Bret Canfield is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to improving culture and operations in a veterinary hospital. Today he joined me to discuss his specialty, engagement and efficiency.

What are engagement and efficiency in the workplace?

Bret first describes these buzzwords as what they are not, the maximum result in the minimum time. Efficiency is maximizing every positive and minimizing every negative in any given situation. And the variable is not always time, it can also be waste, cost, culture, etc. Engagement is involving the team in positive, intentional decision-making every step of the way.

Bret stresses to veterinary clinic owners that engagement and efficiency cannot exist without one another, they work together in harmony as a constant aspirational goal. You cannot “fix them”, they are ever evolving and require consistent work. 

Improving engagement and efficiency:

1. Measure things that matter to YOU and YOUR hospital with an efficiency survey, or analyze and break down specific processes.
2. Start small. Growing and changing is uncomfortable. Engagement requires a full team buy-in with intentional gradual change. 
3. Close the loop. The measurement is only diagnostic data, what you do with it matters. Think: “Here is the answer, here is what we’re going to do, here are the steps, and here is when I want to see results”

On a mission to educate the veterinary industry on the beautiful coexistence of engagement and efficiency, Bret has shared he is happy to consult and be the starting place for your clinic. If you’re interested in talking to him, reach out to him via email.

What’s Inside:

• What is engagement in a veterinary hospital? 
• What is efficiency in a veterinary hospital? 
• How do engagement and efficiency coexist?
• How to measure engagement and efficiency?
• How to close the loop and improve processes within your clinic?

Mentioned In This Episode:
[email protected] 

Dr. Laura Graye, founder of Medigraytion, is a unique humanitarian and visionary scientist. Her passions, talents, and curiosities pushed her to pursue a broad variety of education and degrees that have provided a really interesting understanding of our consciousness, especially in the case of improving mental health.

Dr. Graye says that she finds that veterinary professionals “vibrate in a beautiful humanitarian way”. This is because individuals in the field are typically empathetic caregivers… to a fault. While kindness, caring, and empathy are great qualities, they are not to be shared at the expense of your own suffering. Dr. Graye shares how these beliefs and rules were learned in our childhood through receiving value from caring actions and we continue to uphold them today. When we lean into this behavior from a place of burnout we perpetuate that this can be expected and we invite others into our world that continue to expect burnout-level behaviors.

The “small m mind” and the “Big M Mind” are two ways Dr. Graye defines our mind. The small m is the neural pathways, a built-in map of rules and beliefs created from childhood. The Big M represents consciousness, in which you can instruct the energy in your mind, body, and psyche to act in a certain way.

Dr. Laura Graye’s Tips for Improving Consciousness
•Ground and connect to yourself at the start of every workday
•Bookmark the SMR [Self Manifested Reality] at moments of increased stress
•Physical embodiment of grounding (chest taping, karate chopping, or a hidden movement) that puts yourself in your body during increased stress

If you want to learn more about Dr. Laura Graye you can find her via email or at her Medigraytion website.

What’s Inside:

• How Dr. Laura Graye followed her passion and talents to shape a unique career.
• How have your beliefs and rules shaped your current consciousness?
• Why empathetic personalities often come from learned behaviors.
• Do you invite people into your life to perpetuate your own cycle of burnout?
• What are the “small m mind” and the “Big M Mind”?
• Tips for increased consciousness in the veterinary workplace.

Mentioned In This Episode:

[email protected]
Medigraytion 

“A vision for a transformative level of veterinary care. A belief in protecting the connection between you and your pet. And a passion for making a difference in your life. This is a new kind of veterinary practice. And you'll never think of veterinary care the same.”

Dr. Cheryl Roth and Dr. Kristin Gerard are the co-founders of Guardian Veterinary Care, a revolutionary, people-first practice.

