The last couple years have been a period of great uncertainty, but amidst all that uncertainty, one thing is as certain as ever. Colleagues are paying more to recruit and keep great staff. And despite our best efforts, it sometimes still isn’t enough to keep staff from jumping ship in this day and age.
That said, with so much changing in the practice staffing climate of late, it seems a good time for a bit better understanding of the applicability of the benchmarks we’ve used in the past to guide staff compensation. To that end, some weeks back, we found ourselves in a Client Leadership Team Huddle with our innovative colleagues at Advanced Eyecare in Bozeman, MT, who were also digging into this. From that discussion, we decided it’s a great time to leverage opportunity we have inside the Summit Partnership to get a much more real-time understanding of staff compensation in Summit Practices in these times. To that end, we created a new Staff Compensation Research Questionnaire, and not only have we had great partner participation, but also a good bit of outspoken interest in the results.
So, without further ado, we’re glad to share some of this cutting-edge information on what could very well be the benchmarks of the new normal.
The first position about which we inquired was Associate O.D. In researching prior to writing up this summary of our Questionnaire, we found U.S. averages for associate optometrists ranging anywhere from around $89,000 all the way to around $150,000 (depending of course on a variety of factors). That’s quite a range, so we set out to understand the Summit Practice average more specifically. We found 99% of reporting Summit practices DID fall within this range – see the breakdown below:
• 37.5% report $106,000 - $125,000
• 25% report $86,000 - $105,000
• 25% report $126,000 - $145,000
• 12.5% report $146,000 - $165,000
Still some variance there, of course, but this is a good bit more specific, and we hope helpful and applicable for our practices.
_________
The next position on the questionnaire was Office Manager, with specification for office managers paid a salary, and office managers paid hourly. Published averages for an office manager fell largely in the $60,000-$65,000 range, with compensation ranging from $36,000 all the way up to $115,000. Specifically for reporting Summit Partners, we find the following:
• 30% report $51,000 - $60,000
• 30% report $61,000 - $70,000
• 20% report below $40,000
• 10% report $71,000 - $80,000
• 10% report $81,000 - $90,000
_________
Next, see below for reporting Summit partners paying their office manager hourly:
• 36% report $24 - $26
• 29% report $18 - $20
• 14% report $27 - $29
• 7% report $15 - $17
• 7%, report $21 - $23
• 7% report above $29
_________
Next up is the statistic for opticians in our practices. We had one question for Licensed/Certified Optician, and another for Non-Licensed/Non-Certified. Again, ranges and averages we found in online research varied quite a bit, but seemed to fall in the range of $19-$29 per hour. How about in Summit practices? Our Summit Colleagues who employ a Licensed/Certified Optician reported the following:
• 33% report $24 - $26
• 25% report $18 - $20
• 17% report $21 - $23
• 8.3% report $15 - $17
• 8.3% report $27 - $29
• 8.3% report above $29
_________
Now let’s compare these ranges to that of Non-Licensed/Non-Certified Opticians in our practices. Of our Summit Colleagues who employ a Non-Licensed/Non-Certified Optician, we found the following:
• 30% report $21 - $23
• 22.5% report $18 -$20
• 22.5% report $15 - $17
• 17% report $12 - $14
• 4% report $24 - $26
• 4% report below $12
_________
Next on our list was Technician compensation. In our research, published averages (depending on who was reporting) for Technician compensation (licensing not specified) ranged from about $13.50 - $17 (again depending on a variety of factors). So let’s take a look at ranges within Summit practices, first for Licensed/Certified Technicians. Reporting Summit practices who employ a Licensed/Certified Technician report the following:
• 50% report $18 - $20
• 25% report $15 - $17
• 25% report $21 - $23
_________
Now for Non-Licensed/Non-Certified Technicians:
• 38% report $15 - $17
• 33% report $12 - $14
• 19% report $18 - $20
• 5% report $21 - $23
• 5% report below $12
_________
The next positions on our questionnaire were Front Desk/Back Desk and I.T. Personnel. We found finding a consistent published average for Front Desk/Back Desk employees in optometric practices a bit more difficult than for the other positions, however a range of $15-$18 per hour seems fairly consistent. For reporting Summit Practices, we found the following:
• 33% report $18 - $20
• 29% report $15 - $17
• 21% report $12 - $14
• 13% report $21 - $23
• 4% report below $12
_________
We found a published Optometric I.T. Personnel average difficult to track down as well, with nothing consistent enough to include in this report. This is consistent with our findings among Summit Colleagues, as 75% of reporting partners do not employ such a position in their practices. Those that do report the following:
• 33% report above $29
• 33% report $24 - $26
• 17% report $15 - $17
• 17% report below $12
_________
The final position we researched for Summit Partner Practices was Coding/Billing Personnel. Finding a published national average for such a position specific to optometric practices was again difficult, but the hourly wage for Medical Billing Specialists (not specific to optometry) ranged from about $19 to about $23 per hour. Among reporting Summit Colleagues, we find the following:
• 28% report $21 - $23
• 28% report $18 - $20
• 22% report $15 - $17
• 11% report $12 - $14
• 5.5% report $24 - $26
• 5.5% report below $12
_________
The remainder of our Summit Practice research questions focused on things like bonuses, employee benefits, retirement savings plans, etc. So let’s transition into those findings, starting with bonuses.
