Everyone seems to always need technicians. What are the reasons technicians come and go or we can’t seem to find the right fit for our practices? It is a difficult question to answer at times, but should you hire someone who is already certified, train someone you already have, or go out on a limb and hire someone completely new and uncertified? None of those are bad options, but there’s one major key in hiring and keeping a good technician: proper training.

 

Today’s guest is Dr. Kate Harnish and just like previous guests, she is a real doctor in real practice implementing the strategies she shares with us today. Kate owns a practice in Pennsylvania with a team similar to many. She serves on the board of the Pennsylvania Veterinary Medical Association. She received her CVMP in 2019 and was awarded the VHMA emerging leader scholarship in 2020.

 

Listen on to find out how Kate has been successful in finding, investing in, and keeping great technicians for her team.

 

Show Notes:

[2:26] - Regarding finding a technician with the right skills, Kate finds the best through hiring students and investing time and resources into training them.

[3:30] - Debbie agrees and shares that she has also had a good experience with doing the same thing.

[4:57] - The biggest difference that Kate has seen is that hiring students or recent graduates in the field are career-minded and driven.

[6:06] - Wherever there are value-added services, technicians play a critical role. Kate lists several of the services that they can shine and help grow your practice.

[7:27] - It takes a commitment of time and money to go through a technician program and take exams. Doctors need to properly train and utilize their skills.

[8:03] - One of the biggest reasons for a technician leaving practice or the profession is that they are underutilized. Kate advises delegating properly.

[8:39] - Kate gives the four things that she makes sure her technicians are trained in and what she delegates to them. Listen, assist, collect, and monitor are the four steps for technicians. She describes each one of these in detail.

[10:30] - Kate doesn’t consider a technician fully trained until it has been a full 12-18 months and that does not include the time with them as a student.

[10:59] - If you put the time in and repeat yourself kindly and patiently, you will have a great technician in a year.

[12:04] - In the early days of a newly hired technician there is an acclimation period that could last a long time.

[12:38] - Kate shares the story of a technician she hired from being a student in the beginning is now an associate. If you take the time to train, you may be guiding someone in their best direction.

[14:27] - One big problem is technician pay. Many leave the job because it doesn’t pay enough.

[15:07] - There is proof that shows that the well-paid technicians bring a lot more to the practice. 

[17:02] - Debbie shares how she discusses raising pay and how technicians can help themselves by being open to new approaches with clients.

[18:40] - There are three ways Kate likes to reward technicians after she has paid them as much as she can afford. They are food, social events, and special items with their name on them.

[19:20] - Keep technicians satisfied, well-paid, and utilized and they will stick around.

[21:25] - If you are taking on students, you know you are hiring someone who is in for the long haul. If you are hiring someone who doesn’t have past experience or isn’t a student, you still need to invest time and resources into them and push them towards certification.

[23:18] - Even as frugal as most practices are, Kate and Debbie advise to invest in technicians and proper training because you will see the return.

Thank you for listening. Remember you are not in this alone. Visit our website for more resources.

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