Employees can make or break a practice. Even the best doctor can’t overcome a bad staff. If you want to keep your practice successful, you need to understand the cost of good employees.

The Front Line

We all know the cliché that your staff is the front line of your practice. They’re the first impression potential patients and patients get of your practice when they call or come into your office. And many of us emphasize this ad naseum to our employees.

But if they don’t feel valued and appreciated, they aren’t going to give their best. Once you understand the cost of good employees, their frustrations, and how you can reward them, your practice will thrive.

The Real Cost

The real cost of keeping good employees is high, very high. It’s estimated that it costs between 6-9 months of salary to replace a salaried employee. For high turnover, low paid positions, which account for many medical office jobs, it costs 16% of the annual salary to replace employees making less than $30,000 per year.

To replace employees making between $30-50,000 a year, the cost is 20% of the salary. These costs account for things like hiring and training expenses.

We all know the cost in time and stress can be even higher. The hiring process is ponderous and frustrating. And some people interview really well, but turn out to be less than ideal once hired. It puts additional stress and responsibility on your long term employees too. They have to pick up the slack of constant turnover, and spend time training new co-workers. If you’ve ever trained someone you know how tiring it can be.

Hard vs Easy

Some positions in a practice are not necessarily hard, as in difficult to perform or requiring a lot of skill. And that’s why many people in those jobs are paid a low hourly wage, don’t get health insurance, retirement plans, paid holidays, paid vacation or even paid sick days.

But believe me, as someone who has been on both sides of the desk, just because a job isn’t hard doesn’t mean it’s always easy. Patients take out their frustrations on front desk and nursing staff in a way they wouldn’t dare with their doctor.

Reward Them

Not all practices are raking it in all the time and so can’t always afford to reward staff with pay increases. However, if you’re doing well, that certainly isn’t due to your efforts alone. Your staff is part of your success and you should share it with them.

There are other ways to reward your staff so they feel appreciated. Remember their birthdays and buy them a gift. Bring in lunch for the office occasionally. Give them a gift card when they’ve gone above and beyond for a patient.

Even just asking if everything is all right when it seems like they’re having a bad day can go a long way to making sure they feel appreciated.

 Listen to Your Staff

From time to time have individual meetings with each member of your staff. Ask them if they have any concerns or problems that need to be addressed. Sometimes a good venting session is all they need to feel better.

Have Their Back

We all know that when you deal with the public there are just certain things you have to put up with and most people are generally pleasant enough. But every office has a patient or two who are a real challenge.

You probably know more about the reasons behind that than your staff. You see a person frustrated by a health problem. Your staff just knows there’s someone who is nasty to them during every interaction. If your staff understands the reason behind the behavior, they’ll be more understanding.

That said, no patient has the right to abuse your staff. If you have a patient who consistently does so, you need to address their behavior directly with that patient. No one should be expected to accept abuse as part of their job.

Cheaper to Keep Them

It’s cheaper to keep good employees happy in terms of money, time, and aggravation. (Not to mention the well being of your practice.) Things run more smoothly when a team has been working together for a long time.

It gives a better impression of your practice when patients see and speak to the same people each time. When there’s a lot of turnover, people start to wonder if the problem is you.

It’s better for everyone, yourself included, when the office has a positive energy or feel. Patients will pick up on a happy office and want to be a part of it!

For more information on building community connections, I encourage you to read my new book Community Connections! Relationship Marketing for Healthcare Professionals. If you want more valuable information about how to Connect with YOUR Community, you can find FREE healthcare practice marketing content, PowerPoint Presentation Jumpstart Kits, workbooks, blog articles, and my FREE “Practice Marketing Planner” Now!