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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsVeterinary teams are more likely to stay when a job offers three things together: values they can see in daily decisions, a safe way to learn from mistakes, and a credible route to greater responsibility. Debbie Boone, CVPM, describes this as investing in people rather than treating retention as a payroll problem alone. Her practical advice, published in the American Animal Hospital Association’s Stay, Please interview series on May 22, 2024, starts with hiring for behavior and shared values, then continues through onboarding, coaching, training, compensation and client service.
Why a “career to grow on” matters in veterinary practice
Boone’s interview addresses a difficult retention question: how can a practice become a place where employees want to build a future? The Stay, Please series says it is responding to a retention study in which 30% of veterinary professionals were considering leaving clinical practice. The article does not provide the study year, sample or methods, so that figure should be understood as AAHA’s attributed finding rather than an independently evaluated estimate here.
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The implication for a practice owner or manager is practical. A higher hourly rate can address an immediate hardship, but it cannot substitute for fair treatment, competent supervision, learning opportunities and a believable next step. Boone’s examples include a client-service representative (CSR) who wants to become a veterinary assistant, lead receptionist or practice manager. Each destination requires different preparation. Promoting someone into management without training can create frustration and burnout instead of retention.
Her advice is practitioner guidance from an interview, not a controlled test of retention interventions. Use it as a framework for designing your own workplace, then check whether the changes are working for your team.
#1 Best Overall
1. Hire for behavior and values, not only technical skill
A résumé can establish experience, credentials and technical exposure. It cannot, by itself, show how a candidate handles a distressed client, receives feedback or resolves conflict with a coworker. Boone recommends defining the practice’s core values before advertising a role and using consistent, structured questions tied to those values.
Define the standard before opening the job
- Write a short list of behaviors that express each value. “Integrity,” for example, should mean telling clients and colleagues the truth and refusing to intentionally pad a bill.
- Decide which behaviors are essential for every role and which are specific to the job. A CSR may need de-escalation and clear communication; a technician may need collaboration during a high-pressure case.
- Use the same core questions for every candidate, while leaving room for follow-up questions about the person’s example.
Ask for real situations and outcomes
For a CSR, Boone suggests asking the candidate to describe a difficult client interaction and what happened afterward. Listen for the actions taken, not a polished label such as “I am a people person.” For a technical candidate, ask about a disagreement, how the team worked through it and what the candidate learned, alongside questions that assess clinical competence.
A consistent process makes candidates easier to compare and reduces the chance that an interviewer simply selects someone who feels familiar. Boone likes Lori Davilla’s book How to Choose the Right Person for the Right Job Every Time for its lists of core values and questions intended to reveal them; the interview does not state an edition, publisher or ISBN.
Score evidence, not charisma
Create a simple rating sheet with the value, the question, evidence heard and a follow-up question. A candidate who can explain a specific situation, their part in it and the result gives you more useful information than one who offers only general claims. Keep technical assessment and behavioral assessment distinct so a strong clinical skill set does not conceal a serious teamwork concern.
2. Turn the mission statement into observable work
Values have little force if they remain on a wall. Boone says staff cannot live a mission they do not know or see modeled. Leaders need to translate each value into ordinary decisions, demonstrate it personally and recognize it when employees practice it.
Convert values into decision rules
- Integrity: explain a mistake or an unexpected charge honestly instead of hiding it or adding a service the patient does not need.
- Respect: let a colleague finish describing a concern before responding, including during a busy shift.
- Teamwork: ask who needs help before assigning blame when a handoff fails.
- Access: plan for communication or mobility needs before the client arrives rather than improvising at the front desk.
Use these rules in huddles, case reviews, scheduling decisions and performance conversations. Recognition should name the behavior and its effect: “You explained the estimate clearly and gave the client time to decide; that is integrity and respect.” Specific recognition teaches the whole team what the value means.
Make leaders the first example
Employees watch what happens when a manager is under pressure. If a leader asks for honesty but punishes the person who reports a problem, the real value is silence. If a leader admits an error, explains the correction and thanks the person who raised it, the team receives a more credible lesson than any poster can provide.
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Boone’s recommended response to a reported error has four parts:
- Thank the employee for raising it. This reinforces reporting while the facts are still recoverable.
- Review what happened. Establish the sequence, conditions and handoffs without beginning with an accusation.
- Choose a prevention step. The fix might be a checklist, clearer ownership, a software change, additional training or a staffing adjustment.
- Share the lesson when useful. Discuss the change with the team while protecting confidential patient and employee information.
She connects this approach with psychological safety: people can own errors, colleagues can learn and clients receive more reliable care. That is her recommendation, not a quantified outcome established by the interview. A fair review still distinguishes a human mistake, a reckless choice and a repeated failure to follow a known safeguard; “no blame” does not mean “no accountability.”
A short review script
Managers can ask: “What did you notice? What was the expected process? Where did the process become difficult? What would make the safe action easier next time?” End with one named owner and a date to check whether the change was adopted. Avoid turning the discussion into a public interrogation, which teaches staff to conceal the next problem.
4. Build human connection and anticipate different needs
Boone recommends leading with curiosity rather than accusations. Her exact phrase is, “This allows us to lead ‘with our curiosity rather than our accusations.’” Curiosity means asking what circumstances shaped a behavior before deciding what it means. An employee may be balancing caregiving, a family responsibility or another constraint that affects availability or concentration. Understanding the situation does not remove operational standards; it helps a manager choose a workable response.
