Mentoring Is The 'Miracle Grow' For Your Business
15 years ago
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Posted
21st October, 2009 00h00
In my first "proper” blog from the bottom of the earth (no that isn’t meant to be offensive to my Australian colleagues). In fact, from what I've seen in my short time here so far, there is much us “Poms” can learn from the Aussie approach. But that’s for another day.
I’ve begun a new role with a new set of challenges. A practice with a small but very enthusiastic team, eager to deliver. The practice isn’t big and flash - in fact I'd call it a rough diamond. To the untrained eye, it would be easy to dismiss as another two-man band, which isn’t going places.
But if you thought that, you'd be making a mistake, for beneath the unpolished surface, is a practice of huge potential.
The equipment is surprisingly good. The ultrasound machine, for example, is better than those I've seen in top tier Royal College of Vet Surgeons (RCVS) accredited UK hospitals. And how many two man practices do you know that have both a video endoscope and a rigid otoscope? No, I don’t know any others either.
The location is great. A leafy, well-to-do suburb of Sydney called Double Bay. If I've learned one thing recently, it's that if you get your service level and fees right, then location is probably more important than parking. Double bay is one of those locations (like the wealthy London suburbs of Hampstead or Blackheath) people fight over to operate in.
But good as these two factors are, they aren't what really excite me about working in this practice. No, the best bit is the potential of the team. A youthful and gloriously enthusiastic group of vets, nurses and owners. And a really refreshing lack of damp-spirits, gripes or moans. This is a group that is eager to learn, move forward and do the very best for the clients of this area.
So teach, mentor and coach I will. And you just watch. With the right influence and leadership - the skills, location, enthusiasm and equipment will come together in this team and drive the practice forward. So that’s the theme of today’s blog. Mentoring and the benefits it can bring to all of our practices.
Reasons to Mentor
1. The Gift That Money Can’t Buy
You might think that what your staff really wants is more money. But you’d be wrong. Sure they wouldn’t say no, but what young vets and nurses want is to get better at their jobs, and to be recognised for the work they do.
So mentoring is the training that money can’t buy. What do I mean? Well you can pay A LOT of money for external courses (remember it’s the course fees and the additional fees paid to cover that individual’s shifts, plus the lost revenues as regulars won’t come in to see the other vet or locum).
When you bring it in house you save these cost. But, more importantly when you involve your team in personal one to one training, it send a very strong signal that you are interested in and care about their development. That’s a massively motivating and powerful message. Wouldn’t you rather have a happy motivated team?
2. You’re Running Out of Time
No matter how good you are, you only ever have 24 hrs in one day. So you will always be limited by time constraints. However, if you are willing to live with a short-term loss in your personal productivity, then pull back from the front line and training your staff. Only then can exciting things start to happen. Train your team and watch their skills and productivity increase. The numbers stack up well; consider the following example.
You employ two vets both delivering annual revenue of $300,000 (I’m in Oz now so I’ll use the local currency). You on the other hand are generating significantly more, say $500,000. Total practice turnover of $1,100,000.
Now let’s say you step back a little from clinical duties to train your team in a new clinical technique each week, or better still some selling skills in the consult room. Perhaps you might make time for some of the formal pricelist training you always meant to do?
The net effect is that although your personal turnover drops by 10% to $450,000. If you get the training right, the combined impact of the new skills and motivation your team has developed could easily bring in 20% more per vet. That’s $120,000 dollars total. The overall effect is that without spending a penny on capital equipment, you have earned a net of $70,000 per annum.
Not bad eh? And these figures are absolutely not made up. They are perfectly achievable, plus if you have more vets then the benefits keep stacking up.
3. Don’t Be the Hamster!
In our ever more competitive marketplace medical service levels and client expectations are being driven ever upwards. A good example is the use of MRI. Just five years ago this was still a largely unused technology for vets. Now there are several hospitals worldwide equipped with MRI units.
Such competition demands that your, once safe/easy to run, veterinary business is now at threat unless you begin to manage it. ‘But how do I do that?', I hear you ask. "I’m already working all the hours god sends, I feel like a hamster on a wheel." Exactly my point. You can’t do it as long as you are completely engaged working IN your business.
That’s where coaching and mentoring comes in.
Train your team with new skills, and then delegate your old ‘working in’ roles. Do this effectively and you’ll have a team thriving on the challenge of their new responsibilities. While you have time to sit down (away from the practice) and plan your strategy. Working ON your business is a change, it’s fun and reinvigorates you helping keep you enthusiastic.
4. Everybody Wins
If things go well then it is natural that the team will want to share of the spoils. That, in my book, is fair and to be expected. By looking after your team’s development and working on the business rather than in it, you will be working effectively to build the value of your practice. This hopefully means you will also be generating more profit. More profit = more money for, among other things, rewards to keep your team happy. (It also means a better eventual sale price)
This, in my opinion, is the correct way to run a business. Build your team's skill to make more cash - then reward them. Rather than leave the business stagnating and the team to wither. And that just plays into the hands of those that want to add more bureaucracy to our already red tape tangled small businesses.
5. Succession Planning
Unless you are super human, you won’t be able to keep going at the pace you first began. At some point you will want to sell your business and that is likely to be to a large corporate group (a move many vets view as selling out). Or you will need a succession plan; the more traditional route of grooming a talented individual from within your business to one day take over the reigns as you slip off into the nirvana of a golfing/surfing/horse-riding retirement.
Dave’s Tuppence-worth
The old adage of ‘you reap what you sow’ is absolutely true. Whatever stage in your ownership career you are at, it’s never too late to start taking an interest in the development of your team. The more you put into it, the more it will benefit everyone in the end. If you want any tips or advice on training your team then feel free to
contact me.
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