Psychological Safety, the True Cost of Staff Turnover and Building a Resilient Veterinary Team

Julie South [00:00:04]:
Have you ever wondered what the real cost of staff turnover is and how you can build a more resilient team? In today's episode, we introduce the five C's framework of team dynamics and how you can transform your clinics performance. Stay tuned welcome back to the Vet staff podcast, where veterinary professionals can top up their resilience tank, get their heads screwed on straight and get excited about going to work on Monday mornings again because you work at a great clinic. This is episode 188 and I'm your host, Julie south, certified disc trainer and resilience coach. The Vet staff podcast is powered by Vet Staff Limited, the recruitment agency on a mission to help vet clinics recognise, retain and recruit their dream team. We show clinics, vets and nurses how to crack the communication code that's unique to them. So resilience skyrockets and people want to join and stay. You can find back copies of the Vetstaff podcast@vetstaffpodcast.com last week we wrapped up our eight part series on disc leadership types, where we explored how different leadership styles interact with various disc personality types within the teams. If you missed any of those episodes, I recommend going back and giving them a listen because they provide a solid, solid foundation for understanding team dynamics.

Julie South [00:01:56]:
That was then, here is now. Stay tuned because today we're going through some actionable strategies for you to help improve the culture at your vet clinic. If it's already great, then it will become even greater and if it needs improving, then you'll be taking a positive first step. Let's kick off today with the cost of staff turnover, or churn is what staff turnover is known as churn. Have you ever calculated the real cost of staff turnover in your clinic? It might be more than you think, and understanding the true financial impact to you personally or your clinic is crucial for the long term success and profitability of any vet practice. Now let's start off by talking averages. Hopefully your clinic is better than the average I'm going to talk about here. But let's take the average wage in New Zealand.

Julie South [00:03:05]:
According to Stats NZ, the average hourly rate is now $38.22. Yep, I know that's probably more than your qualified vet nurses earn and maybe just a little bit less than some of your vets. $38.22 equates to $79,000 500 annually for a full time 40 hours workweek. I'll put the StatsNZ link if you're interested in the show notes@vetstaffpodcast.com. for you now that's the average the gross average amount to the employee before taxes and other deductions. As employers know in real terms, it actually costs a lot more than the gross amount hourly rate to a business to have someone on the payroll, because there are a lot of other invisibles that go with employment. If you question that, just ask somebody who locums and they will tell you what some of those are. When someone resigns, it's estimated that it takes the incoming staff member, the new person, somewhere between six and nine months to get up to the same speed, the same productivity, the same efficiency and with similar client and staff relationship levels as the person that they're replacing.

Julie South [00:04:30]:
Let's take the lower end of that cost. Let's just use six months. So let's say, for argument's sake, 26 weeks, half of 79,500 is 39,750. Yes, there is some productivity going on while the new person is coming up to speed. So let's estimate that you're getting 50% of 39,750. So that's just under 20,000. It's actually 19,875, but let's round it to 20k. Now, all of this is without what it's cost you to find a locum if you haven't been able to replace the person before their last day, neither does it take into account the cost of fatigue and stress for the remaining team members who are stepping into the breach.

Julie South [00:05:22]:
It's often said that people leave people, they don't leave organisations. This is particularly true in veterinary clinics, where strong interpersonal relationships and effective leadership is absolutely crucial. Knowing the true cost of staff turnover is vital for veterinary clinics because it highlights the huge financial impact of losing an employee. What gets measured gets attended to. Right. Therefore, by understanding these costs, clinics can prioritise strategies to reduce churn staff turmoil, to improve staff retention, such as working on creating a positive team culture, providing professional development opportunities and incorporating meaningful leadership and management practices. Leadership development is an investment because staff turnover is a cost, a huge cost. High staff turnover, high churn not only drains financial resources, but it can also negatively affect the quality of patient care, of client satisfaction and the overall productivity and morale of the remaining team members for employees.

