The Three Reasons of Employee Retention
Keeping your Most Valuable Employees

It’s one of the events you fear most – a valuable, but unhappy staffer is leaving for another practice, and you have to find someone else, fast. Hiring and training costs alone can end up costing close to a whole year’s salary—if the new person works out.

To help avoid this scenario, pay attention now to factors that affect staff satisfaction. Surveys reveal these six motivational factors affecting employee job satisfaction, in order of importance:

• Interesting and challenging work
• Recognition, acknowledgement, and appreciation
• Ability to contribute, make a difference and be included
• Sense of job security
• Compensation and benefit package
• Opportunity for promotion and/or growth

To retain valuable employees, find out what your staff members expect and want, first. Then, start practicing the three Rs of key employee retention. Here's how...

Recognition
Employees need to know you appreciate their work, but they can't read your mind. So when a staff member does a good job, recognize it. Thank them, compliment them, shake hands with them and note their specific accomplishment in front of the group. If that's awkward, send a personal thank-you note e-mail. When it's a team effort, take a team photo and put it up so everyone can see it, including patients.

Reviews
Good employees usually want to know where they stand. Use regular performance reviews as an opportunity for positive dialogue with your employees. For consistency, use specific performance evaluation forms, covering items like quality and quantity of work, job knowledge and staff/patient relations.

Try to give new employees two evaluations in the first 90 days—one after four weeks and a second after 11 weeks. Veteran employees should have a review once each year. Keep notes about each employee’s performance; be fair and honest, and resist the temptation to give everyone high marks. Outside of reviews, use other opportunities to advise employees of their progress, share compliments and give guidance.

Rewards
Rewards for extra achievement come in many forms. When you reward staff with the latest tech tools, it helps their mindset and their efficiency. You can reward extra effort with gift certificates, extra paid time-off and a host of other incentives, but make sure you do it sincerely and sensitively, and not as a substitute for fair pay.

A more structured bonus and incentive plan lets your staff know exactly what it takes to make more money, but it's wise to include these key elements:

• Enlist and include the entire staff to foster teamwork
• Make the plan easy to use, understand and administer
• Protect the practice’s cash flow and overhead
• Design the plan so it drives increased profits

Practicing the three Rs leads to a more productive, less stressful work environment. And that's not a bad benefit either.

POS acknowledges the use of an article by Tim Twigg and Rebecca Boartfield of Bent Ericksen & Associates, Eugene, Oregon, in preparing these recommendations. For questions, visit their Web site: www.bentericksen.com; e-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or call 800-679-2760.