The Official VisionWeb Blog

Uncertainty is tough on a practice owner. On top of taking swift action to preserve the financial life of your practice, optometrists need to boost the morale of their staff and work hard to retain existing patients. However, ODs don't have to navigate these challenges alone.

Actionable advice and stories from ODs with experience handling practice closures, lease changes, pandemics, abrupt change, and demotivated staff are invaluable to make your practice adaptable for any obstacle.

We include communication plans, staff management techniques, interviews with ODs, and possible growth opportunities in this new resource.

Especially for small businesses that don't have a human resources manager, it can become the office manager's responsibility to hire new employees, support the existing team, and mediate conflicts. 

We asked VisionWeb's Human Resources Manager, Erin Koop, to offer advice to optometrists and managers to make the hiring process go smoothly. Here's what she had to say:

Having the right people in place is the foundation of any business. You want to make sure you hire people that have the right skills (or at least the aptitude to learn the skills needed) and most importantly, the right personality for your team. Making a bad hire is a costly misstep. You not only have to pay for the job postings or recruiting fees, it also means you or someone in your practice is having to work even more to make up for the open position. Bad hires can also create morale issues for the rest of your employees, and that can have a lasting negative impact.

Two things happen when you have a sloppy, ill-prepared interview process: you either miss out on all-star talent, or you end up hiring the wrong candidates (which you later regret). It’s vital that you put some time and effort into prepping for interviews because, let’s be honest, your staff can make or break your optical practice.

We've spent a lot of time lately talking about how to hire the right employee, what to look for, and interview questions to ask. But, how do you keep a great employee from leaving?

With the convenience of websites like Monster and Indeed and salary transparency of Glassdoor, people are switching jobs and careers more often. Hubspot put out an article explaining why many employees quit and what you can do to prevent it. We thought this would be valuable information to share with eyecare practices as we know it can be hard to find and hang on to your best employees.

Staff management comes up time and time again as one of the biggest obstacles facing many eyecare practices. Whether you're having trouble with high turnover, can't seem to get your team motivated, or have a hard time throughout the hiring process, staff issues can prevent you from focusing on the rest of your practice and patient care.

Today, we want to provide you with the right resource to help your optical practice overcome its biggest staff management challenges. Let us know what your biggest staff challenge is in the comments below.