karenp, Author at Eye Care Business Canada

Adulting 101: Part 2

You will recall last month’s article, Adulting 101: Part 1, a two-part article series that covered setting up your life and career. In this installment, we’re going to review understanding your money and provide a brief recap of your next steps.

Part 2: Understanding your Money

Money, Money,—Money Money!

Cash in, cash out, taxes, saving for short term goals AND retirement, and debt repayment. Working with an advisor to lay out your cash flow planning will ensure that you don’t lose sight of your priorities as you head out into the grown-up world.

Shiny new cars can easily draw your attention away from debt repayment. An advisor can help keep your hands out of the cookie jar and keep you focused on building your wealth.

An accountant will be critical in assisting you with the myriad of tax deductions and credits you will want to apply to lower your income and manage your tax bill.

Your financial advisor will help you plan in advance so that you can structure your income and expenses to maximize your “in pocket” cash. Both professionals are needed and should work for you as a team.

Debt
All debt is bad, but some debt is actually better than other debt and the order in which you repay your debts does matter. It is key to always repay your worst debt first – that dreaded credit card debt. It is consumer debt that costs you a lot in interest and you really have nothing from those purchases that builds up your net worth.

You are Your Greatest Asset
As you start your career, your ability to earn an income is your greatest financial asset. You will need to protect this asset. This means you will need insurance.

Insurance that protects your butt at work (malpractice insurance), insurance that protects you in the event of a liability at home or on the road and disability income replacement insurance.

You are the goose that lays the golden egg, so before you insure the value of that egg, we should discuss your needs and solutions for coverage and review the various student plan options available to final year students and new graduates.

Taxes!
Yes, as you use up your education tax deductions you will find yourself with a tax bill. Often you will be a self-employed contractor and as a result, no one will be deducting and submitting tax payments on your behalf. It will take up to two years of tax filings before the government mandates that you make tax installment payments. Which, BTW, is also not likely to be sufficient as your income grows.

So, to prevent any surprises come tax time, the best rule of thumb is to put 25% of all the income you earn (less tax installments made) into a “don’t touch” savings account.

Come the first part of the year, working with your financial advisor, you can determine a rough estimate of your taxes due and if RRSP contributions are a prudent decision for you. RRSP contributions will lower your overall tax bill but are not always the right fit based on your goals. So having that conversation in the first 30 days of the new year will help ensure that any contributions, if so warranted, are done before the 60 day deadline.

The Canadian tax system is complicated – so having experienced advisors will be key to navigating this new world where you will also want to keep receipts of various business related expenses to legally lower that bill.

Adulting is Hard
We covered a lot of ground in these presentations, including some discussion on the difference between employee and independent contractor. CPP contributions and EI premiums. T2125 forms and putting cash away for your tax bill. We touched on income variations across the country for new ODs and living expenses in a few locations. There are a lot of decisions to be made!

Easy as Pie (if pie were easy!)

Be clear on your goals & desired lifestyle – download the workbook and invest the time to really review who you are and what is important to you.
Align yourself with a trusted advisor – someone who understands you, your profession and your needs – now and over the many stages of your life.
Protect your ability to earn an income because you are your greatest asset.
Understand all contracts before you sign.
Work with your advisor to create a cash flow plan that allows you to enjoy your new earned riches, build wealth, AND repay your debt.
Understand tax mitigation and pay your taxes.

Related Read:
This is a two-part post. Refer back to Part 1.

Adulting 101: Part 1

Advisory
As your Chief Financial Officer, I am here to help guide you through the various adult decisions you will need to make and the next steps you will be taking. Helping you understand your money and assisting you in making smart financial decisions about your debt repayment, insurance protection, tax management and wealth creation, are just some of the ways that I work as your fiduciary.

Have more questions than answers? Educating you is just one piece of being your personal CFO that we do. Call (780-261-3098) or email (Roxanne@C3wealthadvisors.ca) today to set up your next conversation with us.

Roxanne Arnal is a former Optometrist, Professional Corporation President, and practice owner. Today she is on a mission of Empowering You & Your Wealth with Clarity, Confidence & Control.

These articles are for information purposes only and are not a replacement for personal financial planning. Everyone’s circumstances and needs are different. Errors and Omissions exempt.

ROXANNE ARNAL,

Optometrist and Certified Financial Planner

Roxanne Arnal graduated from UW School of Optometry in 1995 and is a past-president of the Alberta Association of Optometrists (AAO) and the Canadian Association of Optometry Students (CAOS). She subsequently built a thriving optometric practice in rural Alberta.

