The response to last week's post, 14 Ways to Keep Your Staff Happy & Motivated, was overwhelming — so here's the follow-up. Nearly every question was about Employee Incentive Plans (EIPs): percentage vs. flat dollar amounts, recommended percentages, which procedures to incentivize, how often to pay out, and whether a surgical practice and its adjacent medspa should share one plan.
There is no set-in-stone answer. An EIP should be customized to each practice, based on its goals and where the real opportunity for growth sits.
Not every practice shares the same goal. Some want revenue growth. Others want to see fewer patients while holding revenue steady. I see too many practices handed a cookie-cutter, one-size-fits-all plan by a consultant — only to be disappointed when it doesn't drive growth or staff buy-in.
Where to Focus the Plan
For practices with low overall efficiency — seeing a high volume of patients just to hit revenue goals because conversion is weak — I usually recommend a plan built around overall conversion rate goals. For practices where only one or two procedures are underconverting while everything else hits target, I'll often suggest a plan focused specifically on those procedures.
Most of my surgical practices incentivize only the surgeon's portion of surgical procedures — not injectables or fillers. But if a practice wants to grow its injectable base, working injectables into the EIP is a natural move. For practices or medspas without invasive procedures, the emphasis shifts to whichever procedures need attention, or to overall revenue growth and efficiency.
Percentage vs. Flat Bonus
Some practices don't want to share an overall percentage of profit — in that case, a pre-determined flat amount split among staff once a goal is met works well. Staff percentages themselves vary based on how much "selling" each role contributes, how patient-facing the position is, and the practice's annual budget.
Timing the Payout
I generally prefer monthly bonuses — the higher frequency keeps staff more engaged. That said, quarterly payouts have real merit too: a $200 quarterly bonus can feel more meaningful than $66 a month, even though it's the same total, and quarterly pacing works especially well for a tiered EIP — a plan with additional goal levels, each unlocking its own bonus.
At the end of the day, an incentive plan only works if it actually motivates your staff toward practice success. Run the numbers against every scenario, stay flexible when circumstances change, and build in seasonality from the start.
Cheers to your practice success!