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Managing a Heavier Workload, Post-Layoffs: Surviving-and Even Thriving
A traditional promotion tends to happen in one of a couple of different ways:
- A workplace posts a job opening that lists a job title and its associated responsibilities, the skills needed, the pay and so forth; people apply and someone is awarded the job - and then celebrates the new opportunity while turning over the old responsibilities to whomever fills his or her previous position.
- Someone does such outstanding work that he or she is awarded a promotion without even needing to apply for a new position - and then he or she celebrates the new opportunity while turning over the old responsibilities to whomever fills his or her previous position.
In today's times, though, a different kind of promotion - labeled the "invisible" type by Fortune [i] - is often the norm: after an employee survives a bout of layoffs, responsibilities handled by those downsized are reassigned to him or her. This can lead to a significantly increased workload and added workplace stress, with affected employees often afraid to speak up about the situation, for fear of losing their own jobs. How can this situation be handled in a manageable way, perhaps even in a way that allows that employee to benefit from the challenging set of circumstances?
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Organizational Charts
All Practices have an organizational structure in place, though most of them are informal and not documented. Having a written, formal organizational chart can play a major role in the development of your staff and the successful growth of your Practice. It can serve as a blueprint for the development of the management team, a road map for hiring/developing employees, a tool to improve the access/flow of information and a process framework to increase productivity /operational efficiency. The organizational chart provides a visual method for communicating valuable information to all employees.
An organizational chart shows in a visual illustration the structure of an organization: the reporting relationships, levels of management and divisions of work by departments/ functions and positions/jobs - and how they interact with one another. It depicts the chain of command (decision-making process), distribution of authority (who has authority within departments) and span of control (how many people a manager supervises) It can be drawn hierarchical, matrix or horizontal (cross-functional).
An organizational chart is ideal for sharing the Practice's strategic vision, as well as defining responsibilities and dependencies in a concise manner as it is currently structured and respond to changing conditions and opportunities. The organizational charts should be linked back to spreadsheets for planning, budgeting and workforce modeling for the Practice. Workforce planning assists the Practice owner in determining the correct structure (is the organization aligned with business goals?), allocating resources accordingly (do we have the right number of people with the right skills, experiences and competencies?) and revision (assessing is this working and not working?).
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Mysteries of Fair Compensation
It would be so simple if practice owners could open a fortune cookie for each one of their employees and find the method by which to fairly compensate them. While there are commonly accepted methods of compensation, their implementation in veterinary practices varies because different entrepreneurs have different business goals. Also, "fairness" is a relative term that introduces variability into an equation that might otherwise be consistent from practice to practice. This article describes the factors that practice owners should consider when determining compensation for veterinarians and paraprofessional staff. Part I of this article discusses the use of financial benchmarks while Part II explores how motivational theory can inform compensation decisions.
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Please Welcome, Nicole DiNenno, VBA Extern
My name is Nicole DiNenno and I am a third year veterinary student at the University of Pennsylvania. I have been involved with the Veterinary Business Management Association (VBMA) for the duration of my vet school career. My career interests include small animal general practice and emergency medicine, and my ultimate goal is to own a small animal practice. I hope that my time with Veterinary Business Advisors will help me learn the tools necessary for promoting employee motivation and self-worth, building a strong client bond, and acquiring and owning a successful veterinary practice. In my free time, I enjoy hiking, rock climbing and skiing all along the east coast with my fiancé, Luke.
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