Roxanne took the decision in 2012 to leave optometry and become a financial planning professional. She now focuses on providing services to Optometrists with a plan to parlay her unique expertise to help optometric practices and their families across the country meet their goals through astute financial planning and decision making.

Roxanne splits EWO podcast hosting duties with Dr. Glen Chiasson.

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Potential vs. Pedigree

Human Resources, Talent Acquisition

Talent acquisition is challenging these days! And while many positions in our industry do have specific degree or licensing requirements, it is not always the case. And even in the scenario where a specific license is required, e.g. Optician or Optometrist, the following scenario applies.

The Obvious Choice

Consider this – you are hiring for an Operations Manager position in your practice and have two candidates filter to the top. The first person has a college degree and ten years of progressive experience working in a comparable partice within the industry. The second candidate also has a degree but a bunch of blind spots on the resume – points in time that are unaccounted for or filled in with part-time consulting.

The first candidate is the best choice, of course. Clearly, with a degree and all that experience, they must be able to hit the ground running. Right?

Maybe. They certainly have the experience asked for in the job description and have been with your competitor for a decade. If they’re so good, though, why are they moving on? They may be looking for advancement or simply not loving the job anymore. They may be faltering, know layoffs are coming, or just be looking for a change. Or maybe there’s no more room to grow there. Will you ever know for sure? These questions won’t have obvious answers on a resume and will only get you well-rehearsed responses in an interview.

If you dig a little deeper, you may find that the second candidate’s resume is slightly irregular because they traveled to some interesting places and explored the world for a little bit. Maybe they did some humanitarian work. You might also find that they took some time to stay home with newborn twins during COVID while also providing care to an aging parent!

These things might be considered vague on paper and get them black-listed by most Applicant Tracking Systems, but they may make a well-rounded individual that could actually be much better suited for the position. They are clearly curious and responsible. They show dedication and commitment and can manage multiple challenges simultaneously.

Skills Based Hiring

Skills-based hiring is a hot topic of conversation right now, and we’ve been talking about it for decades. Hiring based on skills is all about looking beyond the surface and exploring what unique talents are not immediately visible and certainly not emphasized on a resume. Experience and education don’t always translate to job performance, and you may overlook game-changing candidates who don’t fit the mold. If only there were a way to see the person’s potential, not just their pedigree.

Oh, wait. There is.

It’s shockingly accurate and allows employers to change the narrative and transform their workplace.

If you are at all familiar with us, you know that we preach the importance of looking beyond the resume, to better understand the essence of the person behind it. Resumes can be crafted exceptionally well and, with the advent of rapidly advancing AI like ChatGPT, may not have even been written by the candidate at all. The advantages and benefits of skills-based hiring are numerous but boil down to a simple approach that can change the world for all involved.

Using skills-based hiring you can reduce or eliminate bias in the hiring process. The content of a resume is open to interpretation and bias, and education and experience don’t necessarily equate to performance. Candidates with the skills to complete the job may not have taken the traditional path in developing their talent and likely won’t always have a formal education.

However, just because someone didn’t attend a cordon bleu culinary program doesn’t mean they can’t cook spectacularly. Spending years in a family restaurant business or even in your grandma’s kitchen may not land well on a resume, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a Michelin-star quality chef in there.

Finding the Right Fit

So, how do you find these amazing people? By looking below the surface. Fit First Technologies uses patented, science-based technology to truly understand who a person is, how they tick, and what they are best suited for. Looking beyond the words on the resume gives you a deeper and far more valuable understanding of what a person is made of, how they will fit in your business and click with co-workers and your company. Employees that are happy, fulfilled and able to make a contribution to their company will ultimately onboard faster, perform better and stay longer.

What this all boils down to is a candidate’s potential vs. their pedigree. When you look beyond the narrow, myopic focus on education and experience, the talent pool will naturally widen to include people who are exceptionally great candidates who don’t meet the traditional criteria. “Great people, in surprising packages”, as one client put it.

Everyone knows that grandma’s cooking is the best, and those recipes, traditions and values are learned – not through formal training, but through immersion in the experience and love for the process (and the delicious outcome).

TIM BRENNAN

is Chief Visionary Officer with Fit First Technologies Inc, the creators of Eyeployment, TalentSorter and Jobtimize.

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Resumes on Trial

Human Resources, Talent Acquisition

Let’s be real. Have you ever stretched the truth on a resume? Maybe nudged your marks a bit higher or embellished your job responsibilities just a smidgeon to add some flair and polish? Chalk it up to being aspirational, perhaps. Jobseekers view the job market as an audition, and they know that putting their best foot forward may require some creative optics (pun intended).

