What happens when you hire a new veterinary team member?
Do they receive a thorough training program that explains and reinforces your clinic’s standards of care, service and operational protocols?
Or do you always plan to do the necessary training….but it doesn’t quite happen because, well…your clinic gets busy and suddenly it’s all hands on deck regardless of how well those hands may have been trained.
Although most of us know that every new employee, whether new to a position or already accomplished in the role, needs training in your daily tasks and procedures, unfortunately, this thorough training happens far too infrequently. And even worse, too many practices still believe in throwing their newly hired employees into the deep end with limited guidance – and then wonder why they have high staff turnover!
Employees who are not trained adequately become bewildered and stressed and produce different client/patient care standard outcomes. This reflects within the clinic with increased client complaints and a reduction in income over time.
Should Veterinary Practices nurture their new employees and existing staff more? Should training be placed on top of the practice priority list? I believe so!
Benefits of a good onboarding system
Consider this:
A good onboard learning program will provide your new team member with the following benefits:
- Tools to create and test your new employee’s training requirements.
- An understanding of your clinic standards.
- An understanding of your clinic policies, procedures and the quality of client/patient care is required.
- A buddy learning system – someone who shows your new employee the clinic operating tasks.
- A training program that provides the tools for your new employee to learn new skills.
- Time structure that monitors your new employee’s learning schedule until they’re confident in performing tasks and procedures.
- Clinic operating policies & procedures that all employees can refer to when performing their everyday tasks.
The importance of consistency
Ensuring consistency for the tasks completed within your clinic is extremely important as this is the only way you can provide consistent standards of care for your clients and patients. Having a clear learning path for your employees where everyone’s outcome for the quality of care is the same, is paramount for any business.
New employees frequently struggle with the amount of learning they need to do within a Veterinary Practice as well as the necessary skills required to successfully carry out their new job.
Having a fully customised learning system will help new employees learn your clinic’s operating tasks and standards in a structured, nurturing environment leading to faster learning, less stress and more confident team members.
What’s the difference between a TAFE/Uni program and an Onboard Learning System?
Good question! What IS the difference between a customised onboard system and TAFE/Uni Courses? And do you really need both?
When studying at TAFE or university, Veterinary Nurse and Veterinarian skills training are ‘Performance Orientated’ which means it focuses on a skill-based learning program where the employee demonstrates competence in tasks and skills relative to a National Standard.
Achieving the National Standard, in turn, enables the employee to gain measurable skills to perform a specific job at a specific pay rate.
However, new employment learning (onboarding) is both ‘Performance’ and ‘Mastery Orientated’. It helps employees to be motivated towards achieving your clinic’s standard goals and can also predict the likelihood that your new employee will not only achieve your standards – but sustain them.
The importance of Mastery Orientation
Mastery Orientation helps employees not only focus on learning but also on mastering tasks, self-improvement, and developing new skills.
Mastery Goal Orientation increases:
- Thirst for knowledge
- Engagement
- Performance self-efficacy
- Resilience in the face of failure
Now the important questions you need to ask yourself are…
When a new employee joins your team…
Are you covering all the aspects of a good onboarding process?
Do you focus not only on performance orientation but also on mastery orientation?
Is your training efficient?
Are you teaching your new employees your client and patient standards of care?
If you can’t answer ‘Yes’ to most of these questions, then you need to contact us.
Astute Veterinary Solutions are veterinary training program designers, and we would be more than happy to discuss how we can help you to efficiently and effectively train your new team members in a structured, nurturing environment leading to faster learning, less stress and more confident team members.
Please visit www.astuteveterinarysolutions.com.au to discover options for creating learning programs or phone us on 0418 253 963. Janelle will be more than happy to discuss your situation with you and guide you in the right direction for your practice.
