Attracting and Recruiting Veterinarians

As the shortage of veterinarians continues in this country, clinic owners continue to struggle with ways to attract new doctors to their practice and retain the ones they have on staff. Recently, my staff and I had the opportunity to present to the South Georgia Veterinary Association during a conference at the University of Georgia. We focused on building blocks needed to attract and retain talent during competitive times, and the ways to prepare to hire the right personnel to keep your staff – and your practice – learning and growing. Here are some points I’d like to share with you:

 

PREPARE – Before establishing your dream staff, you must know the identity of your clinic:

• Culture - know the personality of your clinic (leadership style, management, workplace practices, policies, and people)
• Strategy - know what qualifications you and your staff need in an associate to come up with the methods to recruit the right person

 

PLACE – From recruiting to offering, he’s what’s key when searching for the right person:

• Recruit - knowing where and how to recruit for the right candidate is key, but what you include in the ad is also key; address the culture of your practice, the location, and any specialty service or characteristics that set you apart from other clinics
• Interview - craft behavioral questions to gauge how the candidate reacts to stress, their skill level, how well they communicate and work with a team
• Offer - the average new DVM receives 11-14 offers before graduating, so make your best offer from the start

 

PROVIDE – Continue to work with the new associate even after the start date by setting an example and being a teacher:

• Lead - be sure to know your leadership style and keep communication open with all staff members
• Mentor - a recent graduate is not done learning, so be there to guide them into the daily role of a practicing veterinarian, answer questions, teach them techniques, and be a sounding board when they offer new ideas

 

Recruiting is a full-time job, and if you don’t have the time to do it on top of running your practice, you may want to consider hiring a recruiting service. Give me a call and I’d be happy to explain how my team has a 93% success rate in bringing quality candidates to our clients within 90 days of the recruitment process.