Julie South [00:06:44]:
So I've just talked about the cost to the clinic. Now, for the employees, the cost of staff turnover is measured in terms of increased workload, stress, potential burnout, as well as the loss of valuable relationships and mentorships that each person had and has now lost. When someone leaves, everyone else often gets loaded up with extra responsibilities and tasks, increased pressure and stress. This then contributes to fatigue, which is cumulative. Decreased job satisfaction and a higher risk of burnout, which further exacerbates the turnover cycle. Further, the loss of experienced colleagues deprives employees of critical formal and informal mentorship and knowledge sharing opportunities, which in turn then hinders their professional growth and their development. The costs associated with staff turnover, both financial and personal, are significant for veterinary clinics and their employees. Recognising and addressing these costs is crucial for maintaining a productive, engaged and a satisfied workforce.

Julie South [00:08:05]:
To mitigate the negative impacts of churn of turnover, it's essential for employees and employers to work together proactively. Now here are some practical exercises to help vet clinics and their teams tackle this challenge. If you're an employer, calculate the turnover cost for your clinic based on your average salaries and the estimated six months productivity gap at 50%. Then schedule a team meeting to discuss these financial implications as well as a potential impact on employee wellbeing and morale at your clinic. Then, step three start a discussion on strategic ways on strategies that you can improve team dynamics, reduce staff turnover and support employee engagement and work life balance. If you need help in facilitating that, please sing out Teametstaff dot co dot NZ would love to give you a hand with that. Now, if you're an employee, consider the personal experiences that you've had of any increased workloads, stress or potential burnout due directly to staff turnover that you can attribute because someone has left. How has someone leaving directly affected you? Then have an open and an honest discussion with your colleagues or team leaders or managers about how to build a stronger team environment through improved communication, collaboration and support systems at your clinic.

Julie South [00:09:58]:
Make sure that you include opportunities on how to pave a way forward for professional development, mentorship and knowledge sharing within your team. If you're the employee here and you know that you are under an increased workload because someone has left, then please present to your manager a solution, an idea for a solution. Don't just give them the problem, give them a solution as well. A proposed idea that you can work with. By understanding the true cost of staff turnover, both financial and personal, vet clinics and their employees can work together to create a more stable, engaged and a supportive work environment, ultimately which leads to better patient care, client satisfaction and overall wellbeing for the entire team. Now, let's look at the five C's framework for team dynamics. We've developed this framework Vetstaff. Here at Vetstaff, we've developed this framework to help you build stronger, more resilient vet teams by focusing on the internal pillars of connection, coordination, clarity, consistency and care.

Julie South [00:11:24]:
We're going to go through each of these in more detail in upcoming episodes for you. So remember to hit that follow option wherever you're listening to this episode so you don't miss out. Following episodes. Following podcasts is free, and what that means is that each episode will be delivered direct to your podcast feed as soon as it's published. Okay, so now let's look at the five pillars of team dynamics. The five C's. Number one is connection. This means that you have and are building strong interpersonal relationships within your team.

Julie South [00:12:02]:
When team members feel connected, trust and open communication thrives and it leads to better collaboration. It's where everyone, or when everyone feels psychologically safe. It's a real thing. So number one is connection. Number two is coordination. And here it's when you're ensuring that your team is aligned and working together efficiently and effectively. Clear roles and responsibilities are known and they help avoid misunderstandings, and they help make sure that everyone is working towards agreed, understood and common goals. So coordination number three is clarity, providing clear communication, expectations and feedback.

Julie South [00:12:53]:
Clarity minimizes confusion and it means that all team members understand their tasks and their goals. They know what they're meant to be doing. So that's clarity. Number four is consistency, maintaining stable and predictable leadership and practices. This builds trust and provides the supportive work environment that's part of a positive workplace culture. It's another aspect of psychological safety, consistency and finally, care. It's when you show genuine concern or when the employer shows genuine concern for team members well being. Supporting their professional and their personal development creates a positive and a motivated team culture.

