A deep dive on employee retention

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A deep dive on employee retention

The American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) has been hard at work assessing trends in veterinary medicine, and their most recent work focuses on retention in clinics.

Phase 1 of the Stay, Please study was released last year and brought forward key findings from a survey of over 14,000 veterinary professionals to understand the motivations behind those who were leaving clinical practice, as well as what inspired people to stay in their jobs.

The full study can be found here, but one of the key takeaways was that after understanding the reasons it became clear that not all factors were equally important. Some reasons were more important in relation to attrition, and some were more important to retention:

And the data from Phase 1 is certainly not promising:

• 30% of veterinary practice team members are planning on leaving their current role

• Of that, 50% plan to leave clinical practice entirely, and once they do, only 10% would consider returning

As the AAHA put it, “this isn’t a workforce crisis; this is a human-centered issue.”

Phase 2 of the study was released this week, and focused on what these factors mean and what we can do about it. We encourage you to dive deep on your own time, or even download the full white paper, but here’s the recap:

Objectives and methodology

Phase 2 used data from an online survey of 2,713 veterinary professionals across all the common roles at a clinic to determine:

• Alignment on definitions: whether various roles in a practice tended to choose the same definitions for the nine factors above; and

• Expectation vs. reality: to see how a veterinary professional’s expectations going into the profession matched with their current reality.

Key takeaways on definitions

There is strong agreement on the definitions of key workplace factors, making it easier to develop effective solutions. For example, when respondents chose flexibility as an important factor, it is widely understood as "flexible working hours that accommodate personal life and family needs." This alignment allows for more targeted improvements.

Similarly, caring leadership and career development are closely linked, with leaders expected to prioritize staff well-being and professional growth, including opportunities for continuing education and advancement. Fair compensation and appreciation for work are also intertwined, with most employees valuing financial recognition over informal gestures like thank-you notes. While practice owners often perceive appreciation differently, staff emphasize fair wages that reflect qualifications, workload, and performance, with adjustments for inflation. Understanding these definitions provides clear direction for improving workplace satisfaction and retention.

Key takeaways on expectation vs. reality

The expectation vs. reality analysis highlights the discrepancy in results between different veterinary roles. Practice owners generally report satisfaction with their roles, while associates identify caring leadership as a gap - indicating a desire for leaders who prioritize staff well-being and involve them in decision-making.

Administrators struggle with job flexibility, feeling unable to step away from their responsibilities, while technicians and assistants overwhelmingly prioritize fair compensation. Technicians are seeking pay that reflects their skills and workload, while assistants emphasize a living wage and performance-based raises.

It is clear that there is not a one-size-fits-all solution. Addressing these gaps need to be customized to roles through improved leadership, flexibility, and competitive compensation to enhance retention and job satisfaction.

Conclusions and next steps

1. Reduce practice-wide turnover with a core values refresh

   Addressing the factors at the base of the hierarchy of needs will make the biggest impact on practice retention as a whole.

2. Commitment through communication

   Two-way communication with staff is essential. There is a strong correlation between the distance on a traditional organizational chart from the owner role and differences in priorities, definitions, and experiences.

3. Appreciation through fair compensation

   While this is easier said than done for many practices, it’s essential to retaining employees.

4. Address role-specific turnover with data-driven details

   Key differences in the expectations vs. reality between different roles means tailored solutions are needed to effectively solve the underlying issues of retention and turnover.

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AVMA Chart of the Month

The most recent AVMA Chart of the Month shows the relationship between pet owners who have a veterinarian and how many have regular visits to the vet:

As we can see above, most dog owners (86.8%) and cat owners (77.1%) report having a relationship with a veterinarian or veterinary practice. However, these numbers drop to 74.2% for dogs and only 57.3% for cats when it comes to regular visits.

The AVMA highlights this as a gap that needs addressing by building strong relationships with clients, educating pet owners about the importance of regular checkups and forward booking appointments.

Lets be honest for a moment here. How many of you have actually done routine bloodwork on your cat in the last year? We know for a fact one of the writers of this email is 0/3. Surely he isn’t alone…

Gap yes. Addressing? Good luck getting Mr. Bigglesworth into a carrier once a year and not having a car that perpetually smells of urine. We’re just saying…

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Odds and ends

Lastly, here are a few more quick veterinary stories that we thought were worth exploring:

🐈️ Pioneering feline embryonic stem cells could transform veterinary regenerative medicine

The journal Regenerative Therapy published a study from researchers at Osaka Metropolitan University who have successfully generated feline embryonic stem cells from lab-grown blastocysts, which could meaningfully advance veterinary regenerative medicine by enabling comparative studies with iPS cells and potentially aiding in the conservation of endangered wild cat species.

🇨🇦 Canada buys 500,000 doses of H5N1 avian influenza vaccine

While the Public Health Agency of Canada has maintained that the risk to the general public of acquiring the virus remains low, they have purchased 500,000 doses of a human vaccine to protect against avian influenza for those most at risk from being exposed to the virus by infected animals. And veterinarians at Atlantic Veterinary College who have been monitoring the spread of avian influenza are encouraged by this decision.

🖥️ Most vets are still concerned about using AI tools

An AVMA survey of nearly 4,000 veterinary professionals found that while many are optimistic about AI in veterinary medicine, concerns remain over reliability, data security, cost, and job displacement. Right now, AI is primarily used for imaging and administrative tasks, with perceived benefits including improved efficiency and reduced workload, though training and case studies are key to broader adoption.

When discussing AI, it’s important to remember there is a range of outcomes. For administrative tasks - like generative scribing tools for SOAP notes - AI is developing quicker than diagnostics, which is still highly unreliable.

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Quick Hits

Here are some of the other stories that caught our eye and we're following this week from around the veterinary world and animal kingdom: