How to Keep Your Best Employees and Make Your Veterinary Practice a Place Where People Want to Stay
Guest Blog By Stacy Pursell, CPC/CERS of The VET Recruiter
In today’s Veterinary profession, attracting top talent is only half the battle. The real challenge is keeping your best employees once they join your team. With demand for Veterinary professionals at record highs and turnover rates climbing, retention has become just as critical as recruitment.
A revolving door of employees drains resources, disrupts client relationships, and impacts patient care. But the good news is that Veterinary practices can take deliberate steps to build loyalty and create a workplace where people truly want to stay.
#1—Create a Culture of Respect and Appreciation
Retention starts with culture. People want to feel valued for their contributions, and recognition is one of the most powerful motivators. Too often, Veterinary staff feel like their efforts go unnoticed amidst the daily chaos of appointments, emergencies, and client demands.
Simple gestures—like expressing thanks after a tough case, acknowledging milestones, or celebrating small wins—go a long way. Regularly spotlighting contributions during team meetings or through internal newsletters can help everyone see that their work matters.
Respect is just as important. Employees want to know their opinions count. Involve team members in discussions about workflows, new equipment, or policy changes. When staff feel heard and respected, they are far more likely to stay engaged and loyal.
#2—Provide Opportunities for Growth and Development
One of the biggest reasons employees leave a practice is the feeling that they’ve hit a dead end. Veterinary professionals are passionate learners, and they want to expand their skills. Offering continuing education allowances, mentorship programs, or cross-training opportunities demonstrates that you’re invested in their future.
Encourage doctors and technicians to attend conferences, take advanced courses, or explore new areas of interest. Support staff can also benefit from leadership training or certifications that enhance their roles. Veterinary practices that provide clear career paths and growth opportunities become places where ambitious people want to stay.
#3—Offer Competitive Compensation and Benefits
While culture and growth matter deeply, compensation is still a fundamental factor in retention. If your pay and benefits don’t keep pace with the market, your best people will eventually look elsewhere.
Benchmark salaries against other practices in your region and don’t underestimate the value of benefits beyond base pay. Health insurance, retirement contributions, paid time off, and student loan assistance can all make a difference. Increasingly, schedule flexibility is one of the most attractive perks, helping employees manage work-life balance in a demanding profession.
The most successful practices view compensation as an investment in stability, not just an expense. Losing a skilled employee often costs more—in lost productivity, rehiring, and retraining—than investing in competitive pay to keep them.
#4—Cultivate Work-Life Balance
Veterinary medicine is rewarding, but it can also be emotionally and physically draining. Burnout is a leading cause of turnover in the field. Practices that recognize this and prioritize employee well-being are the ones that hold onto their talent.
Encourage reasonable scheduling and avoid consistently overloading employees with long shifts or double bookings. Provide adequate breaks, mental health support resources, and a culture where asking for help is not seen as weakness.
Small adjustments, like rotating weekend duties fairly or allowing flexible scheduling, can have an outsized impact on employee satisfaction. When staff know their practice values their well-being, they are far more inclined to stay.
#5—Build Strong Leadership
Employees often leave managers, not jobs. Leadership style can make or break retention. Effective leaders communicate openly, set clear expectations, and provide consistent feedback. They also model the values and behavior they want to see in their teams.
Investing in leadership development for practice owners, managers, and senior veterinarians pays dividends. Leaders who are empathetic, approachable, and fair create an environment where employees feel supported. On the other hand, poor leadership quickly drives away even the most committed staff.
#6—Strengthen Team Cohesion
People don’t just work for a paycheck; they work for each other. A strong sense of camaraderie can transform a practice into an environment where employees don’t want to leave. Encourage team-building activities, whether it’s celebrating birthdays, volunteering together, or holding occasional outings.
Inside the clinic, emphasize collaboration over competition. Make sure workloads are distributed fairly and that team members help each other out. Practices where people genuinely like and trust their coworkers are more difficult to walk away from.
#7—Communicate with Transparency
One of the most common frustrations in any workplace is lack of communication. Veterinary practices are no exception. Employees want to understand the “why” behind decisions, not just the “what.”
Hold regular staff meetings to share updates, set goals, and listen to concerns. Be transparent about challenges the practice faces, as well as opportunities for growth. Open communication builds trust, and trust is the foundation of retention.
#8—Recognize and Support Individual Goals
Every employee has different motivations and personal goals. Some may want to develop leadership skills, while others seek stability and predictable hours. Some may be driven by opportunities to specialize, while others value a family-like work environment above all else.
Good leaders take time to understand what each team member values most and tailor support accordingly. A one-size-fits-all approach rarely works. Showing genuine interest in employees’ individual goals makes them feel seen—and makes them more likely to stay loyal to your practice.
Retention is About Daily Choices
Keeping your best employees requires ongoing effort, but the payoff is enormous. Retention isn’t about one grand gesture. It is about the daily choices that show your employees they matter, both as professionals and as people.
In a competitive market, practices that invest in their teams will always stand out. Your employees are your most valuable asset, and making your practice a place where they want to stay is one of the smartest business decisions you can make.
If your practice is looking for ways to improve retention and strengthen your recruiting and hiring strategy, The VET Recruiter can help. Contact us today to learn how we partner with Veterinary practices to attract, engage, and retain the talent they need to thrive.