Julie South [00:13:50]:
Again, it's where psychological safety is a real and a felt thing at your clinic. Now let's see how vet staff's exclusive Delta leadership development program fits into those five c pillars and how it incorporates disc behavior assessments. Remember, Disc is a research backed and science based personality profiling tool used to understand our behaviors, our communication style and our work preferences. It's about understanding what makes you and the people you work with. Tick. Delta D E l T A D discover when you understand each of your colleagues disc profiles, it means that you can adjust and tailor how you interact with them. It's not about walking on eggshells. It's about genuinely understanding what makes them tick and how you can respond to that in a healthy way so you can build stronger connections.

Julie South [00:15:04]:
Remember the first pillar of team dynamics, c connections. When you know how your team's styles work, you can communicate in ways that resonate best with each of them. How powerful will that be? Number two, E. Engage of delta De. So we've just done discover. Now we're up to engage. When you identify your team members needs and strengths, you can improve, improve coordination. That's the second pillar.

Julie South [00:15:39]:
Remember the second pillar of team dynamics. By matching roles with individual strengths based on each person's disc profiles, it ensures that everyone is contributing in the most powerful and effective way. For them, it means that they're engaged. And just to clarify, you can't bribe or force someone to engage at work. Engagement comes from the heart. When someone's not engaged, they're just going through the motions. They've either silently quit or they are disengaged. So that is the second pillar.

Julie South [00:16:20]:
Second pillar of coordination, which goes with the e of engage in delta. Now l for leverage. This is where emotional intelligence brings about an inclusive culture which in turn enhances clarity. The fourth pillar of team dynamics. Clarity. There are plenty of disc profiling tools on the market and the reason I chose disc flow for vet staff was because it's the only one that has emotional intelligence baked into the assessment for those who want it. Understanding how people interpret information differently again means that you're empowered through knowledge to adjust your communication style for maximum clarity and impact. Imagine that.

Julie South [00:17:10]:
Imagine how powerful that will be at your clinic. D e l t for Taylor, there's no one size fits all to do leadership. You can't be born into leadership. It takes development. If you haven't listened to the last series that I've just finished on different types of leadership personality styles, then please go back and listen. Because when you can customize your leadership approach to fit the diverse disc personalities on your team and in your clinic, the different personality types, then you're ensured. Consistency the fourth pillar of team dynamics. Consistent yet tailored leadership practices are critical to maintaining a stable and a supportive work environment for all personality types.

Julie South [00:18:05]:
And these, guess what? Are again all part of psychological safety. And then lastly a for actualize developing personalised growth and development plans to support your team members. Professional and personal development shows care the fifth column in team dynamics. And guess what? It's also another way of bringing about psychological safety that's necessary for great team culture and team effectiveness. As I said before, by recognizing and nurturing the unique contributions according to each unique personality profile, it creates a positive, motivated and psychologically safe and actualized team. You can think of actualization as being a bit like reaching the top of Maslov's hierarchy of needs, achieving self actualization. By helping your team members realize their full potential, you create and are part of a more fulfilled and productive team. How cool is that? Hopefully you can see that when you combine the five C team dynamics framework with Vetstaff's exclusive Delta leadership program, understanding disc profiles and then applying those behavioral insights, you get a powerful system to hugely improve your team's culture and performance.

Julie South [00:19:45]:
Here's how it looks from the top level in action. Connection and discover when you discover your team's unique personality profiles, you build a strong connection and you create trust. Coordination and engagement is when you engage team members. By aligning their roles with their strengths, you improve the team dynamic of coordination. You have clarity and leverage. When you leverage emotional intelligence to bring about communication clarity, you ensure that everyone understands their roles and plays to their strengths. Consistency and tailoring when you tailor your leadership approach to each person's different and unique personality type, you maintain a consistent and a supportive team environment. And then lastly, care and actualization.

