Investing in employees: It pays off

Even with expenses rising, experts say it's worth it in the long run to make sure you give your employees fair pay, training and other benefits to create a good working environment and keep employee turnover down.

By Lisa Holton, AMNews correspondent. Feb. 14, 2005.

When it comes to hiring and keeping good employees, Lawrence E. Schilder, DO, sees one important similarity between his Joliet, Ill., hematology/oncology practice and the 1991 Chicago Bulls. That was the first of six Michael Jordan-led NBA championship teams, after Jordan had spent his first six seasons in the league accumulating individual accolades, but no title.

"I see us following the Michael Jordan model," Dr. Schilder says. "He couldn't win a world championship until he could make the people around him successful."

To do that, Dr. Schilder has made a steadfast commitment to providing health care benefits, a 401(k) plan and profit sharing to staff members. Dr. Schilder, who is also a professor of clinical medicine at Chicago's Northwestern University Medical School, realizes that his dual roles as an educator and a practitioner at locations nearly 50 miles apart make talented staff crucial. Therefore, he's willing to pay for the best.

"Some doctors tell me, 'Larry, you pay your employees too much. That's your money, not theirs,' " Dr. Schilder says. "I tell them that it's our money. They're just as responsible for helping me grow my practice as I am. ... You need to realize that staff is critical to growing a practice."

With rising health insurance, liability insurance and other operating costs, it might seem as if the most prudent move would be to cut employee benefits and salaries to save money for your practice.

But many experts join Dr. Schilder in saying that, for the sake of long-term financial health and office morale, it could be better to find ways to keep your staff happy and motivated. And it doesn't always have to come at the expense of your practice's bottom line.