The Benefits of Upskilling to Promote a Practice Manager from Within

Posted by Laura Amendola on October 8, 2024

Gallup cites career advancement as the second highest reason employees leave their jobs. However, promoting from within your veterinary care team can boost morale and increase employee retention. This article will dive deeper into how the practice manager role can benefit your employees and your practice.

Jump ahead to:
What does a practice manager do?
How upskilling benefits your practice
Employee retention advantages
Boosting employee engagement
How to implement upskilling programs
FAQs on upskilling staff to become practice managers (interview with Megan Chadwick, CVT)

What does a practice manager do?

A vet practice manager is responsible for a variety of tasks, including:

Administration
Financial management
Personnel management
Client relations
Compliance and risk management
Strategic planning
Technology management.

A good practice manager should have strong leadership and effective communication skills. They should also be organized and work well with the other employees within the practice.

A strong practice manager can impact employee engagement and retention. The overall success of your practice can be tied to how good your practice manager is, so ensuring the candidate you choose has the skills necessary to get the job done right is essential. By upskilling your current staff, you’re ensuring your practice manager hire has the skills they need and also knows what your specific office needs due to experience working in this environment.

How upskilling benefits your practice

There are many benefits to upskilling the staff at your practice. Your operational efficiency can improve thanks to streamlined processes and better resource management. You can also save costs by reducing the need to hire externally for roles your existing staff can take on. The adaptability and innovation of your practice can increase as well. When the opportunity to move up is provided, it encourages your employees to continuously improve in their work, thus making the practice continuously improve. This also can make implementing changes easier.

These aren’t the only benefits. Employee retention and engagement can increase when you upskill and promote from within, which in turn can boost morale and create a positive work environment.

Employee retention advantages

Providing clear pathways to your team member for advancement, such as upskilling opportunities, continuing education, and certification assistance, may help your employees feel more valued and incentivized to stay. A veterinary practice manager certification is a great example of something you can make accessible to your employees to promote from within.

When employees are given the opportunity to not only gain skills but use those skills in new roles, they are more likely to remain loyal to their employer and are committed to working to the best of their ability. You could see reduced turnover as a result of these efforts due to creating a valued, positive work environment.

Boosting employee engagement

When you invest in your employees, your employees may be more willing to invest their time and energy into your practice. A sense of ownership and responsibility may overcome them when you’ve put the effort into retaining them and utilizing all their skills. You may see motivation and productivity increase as a result of upskilling your employees as well, and you can continue to encourage continuous learning.

When you prepare and hire a practice manager from within, that employee can lead by example. They’ll be able to effectively communicate and collaborate with your other employees because they have experience working with them already. Your other employees may strive for similar goals and work harder after seeing the success your new practice manager has achieved.

How to implement upskilling programs

When implementing upskilling programs, you should have criteria for selecting employees with leadership potential. Certification or work experience hours can be taken into consideration when looking to hire for a new role, but when launching upskilling programs to your employees, the criteria should be fair to avoid favoritism.

The upskilling programs themselves can look how you want them to look. Partnering with a trusted, accredited career training program can make this process simple. You can also utilize mentorship programs and coaching opportunities with those who have already been through the upskilling program and newer employees so everyone has the same opportunities.

An important step when implementing upskilling initiatives is to track the success of the program. How is employee performance as they move through the program? Has the practice itself improved? Does anything need to be adjusted? Is it easy for your staff to supply feedback as they move through this employee development? These are all things to plan for and take into consideration when implementing upskilling programs.

FAQs on upskilling staff to become practice managers

We spoke with Penn Foster Veterinary Academy Director Megan Chadwick, CVT about some frequently asked questions when it comes to upskilling.

1. What does it mean to upskill staff to become practice managers?

Megan explains, “Upskilling is the practice of an employer investing in their employee and a way to provide them with additional education and training to assist them to move into a practice management role. It’s the practice’s way of saying, we see, believe, and care about you.”

2. How can upskilling staff to be practice managers benefit the overall practice?

Megan gives some insight on this: “Upskilling and then placing that person in a management position can reduce the learning curve that would be there with bringing in someone completely new. It’s likely that the employee in their previous role has developed familiarity with the practice, like its workflow, dynamics, and may have observed some areas of improvement from the perspective of their last position. You would save time and resources on onboarding as well. It’s also likely that clients are already familiar with this person and have an established relationship which may help with client satisfaction.”

3. Why is upskilling important for employee retention?

“Knowing that a company has upskilling opportunities can help attract talent that desires career advancement and growth,” Megan says. “It’s mutually beneficial. The employee is likely to stay longer knowing that there is potential for that advancement. It can also help current employees see a path to advance their career that maybe they hadn’t previously considered, which can lead to greater job satisfaction. Investing in your employees also shows that the practice cares about the employee and their future.”

4. How does upskilling staff to be practice managers boost employee engagement?

Megan shares, “Investing in your employees shows that the practice cares about the employee and their future.” Feeling valued can undoubtedly improve engagement in your employees.

5. What are the financial implications of upskilling staff to become practice managers?

Megan lays this out for us. “Upskilling can save time and resources onboarding someone new to the practice, as well as potentially reduce turnover costs.”

Learn more about how to upskill your employees

If you’re looking to promote an employee to practice manager but feel they need some professional development before they’re ready, consider partnering with Penn Foster and enrolling your staff member in the Veterinary Practice Manager Undergraduate Certificate Program. The long-term benefits of upskilling your current staff are plentiful. To learn more, reach out to our training experts and get on your way to promoting a new practice manager!