Practice Tip 12 - Staff Morale

INCREASING STAFF MORALE WITH THE USE OF INTERNAL PROMOTION…

Having high staff morale in a practice is a key successful action of highly successful practices. It makes it fun to come to work when the team has high morale. The problem is, with the field we are in, where patients do have problems and clients do get upset, how do you do this? How do you protect your staff morale?

Firstly most staff work at a veterinary practice because they love animals and really care.

Problem:
Not everything in a practice goes according to plan or the way we wish it would. We experience losses that are contrary to our goals. We, working at a practice or in life, develop personal viewpoints on things based on what we perceive are going on… not necessarily what IS going on. Witness the effect of one grumpy client upon the reception staff, right?

The problem is, without having the overall picture of the practice in mind, we can develop a low-morale viewpoint that we are not succeeding in our goal or purpose. Enter in the scene where the staff are then reminded, by the owner or the office manager of all the mistakes that are occurring.

The result?
An imploding team that has the viewpoint that all they do is make mistakes and have clients who are grumpy and who don’t want to pay for services.

The solution?
Internal Promotion. Promote your successes constantly to your staff. At every opportunity point out what they are doing right, which opens the door to being able to correct them without their morale dropping.

So this next week try these tools and build more positive viewpoints:

Internally promote the practice wins - those successes in surgery, those clients who raved about the practice, those thank-you cards that came in, etc...

Show staff at every opportunity where a patient that came in on a yearly activation and vaccination appointment led to the handling of a dangerous or potentially dangerous medical condition.

Once a day, with each staff member, point out one thing they are doing correct. We all like praise and flourish in it...

The result?
Viewpoints that are more positive than negative with your staff.
Enjoy a happier, more high morale team

Sounds simple? It is. Try it out and watch what happens.
Questions? Give me a call.