You might often hear aspiring veterinarians talk about their future careers because they love animals and want a job where they don’t have to deal with people. This could not be further from reality. Not only do all businesses including veterinary practices powered by a human team but every single pet that walks through the door has a person attached to them. Dr. Gerard says that connection and relationships with people might matter even more in the veterinary community because you are supporting animal clients who don’t have a voice of their own. Dr. Roth and Dr. Gerard’s philosophy in which they built the foundation of their clinic is all about supporting people and relationships, and they share just how they support that culture.

As veterinarians, Dr. Roth and Dr. Gerard, are faced with decisions, choices, and dilemmas all day every day. The core values of their hospital help them and their staff stop for every choice and make a conscious effort to move forward with positivity. Guardians Veterinary Care’s 4 Core Values are Kindness, Accountability, Team Strong, and a Passion for Quality. With these at their foundation, they are able to earn and maintain trust not only with their team but with their clients as well.

Dr. Roth and Dr. Gerard share some heartwarming stories on how their practice foundation and philosophy have impacted their staff, clients, and their own mental health. If you want to learn more about these veterinarians or their special practice you can reach them at the Guardian Veterinary Care Website.

What’s Inside:

• What is the “Savior Complex”?
• How can you set boundaries around care?
• What 4 Core Values build the culture at Guardian Veterinary care?
• Why a people and relationships first philosophy is so important for a veterinary clinic.

Mentioned In This Episode:

Guardian Veterinary Care

Conflict can be a scary word. No one likes a problem, but it’s all in how you handle it. Dr. Jeff Werber is in his 39th year as a veterinarian, and all these years later he is still in love with the profession. Today he is sharing some stories from his clinic alongside some really great advice for handling conflict in the workplace. 

Most problems and conflicts either between staff or clients stem from one thing… communication. In order to fix or prevent problems, communication is the first thing to work on.  Dr. Werber has some simple tips for fixing communication:

• Active listening: Repeat what you hear for clarification. 
• Life Lesson: it’s not what you say, it’s how you say it.
• Turn negative criticism into constructive criticism.
• Engage in problems in private and do not publicly argue with a client or co-worker.
• Approach conflict with effective resolution versus a release of anger
• Don’t sweat the little things. 
• It’s okay to be wrong. Just make it right.

With problems and conflict, especially from customers often comes negative reviews either on Yelp, social media, or other public forums. Dr. Werber shares a few of his experiences and what he has learned from them. Negative reviews typically come from clients who do not want resolution or results but simply a space to complain. So how do you handle this? Dr. Werber encourages practice managers and owners to respond graciously and publicly on the forum. While the complainant might not care for a resolution, other potential customers will see and value your response.

Dr. Werber’s passion and gratitude for the veterinary industry just pours out of him and he has so many words of wisdom to share. If you’d like to learn more about him be sure to check out his radio show on Pet Life Radio. You can also reach him via Instagram, email, or on his website.

What’s Inside:

• What is the #1 cause of problems in the workplace?
• Tips for handling conflict between staff or clients.
• How to handle negative reviews.
• Why is problem resolution important?
• Is the customer always right?
• How to set boundaries to avoid future problems.

Mentioned In This Episode:

[email protected]
Dr. Jeff Werber
Dr. Jeff Werber on Pet Life Radio
Dr. Jeff Werber (@werbs_dvm) on Instagram

As a Brazilian woman working in the operation field, Lety Cavalcante offers a unique perspective on leadership, team management, and burnout. Lety moved to America in 2013 after working as a lawyer in Brazil. Prior to her move she was missing something and wanting more, so she made a huge switch leading her to her position as Head of Driving Operations at Waymo, where she works with the testing of autonomous vehicles.

It can be intimidating and scary if you’ve invested time and education into your career and suddenly you're left feeling like this isn’t the right path. Lety felt the same but she shares some important advice on how she successfully made the switch. Seek out information. At 30 years old, Lety made a complete career change and she did that by seeking information about her desired career path. She made connections on LinkedIn and networked with veterans in the industry to really question the reality of the career and seek mentorship.

