Workplace Wellbeing Post-Pandemic

The pandemic has transformed the lives, careers and relationships of thousands of people around  the world. It broke people’s plans, relationships and worldviews. It also brought some friends and  families closer and brought to the surface what is both the best and the worst in humans. For us veterinary professionals, it also revolutionised our outlook on the topic of mental wellbeing in veterinary workplaces.  

From Reaction to Reflection

The extremely high case load, combined with the physically challenging anti-virus safety  measures, as well as the additional stress and uncertainty shocked the veterinary community.  However, what was initially just terrifying, quickly became reflection-triggering. Veterinarians,  nurses and vet techs around the globe gained a completely new perspective on the importance of  their work and the quality of their lives. Many of the previously obscured needs have come to the  surface and started shaping people’s decisions and their careers. We quickly discovered that we do  not appreciate being rushed and abused by the clients, that incivility and unfairness are  excruciatingly disheartening. We saw that our work is very important, yet not always adequately rewarded financially. We also noticed that being constantly immersed in a negative mood and  mindset completely changes our perception of the reality, that others have much more impact on our  performance than we used to think. The veterinary community started realising that the sense of  autonomy over one’s daily schedule, as well as appreciation for what we have achieved is  indispensable to feel empowered. The intra-team communication under the pressure, together with leaders’ integrity and leader-employee trust have been challenged. We realised that the sense of  belongingness, mutual respect and psychological safety are imperative for a thriving practice. 

Demanding Workplace Change

All of the above, together with many more emotional, existential and financial realisations opened our eyes to what we want and demand from our workplaces. As many veterinary practices  have struggled with fulfilling the new expectations of the veterinary professionals, this resulted in a  mass exodus of employees. Staff shortages affected most of the countries in the world, triggering  heated discussions on employee wellbeing and retention.  

The key to approach the current crisis is to interpret the words “wellbeing” and “retention”  appropriately. What makes us “well”? What makes us stay in a workplace? Those two words have  recently fused and gained a new, more complex meaning. “Wellbeing in the veterinary practice”  does not end with healthy lunches, mindfulness rooms and seasonal events. Being “well” equals  thriving and performing at the highest possible level, while remaining healthy – mentally and  physically. To situate ourselves in such a position, we must become a strong, inclusive and  emotionally intelligent community. In such a community, employee turnover decreases, whereas  patient safety climbs up.  

As we plan the future of veterinary medicine, we must acknowledge and internalise the truth  that “wellbeing” equals “thriving”, which equals “retention”. Like an alive organism and its chemistry, veterinary teams also have to reach the state of equilibrium. It is within the leaders’  hands to set up the right direction and guide the team towards it, and it is the team members responsibility to develop and sustain the positive change. The success of the whole business – which  means safe patients, thriving employees and satisfied clients – depends on teamwork. Where to start then? How to achieve this equilibrium?  

Building Workplace Balance

Finding balance – which means creating a healthy workplace culture – can’t be quick or  generic. It also can’t be done blindly. It starts with investigating and understanding the needs of  each particular workplace – the values, interpersonal dynamics, hopes and fears, goals and  challenges. Taking care of the team must be highly tailored and involves full engagement from the  management. Currently, the industry offers more and more tools and services that enable the  analysis of workplace culture and wellbeing, including the one performed by Vet Gone Real. 

Understanding where we currently stand on this journey helps to channel our focus and avoid  wasting time, money or energy on the areas that might be actually already working well.  Once we understand the current situation and recognise the specific needs of the team, that is  where the leader makes the decision to invest in the “targeted growth”. Across the literature,  workplace culture has been defined in numerous ways and it is not easy to synthesise many different  perspectives, but most experts would agree that culture signifies features of institutional life which  are shared by the members of the team, and that includes their cognitive beliefs, assumptions,  attitudes and behaviours (Braithwaite et al., 2017).

The work of scholars in the field of psychology  has shown that both human thoughts and actions are dictated by emotions. Most commonly, the “targeted growth” of a veterinary team means expanding the understanding of the humanity and  dignity of its members. This can help veterinary teams to gain better control over the dynamics  within the workplace. Communication, appreciation, inclusion, belongingness, conflicts, autonomy  and psychological safety can be managed much more swiftly with the enhanced use of emotional intelligence (EQ). Defined as “an ability to perceive and express emotion, assimilate emotion in  thought, understand and reason with emotion, and regulate emotion in the self and others” (Mayer,  Salovey, & Caruso, 2000, p. 396), EQ has been shown positively correlated with increased job  performance, better health and wellbeing (Keefer, Parker, & Saklofske, 2018). Leaders with high  EQ show higher integrity and win team’s trust, and they also gain the ability to self-regulate, self motivate and improve interpersonal relationships (Nguyen et al., 2020). 

The Answer Lies Within

The great news is that the changes needed in a veterinary practice to fulfil the expectations  of the new generations of veterinary professionals – such as expanding EQ, nurturing trust, diversity  and inclusion, respecting dignity, providing autonomy and appreciation, and many more – are  readily accessible. Emotional intelligence can be trained at any age and career stage. All that we need to improve “wellbeing” in a veterinary clinic is already within us, it just requires more  attention, amplification and practice.  

Finally, it is crucial to remember that equilibrium is a dynamic state. Nothing in a veterinary  practice stands still – patients come and go, their state can alter within minutes, employees’  behaviour changes as quickly as their emotions, clients are diverse and also guided by their  humanity. Finding balance is an ongoing process that will never end. However, if we learn how to embrace and utilise our humanity, the process of finding the equilibrium can be much smoother and  more successful, and the team members and our leader – happier and more human-savvy. 

References: 

Braithwaite, J., Herkes, J., Ludlow, K., Testa, L., & Lamprell, G. (2017). Association between  organisational and workplace cultures, and patient outcomes: systematic review. BMJ Open, 7(11),  e017708. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2017-017708 

Keefer, K. V., Parker, J. D. A., & Saklofske, D. H. (2018). Emotional intelligence in education.  Integrating research with practice. Cham, Switzerland: Springer. 

Mayer, J. D., Salovey, P., & Caruso, D. R. (2000). Models of emotional intelligence. In R. Sternberg  (ed.), Handbook of intelligence (pp.396-420), Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.  Doi:10.1017/CBO9780511807947.019 

NGUYEN, K. T., DUONG, T. M., TRAN, N. Y., HA, A. T., & PHUNG, Y. N. T. (2020). The Impact  of Emotional Intelligence on Performance: A Closer Look at Individual and Environmental Factors.  The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business, 7(1), 183–193. https://doi.org/10.13106/ jafeb.2020.vol7.no1.183