Julie South [00:20:48]:
When you show genuine care by supporting the growth and development of each team member based on their unique profile, they are actualized. How exciting is that? Now I promised you some easy to implement takeaways that'll make a difference at your clinic. If you are the employer, you're the HR manager, the practice manager, the clinic owner, the lead vet, the head nurse, you have a position of leadership. Then for you, schedule a team meeting to discuss the impact of staff turnover or staff shortages at your clinic. Clinic use this opportunity to introduce the five C pillars of team dynamics that we've just talked about here and brainstorm ways to improve the dynamics at and in your clinic. If you are the employee, so you're not a leader, you're an employee, you can reflect. You could do this if you're a leader as well and your clinic management doesn't want to do anything else. Reflect on your own role within your team.

Julie South [00:21:59]:
Identify one area where you can improve your communication and or support your colleagues. Share your thoughts with your manager, your lead vet or your head nurse and talk about ways you can meaningfully contribute to a more cohesive team environment. A more collaborative team environment without overloading yourself. Stay tuned for our next episode where we're going to dig into and uncover how understanding having an understanding of the composition and makeup of your team can make a huge positive difference when it comes to recovery. Recruiting your next Dream team members and if you're not actively recruiting right now, then you'll discover next week what you'll discover next week will also help you with your internal teams, the internal teams that you have, because we're going to be looking at how our words, the words that we use give us away personality and behavior wise and talking of staff turnover, recruitment and retention, and the costs thereof. Investing in powerful leadership and team development isn't just a good idea, it's a wise investment. Vet staff's exclusive Delta leadership program is designed to help you and your team unlock your full potential by integrating personality insights with the five sees, a dynamic team framework. I guarantee that this investment will save your clinic huge costs in the long run by reducing turnover and improving your team dynamics.

Julie South [00:23:53]:
And all of that brings me to an exciting announcement. Vet starts launching our Delta leadership pilot program. It transforms how clinics develop exceptional leaders. As you know, leaders are trained, they are not born. This means that you owe it to your team and your clinic to make sure that your leaders are trained and developed as leaders. Through Delta, your leadership team will discover their unique personality styles. They'll learn how to adapt their approach and be great leaders and apply the personality and behaviour insights to become better coaches, better mentors, better givers of feedback. They'll be more relaxed when they're having those difficult conversations because they'll understand more and it will lead to an enviable, unable to be copied great clinic culture.

Julie South [00:24:55]:
As an early adopter, you'll experience this powerful solution free first and you'll help us with feedback. But we've only got nine spots left because one clinic claimed their spot this week. If you're ready to invest in outstanding leadership development at your clinic, then please contact Teametstaff dot co dot NZ straight away before the spaces are gone and you'll be able to elevate your clinics leadership capabilities right away. So that is Teametstaff dot co dot NZ. And as at recording this, there are now nine spaces left from the ten, so make sure that you don't miss out. Congratulations on getting this far. You're part of an elite group of listeners who have made it all the way to the end. I'm going to assume therefore, that you like what you've heard.

Julie South [00:25:55]:
Can you please do me a favour and help spread the vet Staff podcast love. All you have to do is share it with three veterinary friends who are maybe losing their mojo or your clinic manager because you can see what we've talked about today will be beneficial at your clinic. All they have to do to listen is go to vetstuffpodcast. Thank you for doing that. It will help rekindle the passion you all had when you started studying and were excited about the thought of going to work at Monday mornings in your vet clinic job. This is Julie south signing off and inviting you to go out there and be the most fantabulous, resilient and powerful version of you you can be. The Vet staff podcast is proudly powered by vetclinicjobs.com comma, the new and innovative global job board reimagining veterinary recruitment. Connect in veterinary professionals with clinics that shine online.

Julie South [00:27:02]:
Vetclinicjobs.com is your go to resource for finding the perfect career opportunities and helping vet clinicians clinics power up their employer branding game. Visit vetclinicjobs.com today to find vet clinics that shine online so veterinary professionals can find them. Vetclinicjobs.com.