Creating a positive culture in your practice (Proceedings)

As veterinary technicians, your role is vitally important in enhancing the lives of the patients you care for (and for the clients who own them). Did you know that you are also important in creating and sustaining the culture in the hospital where you work? Well, you are! During this interactive presentation we will discuss many ways to create and sustain a positive culture in your practice. By implementing these, you will help maintain an environment where everyone wants to work and where clients want to do business. This equals a win-win situation for you, your boss, your clients, and their pets!

1. Discussion: Do you feel that you are important in creating and sustaining the culture in the hospital where you work?

2. What is "culture"?

      • Definition from www.businessdictionary.com: The pervasive, deep, largely subconscious, and tacit code that gives the 'feel' of an organization and determines what is considered right or wrong, important or unimportant, workable or unworkable in it, and how it responds to the unexpected crises, jolts, and sudden change. All new employees must assimilate this code ('learn the ropes') to know the correct way to behave and what to expect from other employees. Organizational culture is the sum total of an organization's past and current assumptions, experiences, philosophy, and values that hold it together, and are expressed in its self-image, inner workings, interactions with the outside world, and future expectations. It is based on shared attitudes, beliefs, customs, express or implied contracts, and written and unwritten rules that the organization develops over time and that have worked well enough to be considered valid.

      • Streamlined definition from the American Management Association/Institute for Corporate Productivity study on culture from 2008: "The shared values and beliefs that help individuals understand organizational functioning and that provides them with guides for their behavior within the organization."

3. How do you determine your hospital's culture?

      • The AMA study identified eight dimensions associated with what the team termed a "positive corporate culture" and asked participants to rank how these described their organization's culture:

         o We have a cooperative culture.

         o Our corporate culture is aligned with our strategy.

         o We have a culture that encourages innovation.

         o We have a culture that encourages strategy execution.

         o Our culture fosters trust.

         o We have a culture that promotes quick responses to needed changes.

         o Our corporate culture brings out the best performance in our employees.

         o Decision-making authority exists at all levels, not just top management.

      • We will review each of these, their impact on the culture of your practice and their relationship to being a high-performing practice.

4. How do you personally help maintain the culture of your practice and help maintain an environment where everyone wants to work? See notes on "Being an Essential Employee!"

5. How do you maintain an environment where clients want to do business? How does this create a win situation for your clients?

      • Foster a customer service culture

      • Open, honest, empathetic communication

      • Empowerment of employees

6. How does this create a win situation for the pets?

      • Foster a culture of learning

      • What are "learning organizations"? "Organizations where people continually expand their capacity to create the results they truly desire, where new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured, where collective aspiration is set free, and where people are continually learning to learn together" (Peter Senge, 1990)

      •How does this create a win situation for your boss?

      • Discuss the relationship between productivity and culture

      • Discuss the relationship between employee retention and culture

      • Discuss the value behind being an employer of choice

How does this create a win situation for you?

      • Attract and retain top-notch employees/coworkers

      • Development, growth and learning opportunities.

      • Work/life balance

      • Better care for the clients and patients that you see every day.

      • Understanding and involvement in the strategy/growth goals of the practice.

      • You get to be part of a business that is an "Employer of Choice!"