These flourishes are far more common than you may think. HRDive found in one study that a third of Americans admitted to lying on their resume, while other studies estimate the actual number is higher. The reality is resumes are marketing tools designed specifically for self-promotion. Jobseekers can craft and draft content around what they think an employer wants to hear to give them an advantage over other potential candidates.

The Truth about Resumes
Here’s the real issue. Even if a resume is 100% accurate, the information in it is the statistically weakest predictor of someone’s likelihood of success in the job.

A resume is simply not a good reflection of a person. It is just a tailored list of education and experiences. It’s a brief snapshot that doesn’t shine a light on the truly important stuff – how a candidate makes decisions, manages change, or deals with disagreements. All the stuff you really need to understand.

Credentials may be qualifiers for very specific positions as is often the case when seeking a particular qualification such as an optician or optometric assistant. However, those qualifications aren’t reliable predictors of how an employee will integrate with your team, how they will perform or how long they will stay. Here’s the secret – you need to invest in resources that focus on finding people who will fit in your reality, not people who have the best resume writing skills.

Understanding a candidate better through an assessment can save you a lot of time in the hiring process and money in the long run. Spend more time on the right candidates and less time filtering through stacks of resumes. When you hire for job fit you are more likely to hire an engaged and passionate employee. Not only that – you may be very surprised to find your next superstar was hidden by barriers well beyond their control.

Fit First Technologies helps you see the real person behind the resume. Looking beyond the resume is exactly what you need to do to hire the right fit.

TIM BRENNAN

is Chief Visionary Officer with Fit First Technologies Inc, the creators of Eyeployment, TalentSorter and Jobtimize.

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Time to Invest in New Technology?

Independent SightLines, Practice, Technology

You have a busy practice and work is going quite well. Your clinic looks great and has a growing patient and revenue base. You initially bought the latest technology to start your clinic. Wide Field Retinal imaging, OCT and perhaps some other great diagnostic or treatment tech. You have paid off some of the scary bank debt and you’re starting to feel like owning your practice actually was a smart idea and a good investment! When is it time to reinvest in your practice? When is it time to buy into new technology? In this article, we will examine some factors to consider when looking at the next tech.

Budget
Cash flow analysis is important. Are debt loads sustainable? Every year we budget for everything. Revenues and expenses are broken down into estimated projections and profitability levels are set and monitored throughout the year. In our clinics, we set 3% of revenues to our equipment expenses. If you are below 3% you may want to consider a reinvestment into the next revenue generating or profit creation technology.

Contribution Margin
The contribution margin is computed as the selling price per unit, minus the variable cost per unit. Also known as dollar contribution per unit, the measure indicates how a particular product contributes to the overall profit of the company. It provides one way to show the profit potential of a particular product offered by a company and shows the portion of sales that helps to cover the company’s fixed costs. Any remaining revenue left after covering fixed costs is the profit generated. I won’t go in-depth here but you can do an analysis to find a break-even point to decide how many units sold will make the purchase of new equipment make sense.

Amortization
I started my first of five clinics in 1997 (okay don’t judge but I still feel like I am just getting going!). I still have functioning equipment from those early days! It is good to amortize the equipment over the estimated life span of that equipment. If you can pay for the equipment slowly over time it is better than fronting that cost. This allows you to reduce the contribution margin and enhance overall profitability along the way.

Professional Fees
I often see optometrists (I am guilty too!) undervaluing their services. One of the first recommendations I make when someone purchases a new piece of equipment is to increase their exam fees even if it means just a couple of dollars per exam. Often this alone can cover loan payment costs for that new piece of equipment.

Choosing the No-Brainer
Sometimes a new technology comes along that allows early adopters a “no-brainer” option. Neurolens is such an option. Neurolens opens up a new category of spectacle wearers (20% of the lenses sold are plano) while providing robust profits for every pair of Neurolenses sold. The NMD2 instrument makes misalignment measurements more accurate and tech driven thereby reducing exam lane time and practice productivity. As a first mover advantage, patients are seeking us out to have this test and gain the benefits of the Neurolens. Patient results have been tremendous and the lenses are fully guaranteed to provide patient satisfaction and symptom relief. Further, the icing on the cake is that the company offers a generous “device rebate” for regular users of the lenses. This helped to make our entry into Neurolens a “no-brainer” and a “slam dunk”.