Now as an operations manager, Lety is leading one of the largest operations teams at her company to date, and it’s going great. She has a really team-focused approach to leadership that allows her team to feel supported and safe. A few ideas for supporting her team she implements include approachable office hours for team needs, frequent check-ins on team members, and allowing voices to be heard and decisions to be made from smaller, less heard parts of the team. Results and metrics are important, without these the job and product wouldn't exist BUT the human work force behind it is equally important…not only do they need to be paid, but they need to be taken care of by their leadership. If any part of these two sides are broken, the business will not be successful. You want your team to be connected to the company's mission, to feel empowered to support the work they’re doing and supported by leadership to speak up.

A lot of Lety’s story goes hand in hand with burnout in the workplace. As an operations manager, she has opted into several programs to prevent burnout and enrich her team. Her team participates in rotation opportunities and 20% of their time spent on new projects with new teams. She sees the key to burnout is allowing for change, growth, and new learning opportunities for her employees.

Lety shares for leaders, especially women, out there; that this job may never be easy but it can be smooth. If you’d like to connect with Lety, learn more, or seek mentorship, you can find her on LinkedIn.

What’s Inside:

• Why you shouldn’t be intimidated to change careers.
• Advice for attaining a new desired career.
• Balancing results and metrics with the support of the human workforce.
• Transitions and systems for managing burnout.
• How work culture influences the success of a team and company as a whole.

Mentioned In This Episode:
Lety Cavalcante - LinkedIn 

Burnout, stress, overwhelm, fatigue…These cannot be the feelings coming from working in a field that brings you joy and aligns with your life. Dr. Amanda Doran shares her experience of burnout and overwhelm in a position that wasn't right for her, and how she began her journey to create resonance in work and life.

“What is wrong with me?” A question we often ask ourselves, when things aren't turning out the way we thought. We are in control of ourselves and our feelings… so we must be to blame. We turn to ourselves, but instead of placing blame, we can insight change. Dr. Doran discusses some of the steps she took to create work life resonance for herself.

Decide what you DON’T want.
This can often be the easiest conversation to have because it's glaring in your face and there may be a long list of things to get out of the way.

Take a personality assessment.
What are you good at? What is right for you? Dr. Doran recommends the Gallup Strength Assessment, I love the Enneagram, there are many out there that could be the right fit.

Decide what you DO want.
Ask yourself what you want and start imagining what it would be like to have and do those things? Envision it.

Start taking steps.
Reaching work life resonance is not one big step, but an accumulation of small ones. What small steps, shifts, and adjustments can you start TODAY to change your life tomorrow.

Now as an artist, author, and practicing in-home euthanasia, Dr. Doran is living a life filled with joy. She shared that her hardest days at work are still better than her best days in her previous positions. You deserve a life filled with joy, resonance, and energy funneling back and forth between work and life. If you’re interested in a deeper conversation with Dr. Amanda Doran, you can find her via email or at her various websites and social media.

What’s Inside:

• What is work life resonance?
• How to create a life where work and your everyday resonate.
• How to find alignment in work and life.
• A solution for finding work that fills your cup.
• The benefit of personality assessments.
• How to come back from burnout and stress.

Mentioned In This Episode:

Amanda Doran, DVM, CHPV - LinkedIn
Dr. Amanda Doran (@dr_amanda_doran) on Instagram
Dr. Amanda Doran
[email protected]
Books - Marcus Buckingham
Morning Pages | Julia Cameron Live
CliftonStrengths

Compassion Fatigue, it’s kind of a buzzword right now; but what does it mean? Today I am talking with Charmaine Nawrocki, Partnership Manager at Airvet. Charmaine’s role in the veterinary industry has changed and been impacted from a really impactful quality of life conversation she had with a veterinarian early on in her career, as well as her own experiences with Compassion Fatigue.

