Transform Your Vet Clinic: the Peak-End Rule Cognitive Bias and (unfair) Annual Performance Reviews

Julie South [00:00:03]:
Welcome to the Vetstaff 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. This is episode 194, and I'm your show host, Julie south, certified disc trainer and resilience coach. Last week we explored the art of reaching consensus and how to navigate decision making processes in your vet clinic. Building on that foundation, today we are revisiting psychological safety. Yes, I know, again, this time because of its impact on new hires and the annual performance review process, we're going to look at this thing called the juniority benefit, the swish pattern of psychological safety levels over time, and how the peak end rule cognitive bias can affect annual reviews. All of these things came to my attention this week from reports that I've read and podcasts I've listened to. You can find the links@vetstaffpodcast.com to check them out yourself if you're interested.

Julie South [00:01:17]:
Now, whether you're a practice owner, manager or team leader looking to have a psychologically environment for your team or you're a new hire navigating the challenges of settling into a new role, this episode has something for you. The Vet staff podcast is powered by Vet staff Limited, the recruitment agency dedicated to helping vet clinics recognise, retain and recruit their dream teams. We show clinics, vets and nurses how to crack the communication code unique to them so resilience skyrockets and people want to join and stay at your clinic. You can find back issues of the Vet Staff podcast@vetstaffpodcast.com in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, the airline industry, like many industries that require and need highly skilled professionals, found itself in a period of transformation. Ed Bastian, CEO of Delta Airlines in the US, wasn't alone in noticing a significant shift in Delta's workforce in October 2021. He coined the terminal juniority benefit to describe the phenomenon taking place where experienced employees were suddenly retiring, making way for younger talent to step up. While Bastian saw this as a positive change, he acknowledged that it came with its fair share of challenges. You may have noticed something similar yourself.

Julie South [00:03:06]:
After months of lockdown, when we could suddenly go back to work, those who could afford to retire early decided they were going to they'd had a taste of what their life might look like without having to go to work, and so they decided to hit the retirement ranks early. Because of this, like many airlines, Delta was struggling to get new hires up to speed quickly. Bastian later admitted that the main issue wasn't hiring, but a training and an experience bubble. Airline work, which isn't too dissimilar to veterinary clinic work, is both skilled and complex. You can't take people off the street and turn them into pilots or veterinary professionals overnight. They both require extensive training and have very steep learning curves. Since the pandemic from manufacturing to healthcare, aviation to veterinary, companies across the board no longer have the luxury of taking years to nurture new talent. This is because the former mentors who were instrumental in coaching and supporting the new hires decided to retire early.

Julie South [00:04:22]:
As well as the lack of skilled and experienced mentors, recent studies suggest that another key ingredient in the learning recipe is also missing when it's needed most. Guess what that is? I'm sure you got it. Psychological safety psychological safety yes, I know I'm banging this drum again, just in case this is the first time that you've listened to this podcast and it's because it's a concept that's been under the microscope for decades. It also plays a critical role in helping people learn, collaborate and perform at their best. And this is what you want. No one wakes up in the morning and thinks to themselves that they're going to go to to work and do the worst job that they possibly can. Especially if you're a veterinarian, a veterinary nurse or a pilot. You don't want to do that.

Julie South [00:05:18]:
It's not how you think, it's not part of your DNA. When you reduce the fear of someone being seen as clueless or inept, psychological safety creates an environment where learning behaviors can thrive. These behaviors, like asking questions, seeking help and owning up to knowledge gaps, are critical for all new hires as they navigate their way around the ups and downs, the ins and outs, the politics of settling into a new role, and a new clinic. A recent study conducted on more than 10,000 employees within a huge organization has brought to light a significant and a somewhat disconcerting observation regarding the evolution of psychological safeties over time. The research findings indicate that new employees typically entered the organisation with higher levels of psychological safety compared to their more seasoned counterparts. However, this initial advantage gradually diminished, requiring years for employees to regain the same level of psychological safety they had when they first joined the organisation. This intriguing phenomenon, termed the swoosh pattern by the researchers, was consistently observed across various demographics, including race and gender, both before and after the pandemic. The study highlighted that it could take an astonishing 20 years or more for employees to fully recover their initial psychological safety levels.

Julie South [00:07:15]:
Despite the presence of a supportive environment such as departments with high overall psychological safety the pattern persisted under all circumstances. The researchers identified two primary factors contributing to the decline in new hires initial psychological safety levels. Firstly, new employees often face reality shocks when they encounter the actual work environment, which may not align with their initial expectations. This mismatch can lead to a reassessment of their willingness to engage in interpersonal interactions and to voice their concerns. Second, the impact of positive and negative experiences following interpersonal risks plays a crucial role. A single negative experience can significantly diminish psychological safety while rebuilding it necessitates consistent effort and support from management over time. To address these challenges and maintain your new hires willingness to speak up, the researchers proposed three key strategies. Firstly, they recommended providing interpersonal skills training to managers and team leaders, particularly in teams with low psychological safety or emotional intelligence levels.

