Front-desk personnel often bear the brunt of appointment and communication-related friction, so keeping your team’s burnout at bay is critical. That means being quick to detect indications of burnout and taking actionable steps to avoid or minimize it at your veterinary practice.
Diagnosing employee burnout
Keeping an open line of communication will ensure you can have a baseline of your employee’s good and bad days. From there, you’ll know when something is not going well with one or more individuals. Look out for these signs of burnout:
- Uninterested in the workplace culture
- Loss of interest in and excitement for their work
- A decrease in productivity
- Making more mistakes and forgetting things more often
- Indecisiveness
- Irritable and more sensitive to criticism
- A more pessimistic and cynical outlook
- Increased absenteeism
What can you do if you notice these things? Companies usually think they can address employee burnout by giving them more money, a new title, or better perks. While this might be a short-term solution, it doesn’t fix the real issue. As a result, the problem will come back eventually.
How bad is reception turnover in veterinary medicine?
According to one study from Zippia1, more than 50% of veterinary receptionists last under two years in their role.
- Less than one year: 29%
- 1–2 years: 34%
- 3–4 years: 14%
- 5–7 years: 14%
- 8–10 years: 4%
- 11+ years: 5%
According to 2020 statistics from the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA)2, veterinary staff turnover was 23% on average. Receptionists had a 32.5% turnover rate, veterinary technicians had a 23.4% turnover rate, managers had a 10.3% turnover rate, associate veterinarians had a 16% turnover rate, and all other employees had a 32.9% turnover rate in the same study.
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How can you help your veterinary reception staff get their time back?
Like any job, automation and technology can help lessen the burden on your team. The digital solutions you put in place also contribute to a more pleasant new client experience. Here are some ideas for lowering front-desk staff burnout that your practice should consider.
Online appointment scheduling for veterinary clinics
The average business call duration is 4 minutes and 52 seconds3, meaning every time a pet owner calls, it takes about five minutes of your time. If you receive just a dozen calls every day, you lose one full hour of work time. If dozens of clients call you daily, it’s hard to get anything else done.
PetDesk Booking—our 24/7, real-time appointment scheduling platform—allows your business to skip appointment-related phone calls by letting pet owners conveniently book your services on your website, social media, and online listing pages. Our real-time functionality helps to prevent scheduling errors like double-booked appointments by only showing pet owners the appointments that are truly available to book, rather than showing what was available five minutes ago. Having less calls and errors means more time to get these things done, and your team will be happy to have the time to focus.
Customizable online forms for veterinary clinics
Forms can become a burden and cause a backlog in your clinic when people want to see their veterinarian. PetDesk Forms equips you with customizable veterinary forms that are as easy for pet owners to use as they are for your team to manage. Build our custom digital forms into your custom-made veterinary website (which PetDesk Marketing can create for you!) to speed things up, automate customer intake, and keep your clients happy when they come to see you. Most PetDesk customers are saving hours every week just by having one or more digital forms on their websites, ranging from new client forms, authorization forms, appointment request forms, and anything else you can think of.
Convenient text messaging for veterinary clients
Answering the phone all day can be exhausting, but allowing your front desk staff to text with pet owners significantly improves client communication. With the PetDesk App and Communication Platform, you can enjoy convenient communication features like Two-Way Texting right from your PetDesk dashboard. Save staff time while boosting client engagement and compliance by moving communication for reminders, confirmations, cancellations, and notifications to text messaging. Our Two-Way Texting tool enables communication to take place anywhere, anytime. The average phone call is nearly five minutes, but text messages remove some of the urgency that may cause stress from phone calls.
Win your time back and lose the risk of burnout
Technology can help with occupational burnout for veterinary professionals, but it’s not the only solution. Managers also need to be proactive about recognizing the signs of burnout and addressing them before it gets out of hand.
Some other suggestions for preventing front-desk employee burnout include:
- Encouraging regular breaks
- Prioritizing tasks and setting realistic expectations
- Promoting a healthy work-life balance
- Showing appreciation for a job well done
Be sure to support your entire team’s mental health every single day, and take your staff appreciation a step further by celebrating your veterinarian technicians during this year’s National Veterinary Technician Week!
1 Zippia. “Veterinary Receptionist Demographics and Statistics in the US.” www.zippia.com/veterinary-receptionist-jobs/demographics.
2 American Animal Hospital Association. “Compensation and Benefits, Ninth Edition.” www.AAHA.org.
3 Reliable Receptionist. “6 Qualities the Best Virtual Receptionists Have in Common.” www.reliablereceptionist.com/6-qualities-the-best-virtual-receptionists-have-in-common.
Veterinary front desk burnout FAQs
Q. What is the extent of staff burnout in veterinary medicine?
A. Staff burnout has significantly impacted the veterinary sector. According to one study from Zippia, more than 50% of veterinary receptionists last under two years in their role.
Q. How does employee burnout affect veterinary practices?
A. Employee burnout can negatively affect the growth goals of a veterinary practice. It leads to a decrease in productivity, more mistakes, increased absenteeism, and a diminished patient experience. Addressing burnout is crucial for maintaining a committed team that can deliver positive patient experiences.
Q. What are the signs of employee burnout in a veterinary setting?
A. Signs of employee burnout include a loss of interest in work, decreased productivity, increased mistakes, indecisiveness, irritability, a pessimistic outlook, and increased absenteeism. Monitoring these signs and maintaining open communication are essential for diagnosing and addressing burnout early on.
Q. What is the reception turnover rate in veterinary medicine?
A. The reception turnover rate is high in veterinary medicine, with over 50% of veterinary receptionists lasting under two years in their role. The turnover rate for receptionists was reported to be 32.5% according to the AAHA’s 2020 Compensation & Benefits survey, indicating a substantial challenge in retaining front-desk personnel in veterinary practices.
Q. How can veterinary practices combat front-desk staff burnout?
A. Implementing digital solutions like online appointment scheduling, online patient forms, and text message communication can significantly lessen the burden on front-desk staff. These technologies automate routine tasks, save time, and improve client engagement, which in turn helps in reducing and preventing staff burnout. Additionally, promoting a healthy work-life balance, setting realistic expectations, and showing appreciation are other effective strategies to combat burnout.
Q. How does online appointment scheduling help in reducing front-desk staff burnout?
A. Online appointment scheduling, through platforms like PetDesk, reduces the time front-desk staff spend on phone calls, freeing up valuable work time. By offering real-time appointment scheduling on various online platforms, veterinary practices can streamline appointment bookings, thereby reducing the workload and stress on the front-desk staff.
Q. What are the benefits of using online patient forms and text messaging in veterinary clinics?
A. Online patient forms speed up customer intake and reduce backlog, while text messaging enhances client communication, making it less stressful and time-consuming for front-desk staff. Both solutions contribute to a more efficient workflow, better client engagement, and a significant reduction in the stress levels of front-desk personnel, aiding in the prevention of burnout.
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