In today’s competitive veterinary hiring environment, employee experience is more than a buzzword; it’s a strategic priority. The demand for veterinarians and veterinary nurses has never been higher, and the talent pool is limited. Practices must go beyond offering table-stakes benefits to attract and retain high-performing team members. Instead, they must create a work culture that speaks to what motivates today’s veterinary workforce.
The five steps below will strengthen the employee experience, allowing your team members to feel valued, engaged and motivated to do their life’s work. You can implement the steps right away and at no additional cost.
1. Connect Employees to Their Meaning
One of the most impactful actions a leader can take is to continually connect employees with the purpose behind their work. It’s an ongoing dialogue, not a one-time conversation. Veterinarians and veterinary nurses enter the field to make a difference and be part of something greater than themselves, so hospital leaders should recognize and celebrate those moments.
Leaders should sound like broken records when they’re on the floor and pointing things out, such as, “Alyssa, you saved Fluffy’s life by getting that catheter in quickly! His owners were panicked when they came in, and you made them feel safe and involved in their pet’s care.” The key here is that Alyssa’s leader acknowledged her contribution in real time. The recognition promotes a culture where every team member feels their work has meaning and impact.
Leaders have two powerful opportunities to connect employees to their purpose: one-on-one developmental sessions and team meetings.
Preparing thoughtfully for one-on-ones is crucial. Be honest in your feedback, celebrate what’s working and address growth areas, all while connecting each conversation to the shared mission of helping pets and their owners.
Team meetings are another key moment for inspiration. Consider inviting a client who had a particularly meaningful experience with your practice to share the story. Hearing firsthand how their work made a difference fills employees’ cups, develops a collective sense of purpose and motivates everyone to bring their best in the service of something bigger.
2. Provide a Path for Growth
Team members are naturally curious and motivated to keep learning. They want to improve daily to better serve people and pets. It’s the leader’s responsibility to provide clear pathways for growth. It’s the employee’s responsibility to embrace the opportunities with a growth mindset.
Individual growth plans are a valuable time investment. They should extend beyond a team member’s clinical abilities to include soft skills, such as communication, conflict resolution and leadership development. Keep them simple, achievable and just challenging enough. For instance, a new veterinarian might have goals like “Perform an enterotomy” and “Communicate difficult news to a client.”
Revisit and update the plans every six months to keep progress on track and the goals relevant.
3. Hire Slowly and Fire Fast
One of the biggest threats to a positive employee experience is allowing toxic behavior to linger. Left unchecked, a negative attitude or counterproductive behavior affects the entire team, including high performers.
Hiring slowly might seem like a luxury, especially when you urgently need to fill a role, but it’s an investment in long-term stability. Rushing the hiring process can lead to costly mistakes that take even more time and energy to fix. Ensuring that every hire is the right fit protects the culture you’re building and allows your high performers to thrive. Most of us have seen a highly credentialed veterinarian or technician look perfect on paper but bring abrasiveness to the team and clients. Don’t settle.
On the other hand, when someone isn’t aligned with your practice’s values or expectations, address the issue quickly. If you think the rest of the team isn’t noticing or starting to feel resentful, think again. Firing an employee isn’t easy but it can lead to better outcomes. For example, the departing employee is likely to find a role that fits better, and your high performers will feel more appreciated and supported. A fast decision in these cases demonstrates a commitment to maintaining a positive, team-oriented environment.
4. Decentralize Decision-Making
Giving your team the authority to make real-time decisions involving clients is a great way to boost experience and efficiency. Think about your history with customer service, like calling an airline or hotel with a simple request, but restrictive policies forbade it. We can all relate to how frustrating and irrational some “rules” are.
If an elderly client asks for help getting her sick cat into a carrier at home, your team should feel empowered to help her. Whether it’s a doctor, veterinary nurse, assistant or receptionist, everyone on your team should be free to make decisions in the client’s and practice’s best interest. Similarly, a team member who needs to make minor adjustments to an invoice to address a client’s concern should be able to do so without seeking multiple layers of approval. This shows employees that they can be trusted. Of course, when you give that kind of responsibility to team members, you must ensure they have earned the autonomy to make certain decisions.
When employees know they’re trusted to make good decisions, they’re more engaged, and their work feels meaningful.
5. Lead With Love
Veterinary leadership should be rooted in empathy and service. Leading with love means establishing a workplace where intimidation and fear-based management are not tolerated. When leaders assume positive intent, prioritize understanding and give encouragement, they create an environment where team members feel valued.
Leaders can still lead with love when faced with challenging situations. There’s never a justification for raising your voice or saying mean words. Give feedback directly and with kindness. The command-and-control leadership style that used to be prevalent in the industry has faded. Instead, effective leaders are coaches and connectors. They challenge employees to be their best, inspire a shared vision, and connect employees to people and resources to help them grow.
Creating a culture of compassionate leadership starts with setting clear expectations for how leaders should show up for their teams. Practices must train their leaders and hold them accountable to the standards. Team members should feel their leaders genuinely care about their well-being and growth, not just the practice’s performance numbers.
The five steps might seem small or easy to overlook, but they’re essential in creating a culture where people want to work, not just because of the employee benefits package.
Building real connections, supporting growth and empowering your team are more than nice-to-haves. They’re must-haves for keeping people engaged and inspired to stay.
QUIZ YOURSELF
Veterinary leaders should ask themselves these five questions to reflect on how well their practice supports the employee experience.
- How often do I recognize and celebrate my team’s meaningful contributions?
- Do all team members have clear paths for growth that align with their personal and professional goals?
- Do we prioritize culture fit in our hiring process?
- Do team members feel empowered to make real-time client decisions?
- Do I lead with empathy and show care in all my interactions?