Animal Welfare Professionals

Hi all,
edit:
this query is about staffing a full service veterinary hospital.
I'm wondering if any out there has a model, formula, or just good old fashioned advice on the capacity of a manager to effectively manage staff and when an assistant manager should be added?
Currently we have 4 RVT, 2 Vets, and 8 VAs/CCRs. And one manager.
I have looked for books, articles, and messages on discussion boards like this but have been unable to find any information,
Here's hoping!
Teresa
#PeopleManagement(includingVolunteerIntegration)

------------------------------
Teresa McKernan
Senior Direction, Veterinary Services
BC SPCA
------------------------------

Hi Teresa,

What issues are you running into now that's making you review your organizational structure?

In general one manager for 12 staff and 2 vets does not seem out of line.  I think the general rule of thumb in business is 15-20 people per supervisor, with 5-6 being ideal but not usually practical.  In either case, that can be very variable depending on the business, the employees, and the tasks.

If you have very different business segments like emergency, surgery, public spay/neuter, rescue and shelter pets, etc. with different public facing needs, medical supply needs, or special skills, then it might make sense to not put too many different areas on one person.  

If you have the manager doing your staff/HR and also running the front office, and doing accounting, and ordering, and billing, and customer follow up, and scheduling, and backup vet tech assisting, etc. then they may just have too much on their plate to deal with the staff issues.  That doesn't necessarily mean you need an assistant manager, just that you might need to offload some of those tasks either to a lower level position or to an outside support service.

------------------------------
Jeff Okazaki
Humane Society of Jefferson County
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 02-03-2023 12:44 PM
From: Teresa McKernan
Subject: Staffing levels at full service hospital, non-profit

Hi all,
I'm wondering if any out there has a model, formula, or just good old fashioned advice on the capacity of a manager to effectively manage staff and when an assistant manager should be added?
Currently we have 4 RVT, 2 Vets, and 8 VAs/CCRs. And one manager.
I have looked for books, articles, and messages on discussion boards like this but have been unable to find any information,
Here's hoping!
Teresa
#PeopleManagement(includingVolunteerIntegration)

------------------------------
Teresa McKernan
Senior Direction, Veterinary Services
BC SPCA
------------------------------

Hi Jeff,
I'm fairly new to the position and assessing workloads of each staff member. She steps quite often for sick or vacationing staff. it is true, but she also has a lot of specialized tasks such as managing grants. She is the manager of a full service hospital, not a shelter. My apologies, I looked back at my original message and I didn't make that clear at all!
Editing now.

------------------------------
Teresa McKernan
Senior Direction, Veterinary Services
BC SPCA
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 02-06-2023 08:02 AM
From: Jeff Okazaki
Subject: Staffing levels at full service hospital, non-profit

Hi Teresa,

What issues are you running into now that's making you review your organizational structure?

In general one manager for 12 staff and 2 vets does not seem out of line.  I think the general rule of thumb in business is 15-20 people per supervisor, with 5-6 being ideal but not usually practical.  In either case, that can be very variable depending on the business, the employees, and the tasks.

If you have very different business segments like emergency, surgery, public spay/neuter, rescue and shelter pets, etc. with different public facing needs, medical supply needs, or special skills, then it might make sense to not put too many different areas on one person.  

If you have the manager doing your staff/HR and also running the front office, and doing accounting, and ordering, and billing, and customer follow up, and scheduling, and backup vet tech assisting, etc. then they may just have too much on their plate to deal with the staff issues.  That doesn't necessarily mean you need an assistant manager, just that you might need to offload some of those tasks either to a lower level position or to an outside support service.

------------------------------
Jeff Okazaki
Humane Society of Jefferson County

Original Message:
Sent: 02-03-2023 12:44 PM
From: Teresa McKernan
Subject: Staffing levels at full service hospital, non-profit

Hi all,
I'm wondering if any out there has a model, formula, or just good old fashioned advice on the capacity of a manager to effectively manage staff and when an assistant manager should be added?
Currently we have 4 RVT, 2 Vets, and 8 VAs/CCRs. And one manager.
I have looked for books, articles, and messages on discussion boards like this but have been unable to find any information,
Here's hoping!
Teresa
#PeopleManagement(includingVolunteerIntegration)

------------------------------
Teresa McKernan
Senior Direction, Veterinary Services
BC SPCA
------------------------------