• 59% of reporting Summit practices report paying some sort of performance-based staff bonus
• 68% of these practices indicate this bonus structure includes ALL non-optometrist employees
• 32% of these practices have a separate bonus structure specifically for optical staff
_________
Next, we looked at the percentage of annual collected revenue that is accounted for by total staff compensation – here’s the breakdown:
• 67% report 21 - 30%
• 14% report 10 - 20%
• 9.5% report 31 - 40%
• 9.5% report above 50%
_________
Now let’s look at these numbers for over the last five years:
• 43% report 21 - 30%
• 38% report 10 - 20%
• 9% report 31 - 40%
• 5% report 41 - 50%
• 5% report above 50%
_________
The next series of questions focused on employee healthcare benefits. Of the reporting Summit practices we find the following:
• 57% fund or partially fund health insurance for their employees
_________
Next, we sought to find the percentage of employees within those practices that participate in that funding:
• 27% report 41 - 50% participation
• 20% report 21 - 30% participation
• 20% report 10 - 20% participation
• 13% report 71 - 80% participation
• 7% report 31 - 40% participation
• 6.5% report 61 - 70% participation
• 6.5% report below 10% participation
_________
Finally, we asked how much the practice pays per employee for health insurance:
• 50% report $200 - $400
• 22% report $401 - $600
• 14% report below $200
• 7% report $601 - $800
• 7% report above $1,400
_________
The final series of questions covered the topic of retirement savings plans for employees. Of reporting Summit Practices …
• 92% offer some sort of retirement savings plan for employees
• 87% of these practices provide matching contributions of some amount when employees participate – see the breakdown below:
– 63% report $.76 - $1.00 per dollar
– 21% report less than $0.25 per dollar
– 11% report more than dollar per dollar
– 5% report $0.25 - $0.50 per dollar
_________
Our final question on the series covering retirement savings focused on the number of employees within these practices that participate in their practice’s plan. See the breakdown below:
• 35% report above 80% participation
• 15% report 71 - 80% participation
• 10% report 61 - 70% participation
• 10% report 10 - 20% participation
• 10% report below 10% participation
• 5% report 51 - 60% participation
• 5% report 41 - 50% participation
• 5% report 31 - 40% participation
• 5% report 21 - 30% participation
_________
Well, Partners, that’s quite the load of information! We realize Summit Practices aren’t necessarily exactly representative of all private practices, but our hope is this real-time information from reporting Summit Partner practices will be of help right there at home as we all navigate the challenges of staffing in the new normal. A huge THANK YOU to those of you who contributed to this research and helped your Summit Colleagues by doing so. And as always, if you have any questions, need further clarification or just want to chat, shoot us an email or give us a call!
Like all THRIVE content, the purpose of BOWEN’S BLOG and SUMMIT TALK Podlecture conversations is to keep us driving together toward IMPACT. If something here has struck a chord, shoot us an email or give us a call and let’s talk it out! Email tbowen@mythrivecoaches.com or call 402-794-4064.