Supporting the wellbeing of your team

The sustainability of the veterinary workforce remains a top concern for the professions. Although vets and nurses may prioritise different factors, both groups have identified chronic stress, feeling valued and work-life balance as factors influencing whether they remain in the professions.¹

Although not every factor is within a practice’s control, many of the everyday experiences that determine whether people feel supported, valued and able to do their best work are shaped by workplace culture and everyday leadership.

A thriving team

Wellbeing is a state of being comfortable, healthy and happy. It allows us to function at our optimum. In practice, it means teams are more likely to deliver consistently high standards of patient care, communicate effectively and work together under pressure.

The challenge for practice leaders is how to support a team when appointments are fully booked, staff are stretched and the phone never stops ringing. Wellbeing is not something that can be achieved through a one-off initiative or awareness week, but it can be positively influenced through cumulative small decisions and actions that build an environment in which the team can thrive.

Small, consistent changes can make a meaningful difference to how people experience work – and many of these are simple and inexpensive for practice leaders to implement.

Could the work itself work better?

Group of people in scrubs walking and talking

Workplace wellbeing has traditionally focused on helping individuals become more resilient. Increasingly however, attention is turning to the workplace itself and the systems, processes and obstacles that make the working day harder than it needs to be.

Instead of asking “Why are people stressed?”, try reframing to ask “What makes an ordinary day more difficult than it should be?”

Things like inefficient processes, equipment that seems to never be where it’s needed, repeated interruptions and constant firefighting can put vet teams on the back foot and running to catch up, significantly increasing stress levels. If members of staff are unclear about whose responsibility a task is, when they’ll find time to complete admin, or whether the costs have been communicated to a client, it increases uncertainty and makes for a day that’s more challenging than it needs to be.

These are not wellbeing problems – they’re operational problems with wellbeing consequences.

Practical takeaway: Once a month, ask the team: “What’s one thing that makes your day harder than it needs to be?” Then fix one of them.

Support doesn’t always look the same

We’re all individuals, so of course we don’t all get stressed by the same things, face the same challenges or need the same type of support. Practice leaders need to identify what it is that might be meaningful for different team members’ wellbeing.

New graduates may need reassurance and the ability to have a mid-consult ‘out the back’ chat with a more experienced colleague. A seasoned RVN might value autonomy and be lifted by the opportunity to lead a nurse clinic or complete CPD in an area of special interest. A parent may place more value on predictable finish times than social events, and someone returning after illness may simply appreciate regular check-ins.

It’s important to have conversations with individuals about what would actually be helpful to them. A wellbeing strategy is only effective if it recognises that fairness isn’t about treating everyone the same – it’s giving people what they need to help them thrive at work.

Practical takeaway: Instead of asking: “Is everyone happy?”, ask individually: “What’s one thing that would make your working week easier?”

Protect what matters when time is short

In a busy practice, when appointments are full, the team is pulling together, everyone is rising to the challenge and clinically, the practice is functioning well, it’s easy to think that everything is under control and because no-one is complaining, there’s no pressing need to emphasise wellbeing.

But beneath the surface, it could be that staff are quietly skipping breaks, putting off annual leave, absorbing difficult client interactions and masking stress because they don’t want to let their colleagues down. Even when a team are performing well during an extra busy time, it could be that if the pace continues, the efficient performance of the practice comes at the cost of the team’s longer term wellbeing.

It’s when time is short that protecting staff wellbeing matters most. But wellbeing can often be protected simply through how time is managed. Making breaks the norm, encouraging people to leave on time when possible and ensuring the team have the opportunity to eat, drink and take proper breaks, all help protect their wellbeing.

When time is tight, it can be tempting to shorten protective routines like handovers, debriefs and team meetings, but these are points when information is shared, concerns are raised and colleagues have an opportunity to support each other.

There are other ways that daily routines can be managed to promote wellbeing. It’s mentally tiring to be frequently interrupted or pulled away from one task to another, so protect time for clinical staff to review information, discuss complex cases or seek advice when needed. They also need uninterrupted time to complete clinical notes accurately and prepare medications safely. Reception teams also need uninterrupted time for detailed tasks like completing insurance paperwork, processing repeat prescription requests or returning client calls.

All members of the team need time for recovery after an emotionally demanding consult or a challenging client interaction. Not every recovery break needs to be long. Sometimes it’s simply a few minutes to regroup before moving on to the next task. Checking in with a colleague after a difficult client conversation and making sure that the team feel able to ask for help before they become overwhelmed are small but significant ways of supporting wellbeing.

None of this calls for a wellbeing budget, but it does require permission, as well as attention to the culture of the practice and its practicalities. Checking that appointment scheduling is realistic, reviewing rotas and monitoring workloads helps identify where pressure is building before it becomes a wellbeing problem.

Practical takeaway: Ring-fence one uninterrupted break each day.

The leadership sets the tone

Humans are experts at spotting inconsistencies. If, as a leader, you’re emphasising the importance of wellbeing but your own everyday behaviours don’t match up, your team won’t feel they have permission to prioritise their own wellbeing.

Organisational culture isn’t taught through a manual. It’s shaped by the behaviours people see every day. Staff observe, absorb and internalise the unspoken norms of the workplace, taking their cues from the actions of leaders and colleagues alike.

That means that small things matter. People notice whether leaders take a lunch break, thank colleagues, genuinely listen, ask for help, admit mistakes or apologise. If a practice leader routinely skips lunch and praises staff who come to work when they’re sick, it’s difficult for messages about wellbeing to sound authentic.

Practical takeaway: Recognise one colleague for something specific every day this week.

Because there are so many different factors that influence a team’s wellbeing, how do practice leaders know if their actions are making a positive difference? One of the most effective ways to keep on top of wellbeing is to keep asking and keep listening to colleagues.

This doesn’t need a formal survey, although it is an option that could be employed at intervals. On an ongoing basis, practice leaders can look out for signs that things are moving in the right direction:

people suggest improvements
mistakes are raised earlier
team members ask for help sooner
new starters settle in well
difficult conversations happen more easily
people take annual leave without guilt

Practical takeaway: End your next team meeting by asking, “What’s one thing we could make easier?”

Practice leaders can’t necessarily fix every wellbeing issue, and a practice won’t be transformed overnight, but if just one small change makes someone’s day a little easier, steps are already being taken towards building a healthier workplace.

References

¹RCVS 2024 Surveys of the Veterinary Professions (n.d.) https://www.rcvs.org.uk/about-us/what-we-do/our-research

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