WorkPack A Professional Retention Toolkit
This Toolkit is dedicated to the high functioning teams in veterinary medicine. Remember times when you have worked in a team with flow where you called them your work ‘family’ or ‘pack’.
ABVMA ABVTA Veterinary Professional Workforce Project
This Toolkit arises from the ABVMA / ABVTA Veterinary Professional Workforce Project report in April 2021. Two working groups were struck to delve into the report and identify actions. Three pathways were identified to manage workforce issues.
Advanced Education
- Increase the number of seats at UCVM and Alberta Technology colleges
- Bridging programs
- Micro-credential programs
Progress has been made to increase the number of seats at UCVM and at technical colleges providing animal health (veterinary) technology programs in Alberta.
Immigration
- Targeted rural communities
- Incentives
- Housing/jobs for spouse
- Community engagement
The ABVMA is engaged with CVMA as well as with the provincial government in exploring improvements to the immigration process and attracting more veterinarians and veterinary technologists to Alberta.
Professional Retention
- Full engagement of technologists
- Practice management strategies
- Public awareness campaigns
- Access to daycare, corporate tax incentives, rural broadband
The subject of professional retention is particularly complex. From wages and compensation to fully engaging all skills of veterinary technologists to identifying job stressors to provision of emergency care, the range of factors is diverse. This Toolkit was derived from the wish to provide evidence-based resources on the topics that have arisen around retention of veterinarians and veterinary technologists in clinical practice.
Why is this Toolkit Called WorkPack?
The name gives homage to two significant tenets of professional retention, strong communication and trust in the team.
As with wolf packs strong communication is essential.
Wolves are very cooperative with each other, and when they have a disagreement or must have a group decision, they have a lot of communication or ‘talk’ first
Friederike Range
The native wolf symbol represents loyalty, strong family ties, good communication, education, understanding and intelligence.
In the book Leading Peak Performance, Lessons From the Wild Dogs of Africa by Stephen Hacker and Marvin Washington, it is noted that “a pack is a type of team. A team is but a particular form of community….Pack leadership is a recognition that, in order for the community to be successful, leadership must come from many members, not just from the alpha males and females.”
The word pack can also be taken as ‘pact’ in that staff recruitment and retention will only be accomplished by carefully listening to what staff are saying, using continuous improvement strategies to improve workplace culture and developing trust within the team.
This Toolkit is designed to support veterinary practices in creating a work environment that supports strong recruitment and retention.
Several documents will be referenced. These documents are all available on the ABVMA member portal
- Veterinary Professional Workforce Project final report, April 2021
- Economic Impact Assessment of the Veterinary Medical Sector in Alberta, Dec 2021
- 2022 Associate Veterinarian Report (login required)
- Report on Veterinarians in Government, Industry and Academe 2021 (login required)
- Non-DVM Wage Report 2021 (login required)
- Joan Wallace articles
- Banister Labour Market Survey Results
How to Use This Toolkit
This Toolkit contains ideas and possible actions to positively impact staff recruitment and retention in veterinary workplaces. The Toolkit lays out many options. Consider gradual change – for example, discuss one option for change every staff meeting.
Another approach would be to select a champion in the team who will further research or take training in a particular area to implement a change in the workplace.
Everyone is a leader. At whatever level of authority you have in the workplace, you can make a difference. It may be making a suggestion for positive change at a staff meeting or volunteering to take on a project, there are resources here to support both employees and employers.
Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.
Francis of Assisi, patron saint of Italy, animals, ecology
The Toolkit
Chapter 1
High Performing Teams
Chapter 2
Relational Coordination
Chapter 3
Supportive Workplaces
Chapter 5
Psychological Safety
Chapter 6
Resiliency
Chapter 8
Practice Viability and Sustainability
Chapter 9