Dr. Mike Pownall, of Oculus Insights, presented at the AAEP 2018 Annual Convention in San Francisco on the use of Employee Engagement to improve practice culture, productivity, profitability and client loyalty.

1. Use of an Employee Engagement Survey
to Improve Business Culture, Productivity,
Profitability and Client Loyalty
Mike Pownall, DVM, MBA
Katie Ardeline, CHRL

2. Funding Sources – None
Financial Interests – None
Conflict of Interest - None

4. 2016 McKee-Pownall Results
• 77% Engagement
• Vet dissatisfaction
•73% vs 80%
• Communication
• Workload
• Job Satisfaction

5. Toxic Work Culture

6. “Clients do not come first.
Employees come first.
If you take care of your
employees, they will take
care of the clients”
Sir Richard Branson

7. What is “Employee Engagement?”
• “Engaged employees are in the game for the sake of the
game; they believe in the cause of the organization.” –Paul
Marciano, PhD
• “Employee engagement is the emotional commitment the
employee has to the organization and its goals.” –Kevin
Kruse

8. What is “Employee Engagement?”
• “There are only three measurements that tell you
nearly everything you need to know about your
organization’s overall performance: employee
engagement, customer satisfaction, and cash flow.” –
Jack Welch

9. Unhappy Staff = Expensive Staff

10. Employee Turnover
# employees left during year
Average # employees

11. Calculating Employee Turnover
3 (employees left)/9 (average) x 100
33%

12. Cost of Employee Turnover
50-75% of salary for junior/support staff
Up to 150% for senior/professional staff

13. Cost of Employee Turnover
$30,000 Salary ($15/hr)
= $15 - $22,000 per person per year
3 Employees Leave = $45,000 - $67,500
http://www.zanebenefits.com/blog/bid/312123/Employee-Retention-The-Real-Cost-of-Losing-an-Emplo

14. Profit Growth Benefits
Disengaged Employees = 0-1%
Highly Engaged = 10-15%
https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/measuring-the-benefits-of-employee-engagement/

15. Still Not Convinced?
• Engaged employees are 87% less likely to quit their
jobs
https://www.themuse.com/advice/10-shocking-stats-about-employee-engagement
• Engagement has a marked effect on both absenteeism
and retention
https://www.marketforce.com/blog/engaged-employees-key-thriving-brand

16. • Organizations in the top quartile for engagement saw
a 4% increase in sales growth compared to an average
company.
http://www.aon.com/attachments/human-capital-consulting/2014-trends-in-global-employee-
engagement-report.pdf
• Organizations in the top quartile in employee
engagement outperformed bottom-quartile units by
10% on customer ratings.
https://www.gallup.com/workplace/236927/employee-engagement-drives-growth.aspx

18. “Measuring the health of the relationship between the
organization and its employees.”
•Give employees a voice
•What do we do well?
•Where can we improve?
•Help us plan for the future
•Measure your efforts
Diagnostic Tool – Employee Engagement Survey

19. •34 Questions on a scale of 1-5
•5 Sections
•Anonymous other than job role
•Area for comments after each
question

20. Scoring Employee Engagement
20 - 39% = Poor
40 - 59% = Good but needs attention
60 - 79% = Overall good but not “High”
80 - 100% = High Employee Engagement

21. Career Development
• Opportunities for growth
• Company commitment to internal and external
training
“I am satisfied with the amount of time and money the
company invests in my Continuing Education”

22. Work Engagement
• How inspired, supported and excited employees are
• Sense of ownership in the company
• Teamwork, peer support, willingness to take on new
challenges, workload
“I feel that the number and complexity of tasks and the
general workload at the company are manageable.”

23. Compensation and Benefits
• Sense of fairness around compensation – within the
company and compared to local competitors
• Fairness of compensation administration
• Benefits and work-life balance
“I am confident that the method used to determine my
wage or salary increases on a yearly basis is fair.”

24. Relationship Management
• Communication, Relationships and Recognition
• “Communication between management and
employees is excellent here.”
• “Management recognizes strong job performance.”
• “Senior management and employees trust and respect
each other.”

25. Work Environment
• Culture and core values awareness
“I feel like the management and staff of the practice
adhere to the Core Values.”
“I understand how my work impacts the business goals
of the practice.”

26. 2017 Global Employee Engagement Results
Country Percentage % Change 2016-2017
Japan 38% + 2%
France 38% + 6%
Germany 54% - 2%
Netherlands 57% + 7%
UK 56% - 3%
USA 64% --
Global Average 65% + 2%
China 68% + 2%
Canada 69% - 1%
http://images.transcontinentalmedia.com/LAF/lacom/Aon_2018_Trends_In_Global_Employee_Engage
ment.pdf

27. Oculus Survey Averages to Date
Overall Veterinarians Administrative/
Office Staff
Vet
Technician/Vet
Assistants
Global 74.7% 75.4% 73.7% 74.9%
EU 71.6% 72.0% 73.2% 69.7%
North America 76.0% 76.3% 75.4% 74.9%

28. Oculus Survey Feedback Trends
 Management - employee communication
 Salary Amounts/Transparency of Increases/Reviews
 Vets tend to score a bit higher overall, non-DVM lower
 High sense of ownership overall
 High amount of collegiality between staff
What conclusions can we make from this data?
Are the results positive, or negative overall?

