Beyond the paycheck: 5 factors to boost employee engagement
Story and photo by Christine Won
To build a human-first veterinary practice, speakers at the 2025 AVMA Veterinary Business and Economic Forum, held October 8-9 in Denver, outlined actionable items.
During a panel discussion, Dr. Wendy Hauser, founder of Peak Veterinary Consulting in Parker, Colorado, discussed five factors that drive employee engagement:
- Purpose: A focused mission statement that helps guide the daily actions of employees and aligns with their interests and values so "they can work from the heart."
- Professional development: Identify and provide developmental opportunities, and incentivize employees to grow their skills.
- Caring manager: This is the most important factor that accounts for 70% of variance in employee engagement, according to Dr. Hauser, who said employees want someone who is invested in them and helps them grow.
- Ongoing conversations: Frequent conversations that are "meaningful" and tailored to the individual.
- Focus on strengths: Dr. Hauser said it is not a "cookie-cutter" approach, echoing another forum keynote on treating employees differently based on their motivational drivers to boost engagement.
A strong culture is a business fundamental that boosts employee engagement and retention, said Dr. Michele Drake, founder of The Drake Center for Veterinary Care. She led a workshop on how to build a strong practice "where people actually want to work."
"If you want to have a strong business, you must work on your culture," Dr. Drake said. "You decide what your culture is, or someone else is going to define it for you."
She defined culture in action as:
- How you greet each other in the morning
- How you interact with clients
- How you interact with each other
- How you deal with stressful situations
- How you hire, train, and fire employees
- How you deal with mistakes
When she opened her first hospital two years out of veterinary school at age 27 with 3.5 employees, Dr. Drake said it was as much to provide excellent veterinary care and client service, as it was to build a good workplace for employees.
The Drake Center has since grown to 11 doctors and over 60 employees. But more than hitting the top 5% financial benchmarks for an animal hospital, Dr. Drake said she is most proud of the fact that once doctors join the team, they never leave.
The secret sauce, according to her, is this: Hire for culture, train for skill.
Culture isn't "a yoga mat, team lunch, or Christmas party," she said—but intentional planning, daily commitment, and team accountability.
Dr. Drake emphasized having a clear mission statement and consistent structure, in which every decision aligns with the hospital's mission of providing excellent medicine in a compassionate environment.
"Everyone wants to belong to something good," Dr. Drake said. "We have a beautiful mission in veterinary medicine. If we give people a place where they feel welcome, they'll thrive."
For more practical advice from the "Building Your Culture—Build a Strong Practice Where People Want to Work, Grow, and Reach Their Potential" workshop at the 2025 AVMA Veterinary Business and Economic Forum, take a look at the 3-2-1 Insight-to-Action Guide created on the topic.