From an employer standpoint, we invest a lot of time and effort into integrating our employees into our practice. We see two general groups of employees - those who stay for a year or two and head for what they perceive as greener pastures, and those who stay long term. We have a very large group, but we have a lot of long term employees, and we don't retain them by being a lousy employer. I've been with the group more than 20 years, but there are a dozen people with more seniority than me. We compensate our people fairly, and there are incentives for those who stay for the long haul. There's likely not a group in the southeast that can match my compensation package as a senior anesthetist, but I'm not where I am by jumping from practice to practice.
We're putting money in that whole time, from day one, which is a rarity for most employers. Many don't put in at all the first year. We match up to 6% every paycheck beginning with the date of employment - we don't wait till the end of the year - so twice a month, we're making pension contributions to our employees, not just once at the end of the year. In addition, there is a profit sharing contribution into the 401k at the end of the year. Any money the employee puts in is theirs regardless, so if they leave after a year, they take all of their contributions with them. It may not be perfect, but it's better than 95% of the plans I see from groups competing in our market.