Compassion Fatigue occurs when an individual is giving out so much emotional energy that they are constantly exhausted. In the veterinary industry this stretches throughout constant care for others whether it be a puppy client or human owner or coworker. Us animal lovers can at times forget that this job is not just “saving animals”. There are a lot of factors specific to the veterinary industry that can cause compassion fatigue: extreme compassion for animals without being able to help, not understanding human owners' reasons for declining care, financial struggle, coworker differences or carrying co-worker responsibility, understaffing, and lack of benefits and resources for veterinary professionals to recharge.

Charmaine and I discuss some solutions for Compassion Fatigue that we are already seeing present in the community or that can be changed for the benefit of the industry. First, hospitals can increase the benefit offering to help employees balance off work hours. This might be mental health resources, paid time off, etc. Adequate pay is also important, employees in the veterinary space are often underpaid and overworked. Finally, effective leadership practice and training. Hospitals and leaders need to invest in the proper training and systems to lead and serve their staff. 

Warning Signs of Compassion Fatigue:

• Feelings of helplessness and powerlessness in suffering
• Reduced empathy and sensitivity
• Overwhelmed and exhausted by work demands
• Detached, numb, emotionally disconnected
• Loss of interest in activities you used to enjoy
• Increase in anxiety, sadness, anger, and irritability
• Difficulty concentrating and making decisions
• Sleep difficulty or disturbances
• Physical health symptoms: nausea, headaches, dizziness
• Increase conflict in personal relationships
• Neglecting self-care
• Withdrawal and isolation

If you’ve listened to this episode and are wondering, do I have Compassion Fatigue….you probably do. Reach out for help and keep in mind some of the solutions we discussed today. Life is too short to spend your time suffering, you deserve to thrive!

What’s Inside:

• What is Compassion Fatigue?
• What are examples and causes of Compassion Fatigue in the veterinary industry?
• What are the warning signs of Compassion Fatigue?
• How can we solve Compassion Fatigue in the veterinary field?
• How does leadership impact Compassion Fatigue?

Mentioned In This Episode:
Charmaine Nawrocki - LinkedIn
Airvet
Compassion Fatigue Self Assessment 

The “slice of pie” that is our work life is SO huge compared to the rest of our involvements in life. So why are we accepting its contribution to our wellbeing, happiness, and fulfillment to be less than others? Josh Vaisman is the founder of Flourish Veterinary Consulting, a firm in which he uses the science of human thriving and translation to be used in the workplace to cultivate these environments for personal and professional cohesiveness.

As a veteran of the veterinary industry, Josh is familiar with the worsening problems of burnout, compassion fatigue, and toxic work environments present in the field. After his own experience with depression level burnout working in the industry, Josh developed The Four P’s of Positive Leadership. These are based upon common characteristics for thriving in the workplace and finding professional fulfillment.

The Four P’s of Positive Leadership:

Psychological Safety - Largely associated with work culture, psychological safety brings an energy of open communication, positive interpersonal experiences, high retention rates, and lower medical errors.

Purpose - We crave meaningfulness in our work, but how often we as employees are given an opportunity to see the impact our work has on our clients?

Path - Tied to achievement and accomplishment, a company needs to provide: Role Clarity, Autonomy, and Resources.

Partnership - Leadership is Relationships. The most important relationship in a work environment is that between the boss and the employees, all other relationships within the workplace will be influenced and reflected by that.

The problems Josh and I discuss in today’s episode are not news to those in the veterinary industry but a lot of the solutions and how-tos are. This is a great conversation on creating a positive environment for a workplace thriving for everyone! If you want to learn more, visit Flourish Veterinary Consulting on their website, social media, and Linked In.

What’s Inside:

• Why work should CONTRIBUTE to our wellbeing, not take away from it.
• How Josh Vaisman is helping the veterinarian industry flourish.
• What are the Four P’s of Positive Leadership?
• The common characteristics of workplace thriving?
• What is psychological safety and why is it important?

Mentioned In This Episode:

Hidden Brain - Apple Podcasts
Flourish Veterinary Consulting
Josh Vaisman - LinkedIn

What would anyone want with veterinary hospital data? Clint Latham J.D is the founder of Lucca Veterinary Data Security, where he helps veterinarians understand the value of their data and take the necessary steps to protect it.

