An organizational culture consists of the values, beliefs, traditions, attitudes, and behavior of the business or practice and the people that work in it. It is stories about “How we do things around here.” It is maintained and executed by everyone who works in the practice, from the owner to the most part-time kennel person (see Chapter 2 for more information on culture).
Part of the job of the leader(s) in a practice is to carefully cultivate and maintain the culture of the hospital. In a good workplace culture, there are goals to work on. There is open communication and trust. There is collaboration and support while working and learning together. A leader coaches, empowers, inspires, listens, is trusted, creates vision, and focuses on change.
Supporting new team members, or those who are moving from one job position or another, is a primary aspect of a healthy practice culture. Teaching, coaching, and mentorship should be seen throughout the practice. The goal is to create a culture that fosters goals and achievement. Reward team members for helping coworkers and reaching goals.
In the veterinary profession, mentorship is defined as a relationship between an experienced veterinarian and a newly or recently graduated veterinarian who seeks expansion of his or her knowledge, confidence, productivity, and clinical skills in a private practice setting. However, there are many other ways mentorship can be created that would support a culture of learning.
Host veterinary and veterinary technician students
Nurture veterinary assistants who aspire to become veterinarians or technicians
Create skills lists for employees to master across every position in the clinic
Send team members with goals to continuing education, whatever their job position
Create or utilize team training materials and allow time in the schedule for regular learning experiences, which can include individuals, groups based on job position, new employees, or the entire team
Key Takeaways
The absolute best practices share a common vision, mission, or goal. They have leadership that effectively communicates the mission and encourages the team to achieve it. The practice culture is based on a set of values that team members need to share and believe in. Healthy systems support and encourage the growth of individuals, while unhealthy systems prevent it.
Good leaders are both coaches and coachable. They mentor others because they were mentored themselves. Hospital leaders need to model being teachers. We need to coach associate veterinarians but also every other member of the team, so we can all learn new information and utilize it in our shared work. Learning lasts a lifetime for a leader and a learning, mentoring culture in a practice means you will never become stagnant and out of date.