30. Culture
Hiring
Training
Communication
Performance
Management
Measuring
Compensation

31. Company Culture

32. What is Culture?
Beliefs, values and actions of the collective
work force
It is often not defined, rather it is implied
“It’s how we do things here”

33. Oculus Survey Results - Culture
“I am happy with the overall Culture of the company”
73%
• “there are lots of double standards”
• “Culture??”
• “Greatly appreciate we are not cut throat towards each
other and can trust and rely on each other”
• “There is definitely room for improvement but the overall
culture is improving”

35. Hire the Smile
Train the Skill

36. Employee Training

37. Oculus Survey Results - Training
“I am satisfied with the internal job-related training the
company offers.” 71%
• “No internal training for management/leadership.”
• “our practice thrives on the ‘figure it out’ method and
we attract great independent people because of that
but we could create better teamwork and maybe keep
some people who are great employees too but just
have a different skill set if we had time to train.”

38. • “The message of experience of the partners is
especially valuable.”
• “Guidance and assistance are often absent after your
first day.”
• “It's usually sink or swim because we are too busy to
slow down and train or we need the bodies else
where because we are short handed. We hold many
CE events here, but none for our own personnel.”

39. Communication

40. Oculus Survey Results - Communication
“Communication between management and employees
is excellent here” – 62%
• “I can not agree because often decisions concerning
my job are not communicated openly and directly.”
• “Communication is something we all strive to do
effectively. We are still working on finding the balance
- sometimes we over communicate and sometimes we
under communicate.”

41. • “Communication is sparse and often piecemeal.
Things are discussed among some, but not all. Then
assumptions get made and everyone is not on the
same page.”
• “Sorry, but it's horrible. We contact mgmt, and
frequently don't hear back. Not everyone in the group
is included in group emails, a couple people may know
about a change being made, but not anyone else it
affects, etc.”
• “Generally good. Where it breaks down are the
personalities that would rather whisper than talk.”

43. Performance Management Components
• Yearly Review
• Self Review and Self Reflection
• Peer Feedback
• Clear Expectations and Scoring
• Clear and concise goals
• Regular Check-in Meetings
• Performance notes throughout the year

44. Goal Setting

45. Oculus Survey Results - Goals
“I am inspired to meet my goals at work.” – 85%
“I feel like I have the all the support I need to meet my
goals at work.” – 74%
• “Due to the high caliber of work colleagues we have in
this practice there is constant motivation to maintain
a level of excellence consistent with what others
provide.”
• “We have received extensive training and support on
how to choose and meet goals. I feel more successful
when I am able to meet my goals.”

46. • “We are never asked about goals/interests.”
• “I had aspirational career goals when I first started but
have not received much support, so I gave up. I am
under-challenged.”
• “There is never time or priority to talk to clinic
management about goals. I don’t feel supported in
my career development”

47. Compensation

48. Oculus Survey Results - Compensation
“I am confident that the method used to determine my
wage or salary increases on a yearly basis is fair. ” -
66%
• “I do feel that the review process is very fair and I
enjoy the process and its encouragement for growth.”
• “What yearly salary increase?”
• “In my opinion, there is no method by which my
annual payment is calculated.”

49. Oculus Survey Results - Compensation
• “I feel that I am compensated appropriately overall
(including wage/salary and bonus, if applicable).”
63%
• “I have not received a raise in over 9 years. No cost of
living increase, nothing! I was turned down when
asking for a raise based on incorrect information on
their end. New hires are making very close to what I
make now, with a lower and lower skill level.”

50. McKee-Pownall 2016 Results continued

52. Results
• Vets laugh in June!!
• 13% increase in revenue
20% less capacity yet 13% increase in revenue

53. 2017 McKee-Pownall Results
• 79.6% +3%
• Vets 76% vs 81.5%
• Support staff consistency
• Support staff compensation
• Communication between management and others

54. McKee-Pownall Results History
2016 2017 2018 Change
All Staff 77.4% 79.5% 82.7% 5.3%
Vets 72.9% 76.2% 81.1% 8.2%
Support Staff 81.6% 82.7% 83.4% 1.8%
• Vet work-life balance
• Support staff consistency
• Support staff compensation adjustment
• Communication between management and staff

55. Highly Engaged Employees are the key to
practice growth, improved profitability and
professional satisfaction

57. Next Steps for Employee Engagement
• Reduce vet attrition rate
• Improved patient and client outcomes
• Better practice culture
• Increased productivity
• Increased profitability.

58. Thank You
mike@mpequine.com