Would you rather…
My kids used to play the game “would you rather?”. If you are not familiar with this game it goes something like this: “would you rather hug a snake or have a rat run across your face?” or some similar no win scenario that you have to just pick one! The real life game gives me pause. Would you rather invest in Neurolens or IPL? Well, I will take both thank you very much. I can make a financial case for both and carefully lay out a plan to implement both technologies into my clinics in a successful way.

What about you?

DR. TREVOR MIRANDA

Dr. Miranda is a partner in a multi-doctor, five-location practice on Vancouver Island.

He is a strong advocate for true Independent Optometry.

As a serial entrepreneur, Trevor is constantly testing different patient care and business models at his various locations. Many of these have turned out to be quite successful, to the point where many of his colleagues have adopted them into their own practices. His latest project is the Optometry Unleashed podcast.

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Will AI Impact Human Resources function and hiring?

Human Resources, Talent Acquisition

Absolutely, in both good and not-so-good ways.

On the positive side of the score sheet, there are branches of AI, like ChatGPT, for example, that can and will take pressure off early adopter HR staff by picking up some of the more mundane day-to-day tasks. ChatGPT has been trained with extensive data sets and can generate very human-like responses to requests and tasks. If AI can write job descriptions, answer standard employee questions, and develop contracts and policies, there will be more time for HR staff to focus on bigger issues.

On the less positive side of the score sheet, the rise of AI could be considered another issue on a long list of challenges for hiring managers. If you’re hiring someone based on a well-written resume, you may have more concerns than the typical embellishments. One of the most pressing concerns is the ability of AI to craft convincing cover letters and resumes. So convincing that it could be difficult for hiring managers to distinguish between genuine and not-so-genuine candidates.

If resume-based hiring is your process, be prepared for some surprises. AI is astonishingly more advanced than you think, and its human-like writing can make it indistinguishable from the ‘real thing.’ This evolution of technology is inevitable, but those responsible for hiring must be aware and take steps to make informed decisions. One very effective way is to ensure the resume is only one piece of the overall hiring puzzle and to use other technologies, like behavioral assessment tools, to truly identify a candidate’s qualifications and potential fit for the role.

Measure what really matters. Look beyond the resume (no matter how well it’s written) to develop a comprehensive understanding of a person’s skills, knowledge and aptitude. Shine a light on strengths and weaknesses and discover hidden talents. If you are responsible for hiring, consider options to help you find candidates that are the right fit for the job, the team, and the manager.

Fit First® Technologies, offers a range of tools and services to help employers identify the best candidates for the role and ensure they are a good fit for the organization. Our proprietary assessment platform uses a combination of behavioral assessments, cognitive assessments, and personality assessments to evaluate candidates. This platform can be customized to suit the specific needs of the organization and the role and can be used to assess candidates at all levels, from entry-level to executive.

If you think AI couldn’t fool you, you might be surprised to know this was written, in large part, by ChatGPT and edited by Grammarly.

Even robots can have personalities (if you tell them what personality to have).

TIM BRENNAN

is Chief Visionary Officer with Fit First Technologies Inc, the creators of Eyeployment, TalentSorter and Jobtimize.

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Act Two – How I Found Myself Writing this Article

Human Resources, Leadership

By most accounts, the Canadian primary care optometry practice’s bread and butter is refraction, sprinkled with some management of chronic eye diseases, and the odd acute care case. So, in truth, after such a long period one should expect some degree of monotony. However, how you deal with these feelings may help you progress, expand your footprint, and reinvigorate your passion for the profession.

For me, the COVID pandemic took a lot of the enjoyment out of the practice of optometry. Conversing with patients and exchanging stories during the exam provided me with a constant cultural and culinary education, as well as amazing travel suggestions. Unfortunately, as brevity, sterility and decreased patient interaction became the new norm, I was experiencing increased job dissatisfaction and fatigue.

Burnout

As the pandemic carried on, I struggled with greater responsibilities and increased concern for the well being of my family, staff and patients. I began to realize I was experiencing some of the signs of burnout. I considered trying to keep my head down and just try to plow through until these feeling passed, but knew in truth, this was not a real solution.

By definition, burnout is a condition experienced by workers and professionals in which aspects of their role or workplace induces stress¹. This stress results in manifestations of physical, mental and/or emotional exhaustion. Common signs of burnout in the workplace may include anxiety, headaches, insomnia, fatigue and an increasingly cynical outlook on work and life in general ^2,3.

burnout, stress

Burnout Can Happen to Anyone at Any Time

There is no defined treatment paradigm for workplace burnout at present. Many people find it helpful to take a leave temporarily, or even permanently. However, identifying the abovementioned signs of burnout and implementing proactive decisions to alter one’s work environment can not only aid in avoiding the symptoms of burnout, but, also open one up to opportunities not previously considered.

