387 Vets Directors Hamish and Rachel attended the Society of Practising Veterinary Surgeons (SPVS) and Veterinary Practice Managers Association (VPMA) 2017 Congress at the weekend, but not as ordinary delegates. The practice was presented with an inaugural Wellbeing Award at the opening ceremony in recognition of its commitment to maintaining a happy working environment.
Hamish and Rachel received the Small Practice Wellbeing Award for a practice with up to 15 staff, and went up on stage in front of over 500 delegates alongside Valley Vets from Cardiff and White Cross Vets, winners of the Medium and Large Practice Awards respectively.
After press photos, Rachel and the other wellbeing winners shared their best ideas in a panel debate and question and answer session chaired by Dr Radha Modgil – a GP and co-host of Radio 1’s The Surgery, as part of the congress’s mental health lecture stream.
Rachel talked about the 387 practice ethos and looking to Investors in People as a brilliant support for leading and empowering staff and improving communication and wellbeing at work. She also explained about the new staff gratitude board in the kitchen to recognise the positive values the 387 team live and work by, and personality profiling undertaken to help the team understand different behaviour patterns and approaches to tasks.
“It was fantastic to meet the other Wellbeing winners and to see that even though we vary in size, we share many common approaches to making our workplace a nice place to be.
“We hope we’ve given other practices ideas to take away, and look forward to developing and implementing our own new initiatives over the course of the coming year.”
The Wellbeing Awards were created by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons’ Mind Matters Initiative and SPVS to celebrate those practices who are truly committed to supporting and motivating their team to create a happy and fulfilling workplace. For more information click here.