What’s the actual cost of turnover? The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) reported that the average cost for a company is 6 to 9 months of an employee’s salary to replace them. An employee making $60k per year is around $30-$45k to replace them, including recruiting and training costs. If you consider the turnover expense of $30k to $45k, that is close to the salary for a person in a dental office. Before you look to hire another person, you should evaluate why you’re practice experiences turnover in the first place. Until you can identify the cause, you certainly don’t want to continue the turnover cycle.
Teambuilidng.com reports the top reasons for turnover in 2022 are:
- Lack of growth and progression
- No innovation
- Inefficient management
- Inadequate compensation
- Diversity deficiencies
- Absence of camaraderie
- Feeling overworked
And the list goes on. If you’re in a leadership role and admittedly not a leader, hire or promote someone who is. Unless you’re willing to do whatever you need to do to lead in a positive manner. In many of the dental forums, we’re reading about how burnt out and feeling overworked have people leaving and wanting to leave the dental industry. Deloitte reports that 77% of respondents experienced burnout, and 42% of people have left a position because of burnout.
Consider how your team feels; each individual handles stress and burnout differently. If you feel you’re at risk of losing team members because of burnout and feelings of being overworked and stressed, consider outsourcing some of the business office tasks until you can properly staff. This will also allow the team in the office to focus on the patients and make them feel important and valued. The cost of showing appreciation and putting some perks in place to help your team rest and recharge will be far less than the cost of repeated turnover.
