A Guide to Compensation for Medical Aesthetic Practices

When you open a Medical Aesthetic practice, initially it may be just you working with a partner as you build your patient base. However, when you’re ready to make your first hire, how do you determine their compensation? This is currently one of the hottest topics in Medical Aesthetics.

How much should you pay Injectors, Aestheticians, Practice Managers, and others? Every employee you hire significantly impacts your overall success. Your approach to their compensation greatly influences your profitability and longevity as a business owner.

When building your team, it’s important to recognize that each individual will bring varying levels of experience to their role and should be compensated according to the value they contribute to your practice. So, where do you begin? This guide aims to help you navigate the complexities of compensation in Medical Aesthetic practices, which ultimately will allow you to attract and retain top talent in your market.

Compensation Structures

First, it’s essential to understand the various compensation structures used in the industry. These include:

Salary Only: Typically used with management jobs and some support roles.
Hourly Pay Only: Typically used for most support roles.
Salary or Hourly Pay with Incentives: Combines base pay with performance-based incentives or bonuses. Typically used for revenue-generating roles.
Commission-Only Pay: Generally used for specific revenue-generating roles.

Different roles may be better suited to specific compensation structures. For example, most support roles are paid a salary or hourly rate and may participate in a team bonus plan. In contrast, most revenue-generating roles often receive performance-based incentives in addition to their base pay.

JobSnob’s MedAesthetic Pulse™ reports are a great place to learn more about the typical compensation structures for different roles in your area. For instance, according to JobSnob’s nationwide data, 72% of Aesthetic Injectors, a revenue-generating role, receive a salary along with performance-based incentives. On the other hand, according to our data 58% of Medical Assistants, which are considered a support role, are solely paid an hourly rate.

Salary and Hourly Pay

Next, it’s important to understand the market rate for salary, hourly pay, and total compensation for each role in your practice. Once you have this knowledge, you should establish a budget for each position you are hiring. Keep in mind that you may need to be flexible with the budget if you hire a team member who is more in demand due to their skill set and experience which could accelerate your practice’s success. You can use the MedAesthetic Pulse™ reports to learn more about the average and median salary or hourly rates paid for each role in your region.

Performance-Based Incentives

Incentives are typically tied to practice revenue, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), or a combination of KPIs and net profit (after expenses) growth. When they are solely based on practice revenue, they are considered “performance-based” incentives. This type of incentive is most common for Aesthetic Injectors and Aestheticians, with 72% and 78% respectively paid this way, according to JobSnob’s nationwide data. This tends to be the most motivating structure for these revenue-generating roles.

When establishing a compensation plan for roles suitable for performance-based incentives, it is important to acknowledge that these plans will vary between new practices and established ones. For new practices without an established patient base, a larger portion of the total compensation may need to be guaranteed through a salary or hourly rate rather than performance-based incentives. On the other hand, established practices can offer providers compensation based more on revenue generated rather than a guaranteed hourly or salary rate. In the case of new practices, it’s advisable to have a structured plan to gradually transition providers to the latter model.

Bonuses

Alternatively, incentive payouts linked to achieving KPIs or a combination of KPIs and net profit growth are usually referred to as “bonuses.” This kind of incentive is most common for Practice Managers, with 44% of practices nationwide utilizing this structure, according to JobSnob’s data.

When bonuses are included in your compensation structure, the Key Performance Indicators must be established upon hire and clearly communicated to your new staff member. Consider setting SMART goals with determining your KPIs. SMART goals include:

Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Relevant
Time-Bound

You can learn more about SMART goals in the Onboarding, Development, and Employee Retention section of JobSnob’s Hiring Resource Kit.

Team Bonuses

While performance-based incentives are tied to what a provider generates and bonuses are tied to KPIs and profitability, we recommend also having a quarterly team revenue goal, where a bonus is paid to everyone. Team bonuses can be an effective way to encourage a collaborative work environment and motivate all staff members. This approach enables support staff, who may not directly generate revenue but still contribute to sales, to be recognized and rewarded for the practice’s success.

Managing teams successfully is always about finding the right balance between the individual and the group. Only allowing incentives that are based on individual contributions creates more of a competitive work environment, while team bonuses promote a team effort, which is essential to a practice’s success.

Here are a few things to keep in mind about managing your team bonus program:

Define the bonus program with your entire team, clearly communicating the goals and the bonus amount tied to each goal.
Hold weekly or monthly staff meetings to share progress towards the goals.
Motivate your staff by breaking down ways to achieve each goal and sharing best practices.

Summary

When creating your team’s compensation packages, your main focus should be on the sustainability and success of your organization. Always create compensation structures that support your bottom-line profit. The key is to craft a competitive offering that motivates each team member. Remember to keep it simple! A compensation package that is overly complex can be demotivating because your team may not understand its value or potential.

JobSnob is here to offer valuable resources to assist you in this process. We recently launched the MedAesthetic Pulse™ compensation reports, which are the industry’s first compensation benchmarking guide to assist you in creating your compensation packages. The reports offer national and regional level data (West, Midwest, South, & Northeast), including:

Percentage of Candidates by Compensation Type
Average/Median Salary Rate by Region
Average/Median Hourly Rate by Region
Total Annual Compensation by Years of Experience
Median Annual Compensation by License Type*

*Included for Aesthetic Injector Reports Only

In addition, JobSnob now offers a Hiring Resource Guide, which provides assistance for interviewing, onboarding, and developing top talent. The following hiring topics are included: