During the recent ASCRS/ASOA conference, we were asked to raise our hands if we were currently experiencing a staffing shortage within our organization. I surveyed the room and quickly realized that my unraised hand was an anomaly. After speaking with many of my colleagues during the meeting, I came to the stark realization that we may be one of the few ophthalmology practices that is consistently fully staffed.

Cornea Associates of Texas (CAT) has been recognized by the Dallas Morning News for 9 consecutive years as a “DMN Top 100 Place to Work,” receiving the No. 1 Small Business (not just medical, across all industries) in Dallas-Fort Worth recognition. Our turnover, even during the pandemic, remained much lower than published industry averages. This is helping to manage our overhead costs and maintains healthy productivity and practice profitability.

At the conference, I was asked repeatedly, “What is your secret to staff retention?” CAT has several strategies in place to ensure we are caring for our team. We focus on the following three strategies, which work in concert with one another to build a solid, committed team.

Workforce planning

A strategic approach to workforce planning is crucial, particularly in a competitive job market. These strategies will help you have the right people in the right places at the right time.

Planning starts with a proactive analysis of your current and future staffing needs that will help to guide the rest of your workforce initiatives. I’ll illustrate this concept with examples from Cornea Associates of Texas.

Our practice is in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex, which has historically been a very competitive market for ophthalmic technicians. In addition, our practice is on a steady growth track, so we know we will have an ongoing need for ophthalmic technicians.

To help address future staffing needs, we developed guided career tracks for our team members. These employee development plans help us cultivate ophthalmic technicians from within our team, and we hire with the intent to offer a career track for all interested staff. Our career tracks contain specific, actionable items for team members to complete that will allow them to develop the skillset necessary to advance into this role. Examples of actionable items on our technician career track include:

• Current team lead endorsement
• Complete CPSS modules/pass CPSS exam through BSM Consulting
• Complete JCAHPO independent study course
• Complete cornea-specific training courses
• One year as triage assistant
• Lead tech mentoring/training sessions
• One year in triage

This not only provides us with an ongoing supply of trained, committed ophthalmic technicians, it also allows growth and development opportunities for our team.

In addition to the number of team members needed, another important aspect of workforce planning is to understand the specific needs and preferences of the talent you want to attract. Employee needs have changed dramatically over the past 2 years; therefore, it is critically important to keep pace with the market.

This is where flexibility comes into play, particularly in the design of our roles, responsibilities, and schedules. Today’s team members place greater priority on the time spent outside of the office. We need to respond to these changing preferences in order to care for our team and meet them where they are.

In our practice, 25-30% of our team is part-time (PRN, summer interns, etc), modified full-time, or full-time with some options to work remotely. Although this increases the complexity for our management team, allowing for flexible work schedules has provided a supplement to the team that works a more traditional Monday through Friday schedule. Flexibility transcends schedules and has also flowed into job responsibilities, changing roles to fit team members’ talents. If our team enjoys what they do and it fits into their lives, they will remain a long-term committed member of our team! Several of our summer interns have returned over the years to fill in when we have gaps in coverage.

Employee engagement

Once we have someone on our team, we work hard to keep them engaged. Engaged team members are more productive and get more out of the work experience. To encourage employee engagement, listen to and communicate with your team. These strategies lead to higher levels of engagement:

Feedback. One of our most effective ways to gather team feedback is through our annual “Start, Stop, Continue Meetings.” These are small group brainstorming sessions where members of our team meet directly with senior leadership. We recently completed our 2022 sessions, gathering more than 100 new ideas — some minor (add a new uniform color) and some genius (revisions to PTO that increased morale and changes to our scheduling templates that streamlined patient flow). These meetings are voluntary and held during lunch with free food offered. The majority of our team participates each year, and feedback is summarized and shared directly with our physician owners.

Transparency and openness. Whether or not we are able to implement a suggestion, we communicate this to our team. The team knows that we want their ideas and feedback and that we will listen, which results in staff who feel more engaged and want to stay with us long term.

Team comradery. Getting to know one another is a critical element of team development that leads to a more satisfied team. It is important staff know one another and understand the responsibilities of other team members. Our practice has developed a series of Lunch & Learn sessions aimed specifically at this task. Our CATExpert Series has 20 modules, developed by individual team members, which describe their specific role within our team. The session ends with a personal slide, highlighting their life outside the practice. Attendance at these sessions is voluntary, but they are tied to an internal certification and bonus.

Team rewards and recognition

It takes real effort for our teams to accomplish what we ask of them, so the same effort should be put into rewards and recognition. Perks we provide our team range from small (an annual Valentine’s Day candy bar) to big (holiday and quarterly bonuses, employee appreciation week). These perks make the team feel appreciated.

Beyond rewards, provide recognition for a job well done. We schedule quarterly awards during which we pull our team together from all three locations for a celebration of our practice accomplishments. Individual and team efforts and accomplishments are recognized publicly and proudly, including spotlights on social media.

Summary

With an increased focus and proactivity in these areas, you can create a workplace where your team thrives. When this happens, the natural result is enhanced patient care and increased job satisfaction for everyone within the practice. It’s worth it. So much of what we have in place for our team is based on genuine care for the people we employ. When we have their best interest at heart, the result is a practice culture and environment where your team and practice both thrive. OP