Veterinary hospitals spend years building up their customer database. What would happen if they lost it all? What would the value of their hospital be left with? Cyber-security is important and while Clint emphasizes how he helps with that, he also touches on an important subject: psychological security and safety.

Psychological safety is the idea that employees and staff feel secure and safe in the event of failure or errors. Too often Clint receives calls from angry hospital management blaming a staff member, and usually because of this negative culture, recovering data is that much harder. Without psychological security, staff are much more likely to incorrectly attempt to problem-solve, cover up errors, and other mistakes that lead to more data corruption and problems when Clint’s team gets involved.

Clint talks about the distinct difference he feels when entering a hospital with a positive culture versus a negative one. And it impacts data security, one of the hospital’s most valuable resources, more than you think it does. Clint shares Amy Edmonson’s 7 questions you can ask your team to understand and improve psychological safety in your team. Be sure to take a look at this resource we’ve linked, in order to work on this culture and foster psychological security within your hospital. You cannot measure your psychological safety and security posture without measuring it!

If you haven’t considered data security and psychological safety in your veterinary hospital, you can find out more about Clint on LinkedIn, and Lucca Veterinary Data Security website, as well as various resources including his eBook, 5 Simple Steps to Protect Your Practice.

What’s Inside:

• What is the value of data security in veterinary medicine?
• What is psychological safety and security?
• How can poor hospital culture affect psychological safety and security?
• How can hospital management improve psychological safety?
• Can poor psychological security increase cyber-security risks?

Mentioned In This Episode:

Clint Latham JD -LinkedIn
Lucca Veterinary Data Security
Download Lucca Vet’s Free E-Book 
Foster Psychological Safety

Rachel Golden is a veterinary professional of 15 years, spending the last 11 at VCA where she is the hospital manager. I’ve had the pleasure of talking with Rachel on and off the air and we both have a big passion for the field. Rachel joins me in this episode to tackle a big question in the industry. Why are veterinary professionals not only leaving their jobs but leaving the field at an alarming rate?

Pre-COVID, the veterinary industry was already on edge. Overworked, bursting with burnout and compassion fatigue, the pandemic only made the pressure worse and gave way to a major shift in employee mentality. No longer are our employees putting up with extensive expectations for no work-life balance, working while sick, taking up the slack for under trained coworkers, and all of the other woes of the industry. And should they have to?

Hospital culture was suffering pre-pandemic and even more so now. With professionals leaving and the employee pool getting smaller and smaller, hospitals are forced to hire inexperienced and untrained staff. Leading to major gaps in knowledge and skills between veterans and new employees. So as a hospital manager or practice owner, what can you do about it?

When looking at this conundrum, it seems there's no time for training, there’s no time for professional development, and there's no time for staff bonding and hospital culture. Rachel really dives into the intricacies of scheduling time for employee training and culture. It almost seems to be a lose-lose. Employees are either forced in early or out late for meetings, the day is cut short and work piles up, and the hospital is losing revenue for paying employees during closed hours.

These might seem like impossible barriers. But Rachel stresses the need for this time in veterinary hospitals now more than ever. Look at creating robust training procedures and hospital culture organisms as an investment. Not only in your employees but in your practice. Make the time, spend the money. You will make it up tenfold in employee retention alone.

Employees deserve to be trained, to work among knowledgeable co-workers, to have their time respected, and to work within a happy hospital. Use your voice. Make the time.

If you’d like to get in contact with Rachel Golden, you can find her on LinkedIn or reach her via email.


What’s Inside:

• Why is the veterinary profession losing employees at an alarming rate?
• How has employee culture shifted post-pandemic?
• How the massive knowledge and skill gap is jading employees old and new.
• How to find the time for important training and investment in employees?
• How to retain employees in the veterinary profession.

Mentioned In This Episode:

Rachel Golden - LinkedIn
[email protected]