The Owner-Manager Relationship

The dynamic working relationship between a veterinary practice owner and a practice manager are essential to the success of any veterinary practice. What do Owners want in their Managers? They are looking for someone to carry out their vision and keep them informed. So, what do Managers want in their Owners? They are looking for an Owner who respects their ideas and encourages or supports their growth.

Let’s begin by looking at this relationship from a Practice Owner’s perspective. Dr. David Brunner, owner of the Broad Ripple Animal Clinic and Wellness Center in Indianapolis says, “Small business ownership is hard. Running a veterinary practice is even harder!” In order to practice exceptional veterinary medicine, a practicing owner veterinarian needs someone to carry out the business of veterinary medicine. Dr. Brunner believes every successful practice needs three distinct personality types:

• The “doer” is usually the veterinarian
• The “dreamer/visionary” is usually the practice owner
• The “controller/pragmatist” is usually the practice manager

Each personality may drive the other ones a little crazy at times, but the key is that they complement one another within the operation of the practice. A practice owner may be the dreamer and the pragmatic, but still needs a doer within the practice. Alternatively, a practice manager may be both the controller and a doer, he/she will still need a visionary to keep up with changing times and to introduce new ideas to the practice.

As a practice owner for more than 27 years, Dr. Brunner needs his practice manager to communicate the financial well-being of the practice and the strength of the workplace to him, on a frequent and regular basis. In order to communicate the strength of the workplace, a practice manager must be in tune with the support staff. The manager must be able to objectively judge and report how well the practice is doing when it comes to attracting, focusing on, and keeping the most talented employees. The financial well-being of the practice can be presented to the Owner in bullet points of these key indicators:

• Gross production of the practice
• Cost of goods sold
• Payroll as a percentage of gross production
• Net income of the practice

Ideally, these key indicators should also be presented in the context of a comparison to the same time frame from the previous year. The most important thing to keep in mind, is that consistent communication of this information between the Owner and the Manager is the “glue” that holds their relationship together.

From the Manager’s perspective, open two-way communication between the Owner and Manager makes a practice manager’s life much easier. A good practice manager will do a phenomenal job at running a veterinary practice when given the opportunity to do what they do best everyday. First and foremost, a Manager needs a Medical Director. In the best of all worlds, the Owner is acting as Medical Director and the Manager is carrying out the business side of the practice, keeping the Owner informed as to the health of the practice. What else do Managers need from Owners? They need recognition and praise on a regular basis, along with encouragement of their personal development and growth. An Owner should realize, and hope his or her Manager does not have a peer group within the workplace. Given this fact, Owners should encourage their Managers to join organizations that support their need for a peer group, outside their practice such as a local mangers’ group, or the VHMA. Offer your support by sending them to continuing education opportunities and providing them with membership as part of their compensation package.

A veterinary practice that has a successful Owner-Manager relationship in place, is leaps and bounds ahead of the curve. Work on finding the person that best complements you, whether you are a practice owner or practice manager. Once you’ve found the relationship that works, real magic can and does happen!

Tags: business of veterinary medicine, communication between owners and managers, practice owners and managers, veterinarians and managers, working relationships

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 25th, 2009 at 5:00 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.