Julie South [00:08:48]:
The study emphasised that departments with high psychological safety exhibited less severe declines in new hires psychological safety levels. By investing in training to enhance interpersonal skills and emotional intelligence, clinics can establish a positive environment that generates and builds psychological safety over time. If you would like some work, some help, some support around this, please give either Tanya or I a call because we are both disc certified trainers and we work in emotional intelligence. Second, going back to the research second, leaders can utilise framing techniques to emphasise the importance of interpersonal risk taking as a fundamental aspect of great and effective performance. By framing work as complex and uncertain as leaders, you can create the expectation that addressing issues and speaking up are essential for the team's success. So what this is saying is that you create it as an expectation that we expect that you expect new hires to ask why often. And finally, active listening and responding with curiosity and support when the newbie raises questions or ideas can help prevent the erosion of psychological safety and promote a culture of openness and learning. As you can hopefully see, by investing in interpersonal skills training, framing work as being complex and uncertain, and responding with curiosity and support to your newbies questions and ideas.

Julie South [00:10:48]:
It means that your clinic can enhance its psychological safety levels and create a culture of openness and growth. And this is all good stuff because these strategies empower your employees to speak up, to contribute effectively and to thrive in the workplace. And this brings us to another area where psychological safety plays a critical and an important role, the annual employee review process. Have you ever heard of the peak end rule? I hadn't either until this week. Just gone when I was listening to Melina Palmer's Brainy Business podcast which is on my must listen to each week. I'll put links in the show notes for you. The peak end rule suggests that people tend to judge and experience based on how they felt at its peak, the most intense point, and at its end, rather than the total sum or the average of every moment of the experience. For instance, let's consider a scenario in a vet clinic where a near miss occurs during surgery.

Julie South [00:12:12]:
Despite the successful outcome and the overall positive care provided after, the team may remember the intensity of the near miss and then the relief at the end far more vividly than the routine parts of the procedure. That's an example of the peak and the end the peak end rule. In that near miss scenario, it could mean that someone's annual employee review could end up with that as being the focus when their otherwise stellar work nothing to do with near misses for the other eleven months, three weeks, four days throughout the year, they blur into the background. You need to start implementing ways to ensure fairness and promote psychological safety in your annual employee review process. For example, you can start by documenting performance regularly throughout the year. Every week, just a little notebook, a little file, something, just once a week. Go back, because what you'll do then is you'll avoid the peak and the end experiences. You also need to conduct frequent check ins so that you can offer timely feedback throughout the year and reduce the impact of those singular peak end moments.

Julie South [00:13:44]:
You can also include objective metrics rather than the subjective objective metrics like patient care outcomes and client satisfaction. To provide a more balanced evaluation, you can focus on continuous learning as well, and skill development to enhance the quality of care. And lastly, you can conclude reviews with constructive feedback and recognition to motivate and engage your team, your individual people. So, as you can see, hopefully you can see that you need to have a twelve month plan to fairly and equitably give your team the chance for a fair annual review to avoid the cognitive bias that's inherent when the peak end rule plays out. This is something that employees can do as well. Keep a log of all your achievements throughout the year. Spend a few minutes each week, it doesn't take long reflecting over your week, and make notes about what you've done so you can remember to refer to them in your annual review. Mitigating the effects of the peak end rule can be done by both managers and their team members.

Julie South [00:15:06]:
I've said this before, please don't delegate your mental health and your career to someone else. The end peak rule or the peak end rule is part of that. Take responsibility for ensuring that your annual review is as comprehensive and as equitable as possible, not just based on a few random peak and end moments before we wrap up today's episode, can I ask you to do me a favour, please? Can you please start sharing this podcast with your colleagues? When more clinics start putting into practice what we talk about on the vet staff podcast, more clinics will respect their staff and more vets and nurses will get excited about going to work on Monday mornings. Again, thank you. All you have to do is tell those people to visit the vetstaffpodcast.com. easy peasy. Now let's just quickly recap psychological safety. It's essential in the workplace and it shows up on the bottom line.

Julie South [00:16:16]:
It's important that onboarding new hires be taken seriously because the significance of psychological safety in this process, in this system, can't be overstated further. Understanding the peak end rule, another cognitive bias that we all have and how it plays out in annual reviews is critical. The way to offset that is to have more regular check ins with your team throughout the year. This is because when employees feel psychologically safe, they are more likely to view the annual review as an opportunity for growth and development rather than as a threat or punishment. The mindset shift can lead to more open and honest conversations, stronger manager and team relationships, and all good stuff. A more positive workplace culture. This is what you want. This is what can't be replicated down the road.

Julie South [00:17:23]:
I hope you enjoyed all of that. I hope you got something out of that. Please let me know. Juliette Fetstaff, Co dot, NZ this is Julie south signing off, inviting you to go out there and be the most fantabulous version of you you can be. Next week we're going to be looking at meetings, how to make them matter and count at your clinic. Remember to hit that follow button so you don't miss out. Catch you next week and have a fantabulous one. The Vetstaff 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 Vetclinicjobs.com is your go to resource for finding the perfect career opportunities and helping vet clinics power up their employer branding game.

Julie South [00:18:24]:
Visit vetclinicjobs.com today to find vet clinics that shine online so veterinary professionals can find them. Vetclinicjobs.com.