Positive team environment

In the previous entry, we started to look at the article “What veterinarians and veterinary students really want“, which named work-life balance as the most important aspect for new graduates. This time we look at the second most important: working in a positive team environment.

“Salary will not keep a young vet in a practice with a negative culture,” Landis-Hanna said. “You have to fix the toxicity.”

Fixing a toxic culture is incredibly difficult for someone stepping into a new position. My advice would be, if the culture does not feel right, you have to decide to stay and contribute towards cultivating the culture you want or leave. That might seem a bit black and white, and you may feel you have no choice, but ultimately you do. If you stay and are not mentally prepared for the upcoming challenge it can sour your taste of this great profession of ours.

Stay or go?

I have friends who stayed in workplaces with an unsupportive, negative culture and it has ruined their first impression – they did not leave quick enough. If you decide to stay then give yourself a deadline and start to take action.

If you are a current employee and find yourself in a similar situation, you have the same two choices. If you are the employer and have high rates of staff turnover, stop and reflect, it might be you.

So, you decide to stay. The first thing you have to understand is the only thing you can control is your own attitude and actions. This is the most important part, you control your responses and your actions, so start to demonstrate the things you want to cultivate. Mahatma Gandhi said: “You need to be the change that you wish to see in the world.”

What to do

1. Control your attitude. This applies now, your words and actions are what you control, but they are external manifestations of what you think. Shift your mindset by focusing on the good, finding humour in bad situations, turn failures into lessons, focus on the present, stop the negative self-talk “I am not good at this” to “I am not good at this yet”.
2. Providing positive reinforcement to your work mates. This can feel uncomfortable if you are a new team member, but acknowledge them for their specific actions that impress you.
3. Spread happiness. This can be as simple as smiling and saying hello, and genuinely acknowledging people. Finding humour in situations, I find, helps dramatically.
4. Celebrate the wins. This applies to more than just your own. Celebrate your team members’ wins, celebrate them as a team. If a client gives you chocolates, take them out the back and share them with the team, as they helped contribute to your win.
5. Motivate and support your team. If there is something a team member has not done, support them or show them how. Everyone wants to feel they are learning and progressing, so encourage them and facilitate growth.
6. Gratitude is one of the most powerful ways we can change our perspective on life. When you feel thankful, grateful and content you will feel more satisfied with what you have in life.
7. Kindness. Demonstrate acts of kindness within your team – do something someone else would not expect you to do, or offer to help with something.

No ‘smack talk’

At the hospital we have a rule of “no smack talk” – basically, this means if you would not say something directly to a colleague or pet owner then do not say it at all. It has changed our team culture dramatically as we have eliminated negative talk, which I believe is a real problem in workplaces. Negative talk spreads, and can affect everyone and their performance. It isn’t easy to achieve and it takes time; however, as a team, we are much stronger and positive as a result.

Ultimately, what is important is that your first position is in a positive and supportive environment. Set yourself, your career, up for success – if you feel the culture does not fit with you, make a choice: stay or go.