Important to realize is that although burnout may be a personal experience it is a community battle. Support from within the workplace, family and friends are integral to overcoming burnout’s depressive cloud. Simply talking to someone about your symptoms or the alternatives you may be considering may help lessen your burden.

Support from Co-workers, Family and Friends is Essential

To avoid burnout myself, the first thing I did was to take a small step away from patient care. I realized that as an optometrist I possessed a narrow academic skill set not easily transferable; however, I also possessed a wealth of life and entrepreneurial experience I could use. I began to think about why I entered the optometric profession, what experiences in my tenure as an optometrist I cherished the most and how I could replicate those experiences. I thought about the personal passions and professional desires I had yet to accomplish or even attempt, and how I may go about doing so.

co-workers

I spoke to several friends and colleagues and found that my experience of burnout, while unique, was not uncommon. This realization gave me some solace. I continued conversing with colleagues and bounced ideas off friends for alternative career paths within the optometric profession. I had often hired students at my office and enjoyed mentoring them as they learned about eye care.

Many of the students I hired went on to pursue careers in the ophthalmic industry. Realizing the desire to impart my knowledge to others led me to speak to a friend who had been teaching in the Opticianry Program at Seneca College. Luckily there was a need for lab instructors, and I was able to provide myself with some variety and a new set of challenges.

I continued to pursue unique experiences and became involved with a community charity project at Seneca. I continued to speak with my peers and colleagues, and sought input on new experiences and opportunities that may be available. It was during one such exchange I was serendipitously surprised to hear of the opportunity to write the article you are currently reading.

As writing has always been a passion of mine, I pounced on the chance to contribute my take on stagnation and burnout in optometry in the hopes it may assist anyone who needs it and provides some ideas of how one may overcome this common condition.

Work Cited:
1 “Staff Burn-Out” Journal of Social Issues. January 1974
2 “Symptoms of professional burnout: a review of empirical evidence”
APA PsycNET. American Psychological Association. 1998.
3 “Health Impact of ThePsychosocial Hazards of Work: An Overview”
World Health Organisation. 2010

Dr. Shaun Rawana

Dr. Shaun Rawana is a practicing optometrist with over 15 years of experience in both the United States and Canada. His area of focus has been primary care optometry with interests in cornea/ocular surface disease and contact lenses. Dr. Rawana recently began teaching clinical skills in the Opticianry program at Seneca College and looks forward to contributing his insights into the current Canadian scene through Optik.

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Mind Blowing Advances in Eye Care

Independent SightLines, Marketing, Technology

It is such a privilege to practice a profession that can save vision, relieve debilitating symptoms and protect the future of my patients’ vision. I thought it might be a good time to have a retrospective look at some of these amazing advances over my career.

Retinal Imaging
First, it started with fundus camera images where we could visualize and manipulate the retinal image to better understand what we are seeing under the microscope. Soon that evolved into wide angle retinal imaging to be able to get into the mid and far peripheral retina through an undilated pupil. This game changing technology allowed for a more expedient diagnosis (I sometimes make a retinal referral while the patient is in pre-testing and the image shows an obvious retinal detachment). Next came OCT (Ocular Coherence Tomography) which is essentially allowing a cross-sectional look under the retina and between retinal layers. OCT suddenly gave optometry the ability to instantly diagnose many more retinal pathologies with a high degree of certainty.

When we first acquired these technologies, we imaged every patient to better understand what we were seeing. The amount of occult pathology that was present without obvious symptomology made us pause and think.

Finally, we decided on a wellness model. We would image all patients with angle retinal imaging and OCT to screen for all pathologies that would present with symptoms and those that would be lurking as threats in the future.

Glaucoma Screening
Glaucoma is often called the silent thief of sight because there are often no obvious symptoms until vision is lost and major irreversible damage has taken place. Every eye exam looks for glaucoma, usually through intraocular pressure measurements and viewing the health of the optic nerves.

Nerve Fiber Layer (NFL) and Ganglion Cell Complex (GCC) imaging has allowed a look at early cellular changes before functional vision loss takes place. We screen all patients with visual fields, NFL and GCC scanning to set baselines for future reference and to identify glaucomas early in order to intervene and protect the future of our patients’ vision.

