Pfizer Can Show You How Engaging You Are To Your Employees
13 years ago
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Posted
13th February, 2012 18h10
Vet Support+ announce key drivers for employee engagement within a veterinary practice
In the most comprehensive bespoke study of employee engagement ever carried out amongst veterinary practices, Vet Support+ has identified the three key drivers to an engaged team;
- leadership,
- performance management and
- team effectiveness.
And of the three, performance management is the lynchpin.
Recognising veterinary practices can be complex organisations, Vet Support+ designed the employee engagement survey specifically for the veterinary industry to provide insight only for this market. More than 4,000 responses were gathered providing insights from 749 practice owners, partners and practice managers and almost 3,500 individual veterinary practice employees. Extensive analysis and modelling from an independent expert and the Vet Support+ team led to the identification of the three drivers for an actively engaged team within a veterinary practice.
Employee engagement is the creation of a win:win situation between employees and employers, creating alignment and value for both parties. Engaged employees deliver a greater contribution so the creation of a national benchmark for employee engagement and the identification of the key drivers will prove invaluable for veterinary practice owners and managers.
Vet Support+ is committing to running the research on a regular basis to ensure that in addition to delivering practical solutions at a practice level, the evolution of employee engagement amongst all veterinary staff can be monitored.
Although recognised as the absolute ‘must have’ driver for good employee engagement, performance management was identified as an area of weakness in many practices. There is a disconnect between management and staff regarding both formal appraisals and informal feedback taking place; in both cases, management tended to believe this was happening while staff disagreed. Of further frustration for staff was the management of poor performers with 52% of staff stating that poor performers were not managed effectively.
Leadership is critical for any successful business but the evidence demonstrates that while personal relationships between management and staff are good, (79% of vets and 76% of staff agree that the relationship between management and teams are generally good) there is a lack of trust between leadership and staff (80% of vets believe there is trust in the team, while only 62% of staff agree).
Owners were more upbeat about team effectiveness, 76% believing the team were willing to put in more effort, while only 63% of staff agree. And there was further disconnect regarding communication within the team with only 49% of staff thinking that communication in practice is good versus 65% of owners.
Commenting about the research, Ned Flaxman, Director Business Innovation at Pfizer Animal Health said; “At face value this data makes for very interesting reading and the identification of the key drivers of engagement in practice is the practical benefit for practices to prioritise their focus of activity on staff management.”
He added; “This research will enable us to work with practices to do their own employee engagement survey to be benchmarked against the national study. This will provide an evidence-based approach to identify the biggest gaps for improvement, and our Vet Support+ team can work with practices to deliver solutions for those challenges whether leadership, team effectiveness or performance management.”
Employee Engagement in the Veterinary Industry (Oct 2011)
Some key highlights:
- 80% of owners believe there is a great deal of trust in the team
- 43% of staff state they do not receive a formal appraisal meeting
- 32% of owners admit their teams do not receive a formal appraisal meeting
- 23% of employees believe their management team are not accessible
- 31% of staff admit they are not willing to put in effort beyond the norm
- 30% of staff do not believe communication is good in their Practice
- 52% of staff do not believe they receive on-going communications about their performance
- 52% of staff believe poor performers are not managed effectively
- 53% of both staff and vets believe they/their teams would they would be happy to spend the rest of their career with their practice
- 43% of staff do not believe everyone is treated equally
- 85% of owners believe everyone in their team is treated equally
- 17% of staff admit to actively looking for a new position
- 20% of nurses believe they are not given sufficient freedom to provide a personal service to their customers
- 51% of staff do not have a personal development plan
- 69% of employed vets do not believe their pay and performance are linked
- 17% of staff are actively looking for a new position
- 15% are unsure about their intentions to stay
Measuring employee engagement can provide a broad and deep insight into the internal dynamics of a veterinary practice’s business, highlighting areas of focus that may not be visible when immersed in the day-to-day running of the practice. Practice owners and managers wishing to understand the data in more detail and measure levels of engagement within their own team against the evidence-based benchmarks the study provides should contact the Vet Support+ team at
www.vetsupportplus.co.ukMore from
