By Brenda Tassava Medina, CVPM, CVJ, MVLCE
More than one year into a pandemic, and the veterinary profession has been impacted in a very different way than a lot of other businesses. Veterinary professionals became essential workers. Our workforce couldn’t work remotely during quarantine as our hospitals needed to continue to be open to pets in need. On top of this, those who did get stuck at home as businesses and schools closed, found themselves paying closer attention to their pets, and in many instances adopting pets for the first time. This has caused a wave of higher demand for veterinary services month after month with no end in sight.
While this shift is certainly good news for those monitoring revenue growth, it doesn’t necessarily mean our practices are thriving. How is your staff holding up? If the 2021 Mind the Workplace study, by Mental Health America is any indication, veterinary professionals may be barely surviving. Financial insecurity, employee burnout, and lack of supervisor support have all grown to varying degrees and are all contributing factors to stress and decreased mental health in the workplace. Companies with 50 or fewer employees had the lowest scores when it came to supervisor support and overall mental health.
Financial Insecurity
As a profession, we are already struggling with attracting talented employees and one limiting factor can be found in our profession’s pay rates. The Mind the Workplace study measured three statements to assess the relationship between financial insecurity and employee mental health:
- I worry about not having enough money to pay for my living expenses.
- I am paid enough to save 3 months’ worth of expenses for an emergency.
- I am unable to afford my or my family’s health care costs.
Nearly 58% of respondents reported they worry about not having enough money to pay for their living expenses. More than 60% reported they aren’t paid enough to save for an emergency. Just under 34% reported they are unable to afford health care costs. The threshold in which people felt they earned enough to pay for their living expenses was $60,000-79,999 per year. The threshold for comfort level in saving for an emergency was an individual income of at least $80,000 per year.
When it comes to support staff, outside of management no role in a veterinary practice comes close to $60,000 annually. According to the Well-Managed Practice Benchmarks, in 2019 the highest non-management/admin median hourly rate was reported to be $23.00/hour for a Lead CSR with 9+ years’ experience. This pay rate falls short of $50,000/year and cements the fact that as a profession, veterinary practices are failing to pay employees enough to foster financial security and improve mental health in their workplaces.
Employee Burnout
Burnout is defined by the World Health Organization as, “a syndrome resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed, characterized by three dimensions: feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion; reduced professional efficacy; and increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one’s job”. There are many factors that contribute to burnout including, overwhelming workload, long working hours, chronic staff shortages, and lack of support from supervisors and managers. Besides being in a constant mode of employee turnover and hiring, how does burnout impact a veterinary practice? It causes lower productivity and quality of work, job dissatisfaction and workplace negativity, as well as high absenteeism. Additionally, as burnout grows and cynicism sets in, your client service diminishes as team members lose their patience and empathy wanes.
The Mind the Workplace study measured four statements adapted from the Maslach Burnout Inventory to assess their degree of burnout:
- I feel emotionally drained from my work.
- I have accomplished many worthwhile things in my job.
- I really don’t care what happens to my colleagues or clients at my job.
- I feel more callous toward people since I took this job.
Exhaustion is one of the earliest signs of burnout. In the Mind the Workplace study, nearly 83% of respondents stated they felt emotionally drained from their work. Of those who felt emotionally drained, 71% strongly agreed that their mental health is affected by their workplace.
Support From Supervisors
Supervisors, managers, and leaders all play a significant role in workplace culture. After all, people don’t simply quit their jobs. They typically leave because of their immediate supervisor or the leadership of the organization. Supervisor support is seen as a consistent factor when it comes to employee mental health and workplace well-being.
The following statements were used by the Mind the Workplace study to gauge employee experiences when it comes to supervisor support:
- My supervisor provides emotional support to help me manage my stress.
- My supervisor regularly checks in on me.
- I can talk to my supervisor to change stressful things about my work.
- I know what resources I can use if I feel like I need emotional support.
- I feel acknowledged and accepted at work.
Unfortunately the study reported that 59% of respondents reported that their supervisors did not provide them with emotional support to help them manage their stress. Furthermore, only 47% of supervisors regularly check-in on their employees. Checking-in provides an open Avenue of communication between employee and supervisor. When this isn’t happening, employees don’t feel they can approach or talk to their supervisors when they are experiencing stress. Having positive relationships with coworkers and supervisors is critical to workplace satisfaction and overall well-being.
What Can You Do?
If you’re a practice owner or manager, take a look at the health of your practice in these areas: professional fees, employee assistance programming or support, and leadership development. As a profession, it will never be possible to dramatically increase support staff salaries until we reconcile and get comfortable with the fees we are charging for the services we deliver. As long as practices continue to bear the brunt of fee sensitivity, quickly offer discounts, and allow charges to slide then they will be hard-pressed to ever increase their employees’ wages. Do yourself and your staff a favor and consider a fee review that results in implementation of a fee schedule that is realistic, and is in line with the value of the services and care you offer everyday. If you need help with this process, please reach out to us at carol@vetsupport.com for more information.
If you don’t have an employee assistance program in place, it’s time to get one. An EAP is a hands-off way that your staff can reach out for support on a variety of work-related issues. The support topics range from personal finances, to domestic abuse or suicidal ideations. The cost of these plans range from $1.50/employee/month, and can be obtained through healthcare providers or insurance brokers. One place to start would be Alera Vet (www.aleravet.com), who is endorsed by AAHA and the VHMA as a veterinary-specific insurance broker. They can guide you, and provide options for EAPs for your practice. Within your employee manual, under the benefits section, ensure that your staff know that this is available, and 100% confidential.
Finally, take time to invest in your leadership team. In many veterinary practices, team leaders are appointed based on whose-been-here-the-longest, rather than who demonstrates the strongest leadership skills needed in a veterinary hospital. These individuals need mentorship, coaching, and education in order to become strong supervisors who can support employees in meaningful ways. If you feel your leadership team needs to get everyone on the same page and truly develop their skills in this area, we can help. Contact Carol Hurst, LVT, CVPM, CCFP for more information at carol@vetsupport.com.
If you are a financially insecure, burned out veterinary professional who isn’t getting support from your supervisor you can start by sharing this information with your practice owner or practice manager. You can also take steps to assess what you need to do to become more financially secure, and curb your feelings of exhaustion and burnout.
Whether it’s living with a large amount of debt, surviving paycheck-to-paycheck, or simply trying to have enough left over at the end of the week to put a little savings away, you can make changes to your spending habits to gain some security. Check out our resources on personal financial health, and start a monthly personal budget. It’s the first step you can take, over which you have complete control.
Managing your stress and building healthy habits to keep stress at bay is your second step towards better mental health. VetSupport has built out several resources geared towards stress management, leading a healthier lifestyle, and even improving your conflict resolution and communication skills which are all free to you to use.
If at any time you feel the need to reach out to someone for help, or you have thoughts about self-harm please seek help immediately. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255.