Dry Eye Disease
When I started practice, dry eye disease was a “grin and bear it” condition. Practitioners would acknowledge the presence of inflammation and provide artificial tears (usually a sample not a therapeutic course) and not follow up with the patient again until their routine eye examination two years later.

Now we screen for dry eye conditions before the patient arrives with a DEQ 5 dry eye survey and have added lower lid meibography and vital dye staining to every primary eye examination. Treatment advances in Dry Eye therapies abound and include advanced treatments such as Radio Frequency and IPL as well as LipiFlow. Medications that promote corneal healing and better tear production have made significant improvements in the lives of my patients previously suffering through untreated ocular surface disease.

Neurolens
Recently we added an instrument that measures binocular dysfunction in a very accurate way through the Neurolens Measurement Device, or NMD. This technician-driven diagnostic test provides repeatable measurements that allow optometrists to prescribe Neurolenses, which incorporate a “contoured prism” to relieve symptoms associated with a proprioceptive conflict between misaligned eyes and the trigeminal nerve—sometimes referred to as trigeminal dysphoria. These common symptoms include dry eye sensation, light sensitivity, headaches and fatigue.

The results so far have been outstanding. Previously we would have to have patients suffer from not loving their progressive lenses and having to just “deal with it”. Patients have been raving! One patient described these glasses as “magic” and having changed her life.

It is rare that in one’s job you can make such a difference so as to evoke an emotional response of tears of joy and gratitude. Neurolens is such a technology, and a new way of prescribing glasses. We have started to screen all patients with symptoms of trigeminal dysphoria as Neurolens moves from being a problem solver to a
problem predictor.

The Rate Change Paradox
They say that change has never been this fast before and will never be this slow again. The rate change paradox requires optometric clinicians to change, learn and improve. As independent clinics, we have the power to instantly change without the required green light from head office that chains or corporate entities may require.
This is both a blessing and a curse. The curse is that nobody is requiring you to change via a memo sent down from the suits in HQ. That fact means that as leaders and practice owners the impetus for change has to come from you!

Embrace it! There will be many advances that will help us make the vision and indeed the lives of our patients more enjoyable. How quickly will you incorporate this into your clinic? The best is yet to come!

DR. TREVOR MIRANDA

Dr. Miranda is a partner in a multi-doctor, five-location practice on Vancouver Island.

He is a strong advocate for true Independent Optometry.

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Resume Experience Does Not Predict Job Success

Human Resources, Talent Acquisition

If you’re responsible for talent acquisition, you’ve likely muttered a few curse words under your breath a time or two. We’ve all been there – struggling through resumes looking for that shiny diamond. How often have you been disappointed by someone who had all the right credentials on paper, but fell flat on the job?

After all, resumes are an exercise in creative writing – crafted, re-drafted, updated by friends, built from templates, word-smithed and maybe even ‘embellished’ just a tad. Resumes are over-processed and stretched into an 8.5”x11” shiny but distorted image of the candidate.

Statistics show that only 1 in 5 hires is considered successful by both employer and employee. That’s an 80% failure rate – completely unacceptable in any aspect of business, including HR.

If you are asking yourself how this is possible, it’s because resumes should not be the primary driver for hiring decisions. The polished 8.5”x11” may outline education and experience (both of which are important), but completely miss the mark on shining a light on what is essential to success in a job.

Skeptical? The very smart people at Harvard Business Review found that prior experience doesn’t predict a new hire’s success, and found no significant correlation between the two. Looking back at what someone has done, doesn’t predict the future.

“Is it realistic to think that HR departments and hiring managers will stop screening for experience?
You can understand why so many organizations do it: Experience is easy to assess. Have you worked in sales for three years? Have you managed people before? It’s either a yes or a no. Past performance and existing knowledge and skills [including qualifications and licenses] are more difficult to figure out, especially if all you have is an application or a résumé. But today, when everyone is complaining about the skills shortage and the war for talent, companies can’t afford to knock out candidates who would do really well but don’t have the experience that someone has chosen to put in the job description. You want to expand the pool of people you’re considering.” – Harvard Business Review

The talent acquisition space is very tough these days. You need every advantage you can get to attract and deliver quality applicants to fill all your vacant positions. Understanding if a person will fit with the company, role, manager, and culture is far more predictive of success, but those soft skills don’t shine through on a résumé.

It’s no surprise that those responsible for hiring are increasingly relying on technology. Fit First® uses patented psychometric technologies and predictive human analytics to uncover those hidden skills, unlock potential and expand the pools of talent available to you.

Let us help you measure what matters and find your next great hire.

