Through the lens: a newsletter for veterinary practices

Leader-to-Leader: What I’ve learned and observed about clinical efficiency

?My time servicing the vet industry is coming up for?two?years?in the veterinary industry and 30 years in leadership. No doubt, leading a technology company is very different to managing a clinic, but I’ve discovered that the insights we get from our staff, research, and customer feedback here at Covetrus is too good not to share, and hopefully, by looking in – I can provide an objective view as to what works well within clinics.

The first thing I’d like to focus on isn’t necessarily the tools and the technology, but rather the people driving strategic direction, logic and those holding an umbrella over the clinic – the leaders.

If you’re a leader reading this, great. If you’re clinical staff, not in a management position, but would still like to be managed better and see more efficiencies within the practice, then this article is still for you. Feel free to share with your manager or leader to inspire them!

The risk of the multiple-hat wearer and the need for better communication

With all the talk of umbrella’s and hats, I think you get what I’m hinting at – the need for protection and enough substantial and clarified roles that help you take care of your business. At a busy clinic, especially now with everything reopening, it’s common for one person to assume many roles or wear many hats e.g. the head nurse who is assuming an operational or practice manager role and doing stock-take as well as being a vet nurse. Or a receptionist who wants to provide the greatest first impression and an excellent client experience each and every time, is expected to map out and take care of client relationships wholly without any direction. But there’s a risk in this.

Without clarity or with an overburdened workload, employees undoubtedly become resentful, agitated, stressed and want to leave. Creating a clear line of proactive communication between you, the leader and your staff shows your investment in them and is a constant relationship-building effort. For example, for my own team, I host an AskIan session every fortnight on a Friday, for an hour, to give my team direct access to updates, as well as the opportunity to ask me questions on anything they like, whether it’s positive or negative. Employees need to feel valued and heard. I don’t want to be an elusive, hard-to-access leader that “sits at the top.” My job is not just to achieve commercial goals, it is to reassure and inspire our employees and help them grow.

Role clarity

Since the global shortage continues and wellbeing is at the top of the list for many practices, staff retention, satisfaction and motivation are always at the top of the list for any leader.

What we’ve noticed, is the importance of role clarity.?Many of our customers have appointed something akin to a Chief Client Officer, where that role is specifically dedicated to strengthening the relationship between veterinary colleagues, clients and the business ensuring they receive the best experience possible. Dr Alex Hynes, Director and Chief Client Officer at Animal Emergency Services in Brisbane, holds that role herself. In her interview, she gives some excellent examples on how she manages time better for her staff, but she also recognises that as a leader, it is her responsibility to take care of client relationships and provide direction in that arena for her front-desk staff.?

In October last year, we also held a webinar on sustainability and better stock management, with our lead trainer, Dave Tate, who having been an ex-head vet nurse himself, recognised that in terms of practice management, perhaps instead of assigning one person the role of stock management, is it that you rotate it, so others get a chance for others to learn and it removes the reliance on one person to conduct it??And are there better practices you can incorporate such as a once-per-month stock-take instead of annual to reduce the “mammoth” nature of the task when it arrives?

The performance reviews suggested above also gives your teams and clinical staff to be open about their development and what they’re interested in doing as well as feeling valued. It reminds me of the quote one of our interviewees mentioned, Danny the Vet, when talking about the set-up or infrastructure at a clinic:

“There’s normally a system or an organisation setting you up where you can or cannot deliver the care and services that are necessary. Finding the right team and clinic to work for is important. There are clinics that exist to support you in every way possible. If there’s an emergency or lack of resources, the right team will pull together to address it, and you really feel like you’re solving it together and looking after each other. You also feel like you’ve done a really good job. You shouldn’t be in a situation where you’re leaving each day after 8pm and overworked – that is not your fault.” Danny Chambers, Vet and Trustee of Vetlife

The need for all-encompassing support

Do you have one-on-one reviews for example with each member of you staff, at least once a month? Do you reward them when they hit certain goals? Do you offer them paid-for training to support their career trajectory? Do you find work-around solutions for your staff so they aren’t working 14-hour days? At every Ask-Ian session and every ‘townhall’ meeting we do, we give shout-outs to staff to point out where a job is well done. We play games sometimes and do mini quizzes or competitions for employees to win prizes. They are small but cumulative steps to create a rewarding and wholesome culture that has a sense of “togetherness.”

Performance reviews, regular check-ins, role clarity is another critical element to promote openness, honestly and efficiency. When we interviewed Kay Ritchie from Noble Futures, a veterinary recruiter, she confirmed that there are changes that need to be made to make sure vet surgeons and nurses aren’t leaving. Many are overburdened, but something as simple as better support structures and better leaders and managers can make the difference. Cultivating an environment where people can talk about issues, what works well and what doesn’t as well as investing in their wellbeing, such as enrolling them in mental health programs and using technology to drive an easier work-day, is food for thought.

The digital and physical environment

The support structure entails processes, tools and technology. ?There are certain structures that can facilitate things like communication and ease of doing tasks.

In our own practice management systems that we provide, we try to help bridge the gaps for veterinary staff to help make clinic life easier. For example, on internal collaboration, in ‘To Do’ tasks across all staff members, imagine having that immediately accessible for your role and others’ on one home screen? And for it to be updated instantly or as a patient goes through the check-in and check-out process from in-consult to paying. It becomes immediately clear, the status, where, when and who has to do the task.

Instead of being reliant on phone calls, post-it-notes, emails or otherwise, it becomes part of the workflow driving more efficiencies, better collaboration and helps clinics become paperless. ?Enabling your staff members and contributing to that support structure with the right tools is critical.

When I said the small things count, I meant it. We also don’t overlook the importance of positive psychology and it is ingrained into the DNA and fabric of our technology. Even things like the colour of the interface, having happy pictures of pets and customer feedback on the homepage offer much needed “lifting-of-the-spirit” each time a staff member logs on. How that translates in your practice could mean you look at things like your physical environment too. Does it need renovating? Does it need more artwork? Does it need a better break-out room? Do your sustainable practices align with millennial staff experiences and expectations?

Everything else from client communication, diagnostic integrations, stock management and so on are also part of the considerations where you can enable staff in a way that enhances their life at the clinic and career trajectory. ?

And when you look at your leadership efforts, ways to improve things at the practice, the world is your oyster. Whatever your practice needs, there is always a process, product, tool or service that can facilitate your efforts.