Staff turnover isn’t just frustrating, it’s expensive. In fact, one estimate indicates that it can cost up to twice the amount of an employee’s annual salary to replace them. This can be hard to calculate, but there are several reasons behind these high costs.

Check out a few ways that staff turnover at your practice can lead to financial loss.

Productivity Losses

When staff turnover happens, other employees will have to fill in for the person who quit. This impacts both employees’ jobs. The fill-in person can’t do their own job properly, and they can’t cover for the person who left appropriately.

While you may save money in the short-term by only paying one person, that person is likely not doing either job effectively. Plus, they may get frustrated with having to do their departed colleague’s job, which means they might consider leaving as well.

If you hire a temp to fill in for the employee who leaves, you’ll need to pay them, along with any corresponding fees to the firm that sends those temps to your office.

Frustrated Patients

Whether it’s a front desk team member, a nurse or a provider, your patients may get attached to your staff. That’s generally a good thing and shows that your employees are providing a patient-focused experience to everyone who walks through your front door. But it can cause issues when those beloved staff members leave.

Every relationship your employees forge will be severed if they leave. Not only that, but some patients choose to follow employees to their new place of employment. This could go further than just frustrating patients — it may cause them to permanently leave your practice to join the new practice.

Firing Costs

When you hire a new employee, it’s never cost-free. You may pay for such responsibilities as hiring recruiting firms, performing background checks and generating new hire paperwork. That’s in addition to the time you spend interviewing new candidates, sifting through resumes and training new team members. Because your time is money, this adds up.

Your best bet is to retain employees whenever possible to prevent staff turnover. Although employee retention also takes time and effort, it will be worth it in the long run to keep your practice running harmoniously — and to save you money.