-Do NOT undervalue the importance of a good staff
-hire everyone on a probationary basis
-hand out an employee manual w/our goal, rules, etc the first day of work.
-quickly go through the manual with (overwhelmed new employee) in case they don’t read it (carefully).
-have employees sign the manual the first week
-have a short quiz (for all employees) on the manual to highlight most important points & any changes
-personally introduce new employee to each current employee the FIRST day or @ special meeting
-meet with new employee at the end of the first day and week to ask how it went
-Train people HOW to train new employees
-assign a current employee to train new people for 2 weeks
-schedule extra people when a new employee is just starting!
-keep scrubs(matching everyone else’s) on hand for new hires/observers to temporarily wear
-have staff wear matching scrubs every day of the week? but change pattern seasonally and include plain AND patterned scubs
-buy all employees a set of scrubs once a year
-during business hours/in front of clients, refer to vets as Dr. ___ always
-at the end of the day, all staff leaves at the same time–after checking w/each other that everything is finished
-do written evaluations for each employee after 3 mos and once a year
-no one may bring own animals to work (unless they pay for boarding) especially on a daily basis
-if employee pets are paying to board, employee cares for them on their OWN time–not while clocked in.
-fire people for repeated lateness!
-have a break room/nook with a window
-have employee phone tree displayed
-keep track of schedules, birthdays, and clinic days off on a visible wall
-acknowledge birthdays in a fun and consistent way
-keep track of missed work by each employee (and self) on a visible calendar
-give half Christmas bonus before the holiday, and half after the holiday
-give a post-summer (busiest season) bonus or pay-raise
-hire an accountant instead of vet/staff doing it
-Have an office manager to take care of staffing, ordering, inventory, and billing concerns. That is their entire job!
Catty Remarks