Creating and Maintaining a Positive Workplace—and Profession!

By Keith Rode, DVM, CVMA President

However, it is erroneous to think of “workplace negativity/positivity” as just one topic. There are so many different things that affect how content we are at work. When I recently posed a question about how to combat veterinary workplace negativity on a prominent veterinary Facebook group, I received a wide variety of responses, ranging from improving communication and firing abusive clients to paying a living wage and actually supporting (and not just talking about) work/life balance.

life philosophies, among many other circumstances. As a small example, I personally prefer to leave the office for at least a short time during lunch (which definitely does not always happen), while other colleagues prefer to work straight through their lunch times. Hopefully, we can all realize that there is no single way to do the job, and that we should not judge people who go about their work differently than we do.

An unofficial theme that I am striving to promote during my term as this year’s CVMA president is “celebrate the good”—that we are part of a fantastic profession, and sometimes we need to remind ourselves of that.

I imagine that I, like many of you, initially wanted to become a veterinarian to pursue a rewarding career helping animals and the people who care for them. Along a veterinary professional’s journey, we find that things are a bit more complicated than that, and sometimes the joy and idealism get a little lost.

Workplace negativity is one topic that I have heard colleagues mention as a reason that they sour on the profession. Many of those who have expressed this sentiment are in clinical practice, but this issue is by no means exclusive to any one type of veterinary workplace. A toxic or unduly onerous work environment is not healthy for anyone; conversely, a positive work environment can be uplifting and fulfilling, allowing us to more easily find joy in what we do.

One of my associates saw the post and commented, “Cheez-It dispensers.” It is true—we do in fact have a Cheez-It dispenser at work, and it is amazing how much positivity that gadget spreads.

I certainly do not claim to be an expert on creating a positive workplace, and I know that there have been times when the atmosphere at my own veterinary hospital was not what I would have liked it to be. The intention to provide a positive space certainly exists though, and my business partner and I always work toward that end.

Here are a few lessons and observations I have found along the way, which I have discovered to be equally as relevant to me when I was an associate as they are now that I am a practice owner.

• People have individual motivations and priorities that affect the way that they work. Sometimes those motivations change due to a person’s position within the business, longevity within the profession, relationships within the workplace, relationships outside of the workplace, generational norms, and personal

• Similarly, not everyone communicates in the same way. Communication is so important in any workplace, and it can easily lead to problems when done poorly. One person may prefer face-to-face talks whereas another may prefer email communication in order to better process information before responding. I can be very blunt with some of my coworkers, while others require a more indirect approach. Learning these differences not only shows the other person that they matter to you, but also helps promote better outcomes overall.

• A culture of respect comes from the top down. Owners and managers are not to blame for all the ills in a workplace, but toxicity at the top breeds toxicity throughout the rest of the workforce. Associate veterinarians and support staff need to be supported by their management. Performance issues certainly come up but can be dealt with in a professional and supportive manner. Recognition of staff achievements goes a long way toward showing that management does not only care when something goes wrong. Management should never tolerate clients being verbally (or otherwise) abusive toward their staff. And workplace leaders should never be so proud as to not apologize and change course when a decision of theirs does not work out.

• Workplace cliques and gossip can make people feel like outsiders. Friendships naturally form within a work environment but they should never become an exclusionary mechanism. All employees within a workplace—whether longstanding fixtures or new hires, whether highly skilled or entry-level—need to feel a sense of belonging; anything short of that creates negativity and leads to high staff turnover. Many of us are so busy at work that we may look at team-building exercises and experiences as expendable in the pursuit of output and efficiency. Yet I have found that some of our just-for- fun group activities have significantly improved morale, which in turn increases efficiency as a silver lining benefit.

• A technician of mine talked with me about the difference of a veterinarian at the end of their shift saying, “Thank goodness that is over with; I can’t wait to go home,” as opposed to, “Thank you all for helping me get through a busy day.” Our colleagues and staff pick up on those differences, and the way we collectively perceive our workplace experience can hang in the balance. Sure, we may be excited to go home at the end of a shift. But we can still make the decision to play our own part in promoting a workplace culture that makes people excited to come back for the next shift.

Improving workplace positivity takes intentional efforts, and it does not happen overnight. We are individually complex people with complex emotions, and the additional complexity of social interactions both inside and outside of the workplace can be difficult to navigate. There are any number of external forces that may drag us down, but we each have the personal capability to bring ourselves back up. And when we are riding higher, we tend to bring our colleagues up with us.

Does the veterinary profession have some legitimate problems? Yes. Do some workplaces have toxic management, employees, clientele, and/or overall culture? Also yes. Hopefully, we can all continue to address and solve these issues. We need to advocate for each other and for our profession just as we advocate for our patients.

At the same time, it is up to each of us to “celebrate the good” and promote the positive when we achieve it. This can help reunite us with the initial joy we felt for the veterinary profession, and it will help continue to make the profession an attractive option for the workforce of tomorrow. I know that we can rise to the occasion