To establish a successful physical therapy practice, it is essential that you attract, hire and retain top talent. When you find the right therapist, you do not want to lose them. You most certainly understand that high therapist turnover can kill your practice. To retain top physical therapists, you must be an employer where people want to work. Here are six ways to retain physical therapy employees.

Six Tips For Improving Retention in PT Employees

Create a Plan

When you have the best employees, it is time to create a plan to keep them. Physical therapists appreciate opportunities for development, regular feedback, clear policies and procedures, and a solid onboarding process. Document your plan and review it annually.

Brand Reputation and Culture

All physical therapists desire to work for organizations with good reputations and positive reviews. The first step is to ensure that your current staff is happy. If your therapists are happy, encourage them to review your company on social media and job sites. Positive talk will help to create a favorable brand reputation for your practice. Work environments are crucial to employee retention. Culture is critical for new therapists who are primarily millennials. This generation seeks a caring culture and often values culture more than compensation. Maintain a culture that employees enjoy coming to daily.

Compensation and Benefits

Salary is crucial. If your practice is small and cannot compete with larger practices, consider giving a one-time sign-on bonus. You can improve the deal by offering more paid time off or flex time to attract new employees. Remember that benefits are a critical factor in retention, so added benefits will help keep your employees loyal. Sometimes money cannot compete with these intangibles.

Specialty Services

Therapists are looking for specialties to practice. Although your practice might offer ortho-balance, pelvic, TMJ and nutrition/fitness, it is wise to add additional specialties to set your practice apart from the rest. Specialties will attract new hires and increase your patient base. Additionally, unique specialty services allow your physical therapists to advance their skills and experience.

Collaborative Staffing

Instead of a schedule of assigned shifts, consider using a collaborative staffing model. This type of staffing allows your therapists to work with your managers to fill in the shifts with a crowdsourcing model. Also, it gives your employees control over their work-life balance and helps you keep them.

Recognition

Although salary and benefits will get physical therapists in the door, it is the workplace experience that will keep them. To help them feel appreciated, consider awards, official recognition programs, and bonuses. Recognition, a strong brand, good recruitment, and a positive working environment will help you attract and retain the best physical therapy talent.

Need Help Finding Great New PT Employees? myPTsolutions Can Help!

myPTsolutions offers placement solutions such as direct hire, temp to perm, and contract/travel employees for your unique staffing requirements.