Staff recruitment in veterinary practice: what distinguishes the practices that keep their team

If you have advertised a vacancy in the last year, you already know recruitment does not work the way it used to. A British Veterinary Association survey found that 86 percent of practices received three applications or fewer for an advertised role, and 38 percent took more than six months to fill it. Recruitment conditions are difficult for everyone. The part individual practices can influence is how clearly they describe the role, how they assess candidates, and what happens after someone joins.

Why veterinary recruitment is difficult right now

The UK veterinary workforce has been under sustained pressure for years. One 2020 study found that 91.4 percent of employers had struggled to recruit an experienced vet, and it isn't hard to see why: Brexit cut off much of the flow of EU-qualified graduates, vet school places haven't grown to match demand, and pet ownership keeps rising.

A practice can't do much about any of that. RCVS's 2024 Survey of the Veterinary Profession offers a more useful place to look. Vets who intended to leave most often pointed to poor work-life balance, chronic stress, and not feeling rewarded, not the difficulty of the job market itself. Those are things a practice can shape, long after the hard part of finding someone is over.

What distinguishes practices that keep their team

It starts with honesty in the job ad. Don't promise a "friendly, low-stress environment" if you are regularly two staff members down on Saturdays. An honest ad filters for the people who already know what they're saying yes to.

The interview should go beyond clinical competence. Qualifications, references and case discussions help you assess clinical competence. You also need to understand how the candidates work with other people.

Ask about something that has already happened:

"Tell me about a time you disagreed with a colleague's clinical decision. What did you do?"

Their answers can give you a useful indication of how they communicate, listen and handle disagreement.

Before making an offer, check whether the rota can support another person properly. If the team is already relying on overtime, locum cover, or protected admin time that's regularly moved or canceled, a new starter may simply inherit the same pressure.

There also needs to be enough time for someone to train them. Otherwise, the new hire is left to work things out alone while the existing team takes on even more work.

Someone should be responsible for the recruitment process from the first reply through to the end of onboarding, rather than it being left to whoever's free that week. Candidates notice whether a practice replies promptly, whether the interview starts on time, and whether anyone follows up after a trial shift. These details give them an early idea of how organized the practice is.

Give candidates a realistic picture of the working week

Give candidates the information they need to decide whether the role suits them.

Include:

• the normal working pattern
• weekend and out-of-hours expectations
• whether the role involves sole charge
• the typical caseload
• the size and mix of the team
• how much time is protected for administration
• the CPD support available
• any genuine route to progression or partnership

If the practice offers a four-day week or protected CPD time, put it near the top. Do not hide the most useful information underneath general claims about having a friendly team.

A candidate should be able to picture an ordinary working day after reading the advert.

How to tell whether recruitment is working

Filling the vacancy is only one part of the job, making sure that person stays on long term is another.

Keep a simple record of:

• how many people applied
• how long the vacancy took to fill
• how much agency, advertising and cover cost
• whether the new employee is still there after six months, one year and two years
• why people leave during their first year

This does not need a complicated reporting system. A spreadsheet updated after each hire and exit interview is enough to show whether the same problems keep coming back.

Plan the first ninety days before the person starts

Decide who will meet the new employee on their first day, who they will shadow, and when they will begin working independently.

Set dates for check-ins before they start. Two weeks, six weeks and ninety days are useful points to review:

• how the workload feels
• whether the rota matches what was agreed
• where they need more support
• how they are settling into the team
• whether anything needs addressing early

Name the person responsible for those check-ins. If responsibility is shared generally across the team, it is easy for nobody to do it.

The hidden cost of vet staff turnover explains what repeated recruitment, cover and lost capacity can cost a practice.

Give managers enough time to notice problems

A practice manager who is spending every evening catching up on paperwork has less time to support a new employee or spot when the rota has stopped working.

This matters because many retention problems start small and are often easier to deal with early than after someone has decided to leave.

Your PIMS should also help reduce administrative work involved in running the practice, including team and rota management, and give practice managers more time to support their team and deal with problems while they can still be fixed.

It will not create more veterinary professionals or remove the national recruitment shortage. It can, however, reduce the amount of management time lost to routine administration.

How to reduce vet burnout: what practice owners can do covers the wider workload and management issues that affect retention.

The recommendation

Start with the first ninety days. Before the person joins, make sure the rota can support them, name the person responsible for onboarding, and schedule the first check-ins. Then compare what was promised in the advert with what the new employee is really experiencing.

Recruitment will remain difficult across the profession. A clear advert and a well-run interview help, but the way someone is treated after they join will often determine how long they stay.

To see how Lupa OS can reduce the administrative workload for practice managers, book a 20-minute demo.