Given the strains on veterinary medicine over the last few years, it’s not surprising that practice owners liken the search for new staff to a “Gulliver tie-down.” It’s not just veterinary medicine feeling the labor shortage. Many restaurants are closed on the early days of the week, ski hills and golf courses are restricting hours and services to survive with skeleton staff, and retail stores are using automated checkouts to maintain service with fewer staff.
To understand the best ways to attract and retain staff, start with a breakdown of how a certified technician is hired. A veterinary practice owner has one perspective: The owner has an opening or sees an opportunity to service more clients by bringing on more certified technicians. They write an ad, post it to a job board, and wait for applications to roll in. They select the best candidate from the group of applicants, make an offer, and — ta-da — the position is filled. The problem with this scenario arises after the job is posted. What happens when no one applies to the ad? Even if there is an applicant, what happens when they want more than you are willing to give — or even worse, what happens when they want more than everyone else in the hospital is earning?
A certified technician has another perspective: The candidate needs a job or wishes to change jobs. They look at job boards and maybe talk to classmates and friends to see what job offers are available. They decide on the best offers available, explore a few options with interviews ranging from email to working interviews, and decide which job works best for them.
Today, the number of jobs available surpasses the number of candidates, and everyone knows it. Today, prospective employees have more bargaining power than practice owners. Ten years ago, a practice owner could hold a contest and select the best candidate, who was more interested in getting a position and less interested in what the position paid. For the last 2 years, a prospective employee can hold a contest to select the best candidate. In veterinary medicine today, getting a job is a certainty, so perks and pay are more important then just getting hired.
Get noticed
One thing that has not changed significantly is the first step for both the hiring and the hired: The practice needs to post an ad, and the associate needs to find it. This is a lot more competitive with double the number of “help wanted” ads compared to 5 years ago, so the ad must be better than it used to be. Considering that more candidates will be scrolling through their phones looking at the ads, the format has to be phone-friendly. The first few lines must catch the readers’ attention and the language needs to be inviting.
Recruit — don’t restrict
Many ads are specific about what they want to see in the new hire. With language like, “the ideal candidate will be a team player, have outstanding communication skills, be adept in surgery,” etc., it is clear that prospective employers are trying to reduce the number of applicants to a manageable number. Ten years ago, it was OK to hold a contest for the open position; today, the ad must state not what the candidate can do for the hospital but what the hospital can do for them. Ads that focus more on recruiting will use terms such as “supportive,” “team,” “mentoring,” and “work-life balance” to attract potential candidates.
Stop putting roadblocks in your ads
Many advertisements sign off with, “Send your resume to …” Why do you need a resume? If a certified technician has a valid licence, are they not a prospective candidate? The following scenario presented by one recruiter makes this very clear. Suppose a certified technician is having a bad day and is considering changing jobs. They take out their phone and start reviewing their local job board and find an ad that appeals to them. They scroll to the bottom of the ad, interested in contacting the hospital to arrange an interview, and they see, “Send resume to hardtoapplyvethospital.ca.” They don’t have an updated resume on their phone, so they shrug off the ad and scroll on.
Know the benefits and risks of working with recruiters
One thing recruiters will do that practice owners and managers won’t is actively seek out candidates. Owners and managers will put up an ad and wait for people to respond. Recruiters will directly message veterinarians and tell them about the ad. They will often have contacts with veterinarians from other countries and may even have a network of candidates. Drawbacks to working with a recruiter are that the candidate is only guaranteed to stay in the job for a year, and the recruiting fee is usually a third of the annual salary.
Know how much to offer
The amount to offer a new candidate or how much to increase an existing candidate’s salary is one area where the CVMA can provide timely and accurate information. From the annual report on wages and benefits for non-DVM staff, practice owners and managers can find out how much wage rates have changed and can use this information to keep their wages competitive. They can also compare their benefits and vacation packages.
The worldwide labor shortage affecting veterinary medicine has a lot of people in the industry asking, “Where did everyone go?” It wasn’t that long ago that the veterinary profession was dealing with the problem of too many veterinarians, so to a seasoned practice owner, the lack of available skilled staff can be a shock. It’s most certainly harder to both attract and retain veterinarians than it used to be, but it’s not impossible. The CVMA has a wealth of research and data that can help.
Footnotes
This article is provided as part of the CVMA Business Management Program, which is co-sponsored by IDEXX Laboratories, Petsecure Pet Health Insurance, Merck Animal Health, and Scotiabank.
Use of this article is limited to a single copy for personal study. Anyone interested in obtaining reprints should contact the CVMA office (hbroughton@cvma-acmv.org) for additional copies or permission to use this material elsewhere.