Wanted: Practice Manager!

I have been mulling this post/advertisement in my head for quite some time now trying to find a way to articulate all the thoughts and feelings I have towards finding and choosing the best employees and the best practice manager. Feel free to take this blog post as both an inside peek at the type of employment environment we will create at VIP and a "help wanted" advertisement. At this time we are only searching for a practice manager but this information applies to potential employees as well.

VIP's employment style and culture will hopefully be something you've never experienced before. We insist ALL of our employees to feel valued, useful, and included. We want 100% of our employees to wake up in the morning and never dread coming to work. Being miserable for 1/3 of your waking hours is a waking nightmare. We don't want that for any employee of VIP. We also want to make sure everyone works well together, very well. It will be impossible to execute our mission with environments that allow "cliques" or informal "pecking orders" to form and drag the whole teamwork and vibe down. VIP is also searching for individuals who are looking for stable careers and long-term employment. We may have part-time or temporary positions in the future, but the mainstay of our initial employment model is the expectation that new employees are coming on board for the long haul. VIP strives for consistency and aptitude and a revolving door of new employees will severely compromise that vision and commitment to our clients and pets.

Experience in the field of veterinary medicine or animal care will almost certainly be a prerequisite, but sometimes individuals with experience in other disciplines and a great first impression will indicate a viable candidate as well. A bachelors degree in any discipline is also preferable as that accomplishment is a great indicator that the candidate has a basic level of self-direction and long-term work ethic. Again, a degree is not an absolute requirement, but the candidate must stand out and demonstrate a strong work ethic in other ways and make a significant impression....because, there is going to be SO. MUCH. TO. LEARN. Even if you're familiar in the field, a new hospital, new protocols, and new technology means training starts immediately and never ends at VIP. There will always be something new or some change. In fact, the only thing we should ever expect to stay the same is that there will always be change and new information to absorb.

Because there are so many different aspects of employment in a veterinary hospital, and because there are so many different personalities, motivations, habits, tendencies, quirks, and countless other variables, all new hires should consider their first year of employment at VIP as a year-long, 365 day interview. That means all new hires will be considered temporary for at least one year. This may sound strange but we feel it takes at least that long for personalities to thaw and be expressed, for a person's true work ethic and dedication to be seen, to see if you can prove yourself, and really to see how well you jive with the team. We may even have an informal "tribal council" to welcome new hires into the fold after their first year. This first year is also the time for new hires to shine and to show us what you're made of. Self-direction and motivation is crucial. You will be expected to learn and know your job and VIP will expect you to do that job without being told or reminded or pestered about you're supposed to be doing. We will never be the "If you've got time to lean, you've got time to clean" type of employer or micromanaging every second of your work....as long as all tasks and assignments are done, and done well, being idle won't be an issue. We all like to take a break to chat and do anything to kick work down the line, but knowing how to self-manage idle time appropriately is also crucial.

We also will not be constantly breathing down your neck or screaming or yelling to do your job or threatening various punishments if you're lazy, cut corners, don't help out, etc. However, the management team will MOST CERTAINLY recognize and note and who is performing and who is not and that will be taken into consideration during the employment review after your first-year interview is complete. Furthermore, all permanent staff at VIP will be aware of or fully participating in the progress reviews for new-hires. Furthermore, all permanent staff must unanimously approve a new hire's transition into a permanent position. New hires must impress everyone, not just the veterinarian or team leaders. In many ways, co-workers are likely much better judges of a new hire's abilities than the owner or a veterinarian because they work together more closely and more responsibilities overlap. Again, creating the best team is of incredible importance at VIP so we will be able to successfully execute another facet of our mission which is to provide consistent, efficient customer service, veterinary medicine, and an over-all elevated experience at VIP . We must have high-performance employees to deliver this vision of our core values to our clients and patients.

Basic benefits of a 1st year employee will be minimal but still generous. VIP plans to start all newly hired employees at $20.00/hr. In our opinion this is the base wage that allows some financial security and hopefully prevents any employee from living paycheck to paycheck. VIP will likely implement a new hire vacation schedule of 5 days of paid vacation and 5 non-paid personal/sick days.

At least during the planning stages, VIP intends to have two main categories of employees that will be applied to all positions in the hospital. That is, the Long Term Employees (LTE's) and...everyone else. LTE's can be in any position in the company and means they have successfully completed their 1st year interview, have been welcomed by the team, and have indicated they are serious about developing a stable career at VIP. This employment category is what we hope most new hires will want to strive for. It is in our vision that LTE positions will be coveted as VIP plans to initiate an employer matched retirement plan, health insurance, paid vacations, and deeply discounted and complimentary veterinary services. Retirement plans and health insurance will be a number one priority and will be introduced as soon as VIP is financially stable enough to provide these benefits. VIP will also allow LTEs to have up to 5 friends/family that will enjoy a percentage discount off VIP services as well!