TIM BRENNAN

is Chief Visionary Officer with Fit First Technologies Inc, the creators of Eyeployment, TalentSorter and Jobtimize.

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Cultivating Supplier Partnerships

Independent SightLines, Practice, Products | Services | Industry News

By Dr. Trevor Miranda.

Dr. Miranda contributes his thoughts and perspectives on the topic of Independent Eye Care Practice in Eye Care Business Canada. Check out all of Dr. Miranda’s articles in Independent Insights category.

“Sales ‘ representatives or Territory Managers can be an essential part of a well run optometric practice. Sales reps as we call them often have a wealth of industry knowledge and product knowledge and also have an ear to the ground on industry trends. Furthermore, the reps know what is working in successful clinics, have insights into competitor strategies and have a myriad of connections to staff and doctors who may one day be candidates to join your growing clinic! Investing time to discuss opportunities with your suppliers is a vital part of a successful independent practice.

Delegation or Abdication?
I hear many “successful” practice owners that say they have delegated meeting with reps to key staff members. While I do believe in empowering staff to meet sales reps and cultivate relationships and business discussions, I also think there should be significant oversight and accountability. Further, owners should consider at least an annual meeting to establish
objectives, establish marketing initiatives and create a reporting mechanism to brief practice owners when staff members are meeting with the sales reps. In many cases, the staff have too much power with very little guidance and controls in place. One of the most glaring examples is frame buying where staff buy frames they “feel” will sell well and look great without any budgets or gross margin return on investment measurements (GMROI). Meeting with reps informs owners of promotions and prizes available. We tap all these rewards centrally and disperse them to the team. Don’t allow the dysfunctional practice of one team member benefiting over the team by selfishly hoarding prizes and bonuses for themselves.

Maximizing the Relationship
Having a policy where the owners and leaders of the optometric practice invest time to meet with current or potential future supplier representatives is crucial to evolving your clinic into a better entity. Is there a new piece of equipment that will bring forward a new revenue stream? Is a “bonus” available to inventory contact lenses and achieve a lower cost of goods? Can you
partner more deeply with a supplier to reduce shipping costs? Perhaps reducing the number of suppliers to maximize these opportunities make sense, but remember to meet with other non-partner suppliers to see if changes would make sense and lead to more profitability and/or better patient outcomes.

Reps are People Too
I find it very bothersome when doctors feel they are much more important than a sales rep. These doctors tend to blow off reps, not keep to preappointed meeting times and tend to view reps as nothing more than an annoyance. I call this “doctoritis”. Doctoritis, by my definition, is when the doctor has been afflicted by the notion that their time is more important than someone else’s time (this includes your patient’s and rep’s time). Be humble my friends and sit down..with everyone. Your reps can also be a feedback mechanism to the higher up decision makers. In my practice, I wanted support for contact lens subscription services and my reps helped to make that wish a reality. Complaints such as vendors creating “flash” sales online while not informing their retail partners get fed back to decision makers that OD owners will not sit quietly and allow
such unfair retail tactics.

Be the first choice
Guess what?! Reps and suppliers have their favourites and their not-so-favourite customers. They know which of us are a pain to deal with and which of us they would rather allocate more discretionary marketing dollars to. They know which clinics they would like to go to as patients and which clinics they would recommend other staff to choose if they are not really happy with
their current job position. You have the opportunity to make a great impression in every interaction. Don’t miss this opportunity with each rep every time. Create a culture that welcomes reps to the clinic and not as an annoyance. Respect their time! Many sales reps have to pay their own costs and it is expensive to visit your clinic. Invest the time yourself or with a delegated well-informed staff member to maximize this opportunity. They are not “throw-away interactions”. While they want to make sales, there is no excuse to be rude, disrespectful of their time or indifferent to their products. Use the time to educate yourself; learn about their product or ask the rep how they could improve your clinic. What do they suggest? The reps enter so many practices and chat with so many clinicians. Take the opportunity to have your blind spots exposed. Consider asking them to secret shop or look at your website and suggest improvements. Book lunch and learn training events or other training pieces that many territory managers are armed with. Most reps are armed with practice-specific programs they can deploy to grow their territory.

Ask your rep if there is something they set up that is of mutual benefit. Our sales reps are a trusted source of information, feedback and inspiration; remember to utilize this resource and help grow your practice!

DR. TREVOR MIRANDA

Dr. Miranda is a partner in a multi-doctor, five-location practice on Vancouver Island.

He is a strong advocate for true Independent Optometry.

