, if your
new recruit isn't as talented as the outgoing worker,
you may well find yourself doing more paperwork, working
longer hours and having to juggle patient appointments
on your own. If you're worried about losing a staffer,
sweetening the pot and paying a premium above the average
salaries in your area may be the prudent way to go.
(To help you determine local and national wages see
the sidebar "Know the labour market.")
DOING
IT RIGHT
One such success story is a 16-doctor practice in southern
Ontario that's managed to hang on to three great RNs,
and seven other gifted workers who handle clerical and
reception tasks. A number of these employees have been
there for over a decade and it doesn't look like anyone
has itchy feet. One of their secrets, according to the
office's manager, is offering a significant but not
ruinous premium over prevailing local salaries. For
the receptionists they've worked it out to an extra
$2 an hour and when new skills are needed they offer
generous paid training. More money doesn't automatically
translate into a happier staff but miserly paycheques
are a sure way to sow practice discontent.
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PATIENTS & PRACTICE
