Over the last couple of years there has been a big shift in the veterinary profession, and it took something as significant as a global crisis to really shake the foundations of some of the old ways.
What do I mean by the “old ways”?
The attitudes of both employers and employees that you live to work.
Overtime being the rule not the exception.
Clients first, always.
Mums can’t be vets and parents, it’s either or.
It was proven during the various lockdowns of the last 18 months that there are some amazingly creative ways to deliver veterinary services to the public. It has also proven that there’s still a lot of work to do when it comes to making space for the new way of the veterinary industry to fully emerge.
What’s the new way?
Prioritising people engagement and wellbeing.
Employers showing up for their people when they need them to, professionally and personally.
No longer trying to fit people into job descriptions, instead shaping roles around individual needs, personal commitments and their professional strengths and interests.
Being creative with working hours.
Treating full and part time vets equally.
Over the last 9 years, I’ve been observing the new way trying to emerge over and over again. I have seen glimmers of hope and shifts in attitude. At the same time, I’ve also seen and heard things that have made me feel that attitudes have taken 10 steps back.
If you’re a vet reading this, I invite you to consider the following:
1) Do I feel valued at work?
2) What does my employer do to make me feel valued?
3) Do I have a voice? Do I feel heard?
4) Have my needs been acknowledged?
5) Are my professional interests nurtured in a proactive way?
6) Does my employer do what they say they do?
Regardless of what’s happening in the world, employers can still demonstrate their commitment to you in meaningful ways. There are some wonderful employers out there doing great things, but with thousands of vacancies advertised everywhere you look, they cannot always stand out from the crowd and be noticed.
This is where we come in.
From day 1 of setting up Simply Veterinary Specialist Headhunters in 2013, we committed to working with practices that do what they say they do, that have a flexible way of thinking, who want to hire the right person not just a body to fill a gap, that live and breathe their values and demonstrate them through their consistent actions and behaviours, that recognise their people as human beings with lives and responsibilities, and show up for their people, consistently.
Check out our latest vacancies to read about employers we have a longstanding relationship with and absolute certainty of their ability to show up for their team.