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Resolutions and Buckets to Do (and Save)

Building Wealth, Finance|Wealth, Tax & Legal Matters

A New Year – a time to make resolutions, be optimistic, and crash! We all start the year with great intentions, but before the end of January, most of us have fallen back to our old habits.

Moving Forward

In order to get anywhere, we have to keep moving forward, even when we have a few set backs. Moving forward gets us to where we want to go, it helps us grow, and it makes life fulfilling.

Setting Goals

As a Certified Financial Planner® I start my client’s journey by diving into what is truly important to them. To be a fiduciary, I must ensure that your goals guide our decisions (it’s not about telling you what to do based on sales targets, product pushes or my own income). Clarity is truly understanding you and is vital to ensuring your forward progress. Of course, that doesn’t mean we don’t redirect as new curves in the road present themselves.

Investment Policy Statement

An Investment Policy Statement (IPS) is developed to ensure that recommendations align, not only with your goals, but also with your investment confidence and experience levels, your ability to manage risk, and your anticipated timelines. An IPS is a guidepost that should also highlight your social and moral beliefs when it comes to the alignment of the products that build your portfolio.

Data Collection

Once we truly understand who you are and what is important to you, we need to have a clear picture of where you are today. I like to think of this as the “start of the year organization of all your important documents.”

What assets and liabilities do you have? What terms and rates are you carrying on your debts? What types of investment accounts do you have? What investment holdings are in your portfolio? How does your business integrate with your personal finances? Understanding where you are currently is the basis of creating Confidence to where you are going.

Taxation

Taxes are your greatest expense – not only today, but also in retirement. Taxes appear in your business, affect your income, and impact nearly every purchase you make. It’s essential that there is a clear understanding of how taxes work today and a realization that no one truly knows what taxation will be like in the future.

Buckets?

We often use the bucket analogy to illustrate how we save. Remember taxes? Different type of accounts are taxed differently (Should I Invest in a RRSP or a TFSA). And because we don’t know the future tax implications on our withdrawals, we want to ensure that we build in options (different buckets of money) to help manage our tax rates now and in retirement.

Investment Buckets for Taxation

The Canadian Tax system is complicated! (Marginal vs Average Tax Rate). We have RRSP accounts that we deposit pre-tax money into and pay tax when we withdraw. This is a great option to manage taxes today and help boast the benefits of compounding. Because it can create a tax problem in retirement, we want to balance our savings.

We contribution to a TFSA account with after-tax money, but all growth and withdrawals are tax free.

We purchase a home, which on sale, is currently eligible for the principal residence exemption, so any increase in the value of that asset is tax free.

Commercial and recreational real estate is subject to capital gains tax, the inclusion rate is currently 50% as taxable income.

Your professional corporation often qualifies for the Lifetime Capital Gains Exemption, which is expected to increase to $1,000,000 of tax free capital gain.

Then we have insurance products – for a brief on that, follow the link.

You get the idea – lots of buckets!

Buckets for Withdrawal?

And then we also have buckets based on asset allocation. Business ownership, including stocks, and fixed income, including bonds, are structured to help ensure that you don’t have to sell those critical businesses when market values are down AND you can maintain your lifestyle knowing that you have the cash and fixed income buckets to draw from while you wait for the markets to recover allowing your business bucket to overflow and refill the cash and security buckets.

Flexibility

Having different investment buckets from which you can draw from in retirement will be critical to allow you to live the life you dream of and help manage your future taxation. Understanding the sweet spot of where your taxes are today in balance for tomorrow (based on our current tax regime) will help you make smart financial decisions

Staying on Track

Just like with New Year Resolutions, falling off track is easy. It’s a lot easier to stay on program when you have a coach in your corner. Someone who understands you, your occupation, and the financial world will ultimately put you on the path to Controlling your buckets, your future, your dreams!

Advisory

As your Chief Financial Officer, I am here to help you set up all the buckets that will provide you with the flexibility you’ll need. Helping you understand your money and assisting you in making smart financial decisions about your debt repayment, insurance protection, tax management and wealth creation, are just some of the ways that I work as your fiduciary.

Roxanne Arnal is a former Optometrist, Professional Corporation President, and practice owner. Today she is on a mission of Empowering You & Your Wealth with Clarity, Confidence & Control.

These articles are for information purposes only and are not a replacement for personal financial planning. Everyone’s circumstances and needs are different. Errors and Omissions exempt.

ROXANNE ARNAL,

Optometrist and Certified Financial Planner

Roxanne splits EWO podcast hosting duties with Dr. Glen Chiasson.

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Author: karenp

Adulting 101: Part 2

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