Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1277774
19 Winter/Fall 2020 | Equine Solutions Strategies for support Consider the following strategies to support team morale and prevent burnout: • Have scheduled check-ins with your team, ideally on at least a monthly basis. Specifically ask about whether they have the resources needed to do their jobs well. Listen to their responses. It might not be possible to fix each problem, but acknowledging the limitations is a crucial way to supporting coping and diminishing burnout. It can also help to prioritize the needs of the practice. That way, even if they can't meet all of the demands of their jobs, they can feel confident and satisfied that they've done the most important components of their jobs. • Be sure to share with them information about the performance of the practice. Your team is invested in the practice's success; keeping its members in the loop supports engagement and dedication to the team. • Actively cross-train your team. Depending on the size of your clinic, you might only have one or two people that know how to do a given task. This places extra strain on those individuals on a daily basis because if they are sick or want to take vacation, they know that there is no one to fill in or that them not being at work would add to the burden of a friend or colleague. Ensuring that there is enough back-up or redundancy on your team so that no one individual is holding up an entire function (e.g., lab technician, inventory manager) removes metaphorical weight from that person's shoulders and can help prevent burnout. • Openly acknowledge and create space for staff to meet their personal and life needs. We all need time in our days to eat, sleep and go to the bathroom. These basic needs are often pushed to the side as staff work to provide excellent care to patients and finish the workday "on time." Scheduling breaks into the day and creating an expectation that staff are to take them is critical. Doing so sends the message that the staff are cared about as humans and that they are valued. Further, these breaks serve as a recharge period that give staff more resources (time, energy, patience) to devote to meeting the demands of the day. Take-home message Everyone wants to work at a vet practice that has a positive culture from the top down, collegiality, and respect for each individual and his/her contributions. This is an achievable goal if management and staff determine that it is a priority for that practice and take steps to build an environment where staff can flourish. While the amount and type of work a person does can contribute to burnout, the attitude of that person and the relationship to his/her colleagues and management can alleviate some of the causes of job stress and burnout. 1. Burnout, International Classification of Diseases. World Health Organization. Accessed June 20, 2020. https://www.who.int/mental_health/evidence/burn-out/en/ . The more we try to support team morale and put measures in place to reduce or prevent burnout, the more likely we are to have a positive clinic culture and a high-performing team.