Use onboarding to help colleagues know one another
Technical orientation is necessary but incomplete. Boone recalls learning too little about a new hire’s strengths during onboarding and recommends creating opportunities for coworkers to understand one another as people. A structured introduction can cover preferred communication style, relevant skills, interests, languages, accessibility knowledge and the kinds of tasks in which the person wants more practice. Keep participation voluntary and do not pressure employees to disclose private information.
Plan for accessibility and language before the appointment
Boone’s examples include employees with sign-language knowledge and staff who can translate for Spanish-speaking clients. Treat these abilities as resources, not as an expectation that one employee will provide unpaid, unlimited interpreting. Document how the practice will arrange qualified interpretation when needed, protect confidentiality and avoid asking a minor or an untrained person to interpret clinical information.
Her broader point is anticipatory service: ask what communication or accessibility support a client may need when the appointment is scheduled, then prepare before the client reaches the reception desk. A team fundraiser she describes was chosen to honor employees’ personal connections to heart disease, illustrating how shared activities can reflect real relationships rather than generic morale exercises.
5. Make career progression concrete and safe
“We’ve got to invest in our team and give them a career path if we want them to stay,” Boone says. A career path does not promise every employee a promotion on a fixed date. It shows the skills, training and decisions that make the next role possible.
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Map adjacent roles
| Starting role or interest | Possible next role | Preparation to define | Risk to manage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Client-service representative | Veterinary assistant | Scope of duties, supervised skill practice, required credentials and a competency check | Moving someone into clinical tasks without adequate supervision |
| Client-service representative | Lead receptionist | Scheduling, coaching, conflict handling, workflow ownership and feedback skills | Making someone a lead without authority or coaching |
| Experienced team member | Practice manager | Budgeting, people management, compliance, operational metrics and specialized management training | Assigning management responsibility without preparation, which Boone warns can cause unhappiness or burnout |
For each route, write the current skills, the gaps, the learning method, the supervisor and the review date. Specialized training matters because excellent patient care or front-desk work does not automatically teach hiring, budgeting, scheduling or performance management.
Hold development conversations regularly
Ask what work the employee wants to learn, what role they are curious about and what constraint might make the plan difficult. Agree on one near-term assignment and one learning resource. Revisit the plan in a scheduled one-to-one rather than waiting for an annual review. If no opening exists, be honest about timing and identify transferable skills the employee can build now.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.6. Pair sustainable pay with an affordable care model
Boone argues that practices should pay experienced staff fairly, but she also cautions against assuming wages are the only reason people leave. A credible path, useful training and respectful management belong in the same retention plan. Review pay against responsibilities, experience and local hiring conditions, and explain how increases or differentials are decided.
She also asks practices to examine whether they charge for services they already provide. That review can uncover work that consumes staff time without being reflected in the fee schedule. Any fee change should be assessed for clinical appropriateness, transparency and local legal requirements; the interview does not supply a pricing formula.
Discuss payment choices without endorsing a provider
Boone names CareCredit and Scratchpay as examples of financing services and suggests splitting services or timing care around a client’s ability to pay. These are examples from her interview, not endorsements. Terms, eligibility and availability can change, so staff should present current options accurately, explain that approval is not guaranteed and avoid steering a client into a product without discussing the practice’s own policies. A written estimate, staged-care plan where clinically appropriate and a clear explanation of what cannot safely be delayed are more durable parts of an affordability conversation.
“We cannot strictly run numbers all the time and expect to keep our people or our clients,” Boone says. The operational challenge is to protect financial sustainability while treating employees and clients as people whose circumstances require judgment.
7. A practical implementation sequence for a small practice
Boone’s ideas can be turned into a staged plan without pretending that the sequence has been experimentally validated.
- Weeks 1–2: define expectations. Choose three to five values, write behavioral examples and standardize interview questions for each open role.
- Weeks 3–4: observe the current experience. Ask employees where the mission appears in daily work, where reporting an error feels risky and what next role they can realistically see.
- Month 2: install learning routines. Add a brief error-review format, specific recognition in team meetings and onboarding conversations about strengths, communication and development interests.
- Month 3: publish role pathways. For common transitions, list competencies, training, supervision, decision authority and review points. Do not announce a promotion standard the practice cannot support.
- Ongoing: check outcomes and unintended effects. Track internal indicators such as regretted departures, time to fill roles, completed training, internal moves, reported errors and employee feedback. Use the numbers to prompt questions, not to label an individual or claim that one intervention caused a change.
At each stage, invite feedback from reception, assistants, technicians, veterinarians and managers. A pathway designed only by owners may miss the barriers that make advancement or safe reporting difficult in real shifts.
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The interview does not rank interventions. These dimensions provide a practical way to decide what to tackle first:
Quick Recap
| Dimension | Best first question | Evidence to collect internally | Common pitfall |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hiring and onboarding | Do our questions reveal behavior, and does orientation reveal strengths? | Interview consistency, new-hire feedback and early role clarity | Hiring for résumé match while ignoring teamwork behavior |
| Values and psychological safety | What happens when someone reports a mistake? | Reports raised, prevention actions completed and employee trust feedback | Displaying values without modeling them |
| Career paths and training | Can an employee name the next role and its requirements? | Development plans, completed competencies and internal applications | Promoting without management or clinical preparation |
| Pay and compensation | Are experienced responsibilities reflected fairly in pay? | Pay reviews, turnover patterns and clarity of compensation decisions | Treating pay as the only retention lever |
| Client affordability and access | Do we identify communication, accessibility and payment needs early? | Estimate documentation, accommodation requests and unresolved barriers | Offering financing examples without explaining current terms or alternatives |
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