• Hero Banner
  • ACVCACVC
  • DVM 360
  • Fetch DVM 360Fetch DVM 360
DVM 360
dvm360 | Veterinary News, Veterinarian Insights, Medicine, Pet Care
dvm360 | Veterinary News, Veterinarian Insights, Medicine, Pet Care
By Role
AssociatesOwnersPractice ManagerStudentsTechnicians
Subscriptions
dvm360 Newsletterdvm360 Magazine
News
All News
Association
Breaking News
Education
Equine
FDA
Law & Ethics
Market Trends
Medical
Products
Recalls
Regulatory
Digital Media
dvm360 LIVE!™
Expert Interviews
The Vet Blast Podcast
Medical World News
Pet Connections
The Dilemma Live
Vet Perspectives™
Weekly Newscast
dvm360 Insights™
Publications
All Publications
dvm360
Firstline
Supplements
Top Recommended Veterinary Products
Vetted
Clinical
All Clinical
Anesthesia
Animal Welfare
Behavior
Cardiology
CBD in Pets
Dentistry
Dermatology
Diabetes
Emergency & Critical Care
Endocrinology
Equine Medicine
Exotic Animal Medicine
Feline Medicine
Gastroenterology
Imaging
Infectious Diseases
Integrative Medicine
Nutrition
Oncology
Ophthalmology
Orthopedics
Pain Management
Parasitology
Pharmacy
Surgery
Toxicology
Urology & Nephrology
Virtual Care
Business
All Business
Business & Personal Finance
Buying or Selling a Practice
Hospital Design
Leadership & Personal Growth
Personnel Management
Practice Finances
Practice Operations
Technology
Wellbeing & Lifestyle
Continuing Education
Conferences
Live Conferences
Conference News
Conference Proceedings
Resources
CBD in Pets
Contests
Veterinary Heroes
Partners
Spotlight Series
Team Meeting in a Box
Toolkit
Top Recommended Veterinary Products
Vet to Vet
  • Contact Us
  • Fetch DVM360 Conference
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy
  • Do Not Sell My Information
  • About Us

© 2023 MJH Life Sciences and dvm360 | Veterinary News, Veterinarian Insights, Medicine, Pet Care. All rights reserved.

Advertisement
By Role
  • Associates
  • Owners
  • Practice Manager
  • Students
  • Technicians
Subscriptions
  • dvm360 Newsletter
  • dvm360 Magazine
  • Contact Us
  • Fetch DVM360 Conference
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy
  • Do Not Sell My Information
  • About Us
  • MJHLS Brand Logo

© 2023 MJH Life Sciences™ and dvm360 | Veterinary News, Veterinarian Insights, Medicine, Pet Care. All rights reserved.

Creating effective employee manuals

February 1, 2007
Joel Parker, DVM

I want to update my office policy manual, but I'm afraid of overlooking something. What items should I definitely include?

I want to update my office policy manual, but I'm afraid of overlooking something. What items should I definitely include?

"It's like baking a cake," says Dr. Joel Parker, president of Professional Business Solutions in Vancouver, British Columbia. "Including just the right amount of each ingredient is what's required to get a good result." He recommends the following tips:

Dr. Joel Parker

Advertisement

Define the purpose of the employee manual. Get this well worked out and written down.

Realize that your staff needs to use the manual as a reference. "It needs to contain the policies and procedures that make your practice tick," Dr. Parker says. "Most policy manuals come from outside sources and don't represent exactly what goes on in the practice. Rather than being a training and correction reference tool, they collect dust."

Create one binder with duties and policies that apply to all employees as general staff members. "This binder includes what to wear, hours of operation, when paychecks are distributed, overtime guidelines, and holiday guidelines," Dr. Parker says.

Next, create a second binder for each staff member that contains policies and procedures applying specifically to the position. "This binder should also define how the services and products resulting from this position contribute to the overall success of the practice," Dr. Parker says.

Dr. Parker recommends looking for areas of frustration in your practice by soliciting input from your team. "You'll find overlooked policies and procedures," he says. "Get these written up and your staff trained and drilled on them ASAP."

Related Content:

BusinessPractice Operations
Animal biomedical device company announces new senior technical services veterinarian
Animal biomedical device company announces new senior technical services veterinarian
Four ways to curb no shows
Four ways to curb no shows
The Vets expands to Columbus, Ohio
The Vets expands to Columbus, Ohio

Advertisement

Latest News

Locoregional analgesia for pain management in veterinary medicine

Outside toxicology experts can save pets’ lives

Lyon College School of Veterinary Medicine names founding dean

Morris Animal Foundation funds study on environmental toxins and lymphoma

View More Latest News
Advertisement