Whether you like it or not, everyone that is presently working for you will be leaving. Maybe not if they become a partner, but otherwise they will all leave.
When someone leaves, they need to be replaced and with that comes orientation, training, introduction to your systems and procedures and to your culture. One way to reduce the burdens of onboarding a new staff person is to have good systems in place. I mean really good systems. The better the systems, the easier it is to bring a new person in and get them productive as quickly as possible.
Think in terms of a Subway or McDonald's restaurant. Wherever you go in the world you will get your favorite sandwich from one of them exactly the same as from your local shop. They all have nice people working for them, but it is the system that runs the business, not the people. You need to think along those lines.
Without a strong system, then each time you hire a new person you will literally need to start from the beginning with your instructions and training. Further, without a good system, then it can only be a more experienced higher-level person who could do the training. With a proper system, many times the immediately higher-level person could do the initial training.
I know that every practice has a system. Some have great systems and some have systems that stink. Some were set up with a purpose and some just evolved with Scotch tape and Band-Aids. If you have trouble onboarding new staff, or if you miss a few beats when someone leaves, you need to examine your systems and make them better so there will not be any steps backward or serious disruptions when someone leaves.
Make sure you have a system that will keep your business running. Do not base your future on the people who will all eventually leave. Base it on your system.
There are always exceptions. Also, in many situations there are staff who are happy in their positions and prefer to remain doing what they are doing, and who would prefer to spend their entire career with you, and you are fine with that. That is OK, and there is nothing wrong with this. The good part of this is the stability of your staff. The downside is there likely would not be much growth in them or your practice. Again, if this is what you want, then this is OK and there is nothing wrong with that, and this column will not pertain too much to you. However, you should still work on a system that will last longer than your staff.
Do not hesitate to contact me at