Furthermore, another major goal after opening and as the staff numbers increase, will be developing a work schedule and an on-call schedule that will minimize or eliminate being called in to work on scheduled days off. It is awful to be on-call some of the time, and then to also be pseudo on-call to quickly cover shifts on scheduled days off. We want every employee to have a significant work/life balance and we acknowledge and respect that working at VIP is just a part of your life and not your entire life. That being said, attendance during scheduled work shifts is vital to provide consistent service and medicine and chronic absences or lateness will be noted by your coworkers and will definitely be a top consideration during evaluations. Extreme circumstances notwithstanding, VIP has a zero-tolerance policy for no-call/no-show absences during the first year of employment.

Now, that all being said and sent out to the masses, we can get down to what we're looking for in a practice manager. The practice management position is just as tough, and maybe tougher in certain aspects, than being an owner or veterinarian. The practice manager has to know gargantuan amounts of information in multiple different disciplines like integrating and juggling all the information of human resources, financials, I.T., customer service, training, etc. The list is endless. Therefore, to be done well, this position requires a very educated, talented, dedicated, and versatile individual. VIP is looking for this person. A history in business or the veterinary field will be viewed with high favor, but again, the right person may apply and be perfect for the position.

ABOVE AVERAGE I.T. AND COMPUTER SKILLS ARE REQUIRED FOR THIS POSITION.

VIP is starting out of the gate as a completely paperless office (minus client invoices, information sheets, etc.), and honestly, for the practice manager, IT ability is just as important than veterinary knowledge and experience. We can teach most people about heart worm but you either "know" computers or you don't. VIP's entire data collection, entry, retention and recall will be electronic and cloud based. Client communications are tied directly to EzyVet our cloud-based Practice Management Software as well as our VoIP phone service. Many client communications will be automatically sent through the PMS and that system needs to be continually maintained and updated with new information. The hospital's entire computing power will be wireless, minus the few devices that require a wired connection. We need someone that can master this aspect of the position, not just learn the basic functions. However, your computer know-how doesn't have to be too advanced... a good practice manager won't have to know any coding or how to hack the back end of windows, or build a computer from scratch, but there are many integrations, devices, and technologies that require a keen ability to recognize and address minor IT tasks and problems.

Our practice manager position will be different than other practices as this position is not going to be considered the "boss" of the rest of the LTE's or employees or the middle manager between the veterinarians and the rest of the staff. The PM will have authority in many areas like client relations, financials, inventory, and working with drug reps/medical reps/equipment but our PM will ideally be viewed as one of many team leaders and shares authority with other Customer Service Representatives (CSR) or Veterinary Nurses that are also in leadership positions. Especially as the practice is getting on its feet, a more democratic and delegated management style will suffice to ensure everyone is doing their jobs and doing them correctly. Once the doors are open, the PM will be assigned some nursing shifts until they are busy enough with non-nursing PM tasks to justify hiring another employee. However, it is the plan that the PM will always have one "regular" shift per week as a nurse or CSR to keep teamwork tight, to know how the the work that we're ultimately there to provide is being delivered, and to reduce discord between the executives and everyone else.

The Practice Manager position is available immediately and will initially be part-time with irregular hours (maybe a few hours one morning or afternoon, half-days, etc.) during the week until we open for business. As this is new to everyone involved, there is no structured training for this position. Hopefully, the new PM will be able to help develop that for VIP as well! The position will then be full time during regular business hours after we open. A major initial task will be learning and assisting in setting up Ezyvet, the PMS. This will include learning the software forwards and backwards, setting up templates, and customizing workflows and the 1000's of things that have to happen before we open. If you've read this far, you're probably pretty interested in this position or just very nosy...(joking!!!). If you think you're the right fit for the PM, please send us a 1-2 page essay of why you think you're right for the position--and whatever else you want to add about your history or experience or why we should hire you with no experience. Font size, font choice, and overall formatting of the document itself will be evaluated as well--think of the formatting as a secondary indicator of your computer skills and consideration for professional presentation. This is your chance to tell us why we need to choose you! You can attach your CV or resume to the essay if you have one. If you submit a resume, please bold and underline your name, phone number, and address (just to see if you read down this far and can follow instructions.) Resume's submitted without the essay will be placed at the bottom of the pile. References appreciated.

We hope you're excited to submit your application as we are to find our PM! There will likely be many applications, so may the odds be ever in your favor!