Table 1. ZZZ Equine Services 2016


CREATING A CULTURE THAT UNLEASHES YOUR PRACTICE’S POTENTIAL Table 5. Germany and The Netherlands


All EEs Vets Admin Techs


Total career development Total work engagement


4.0 3.9 4.3 3.8 3.6 4.1


Total compensation and benefits 3.8 3.5 3.8 Total relationship management 3.8 3.5 4.0 Total work environment Overall total


4.1 3.9 4.3 3.9 3.6 4.1


Percentage total


4.3 4.1 3.8 4.0 4.3 4.1


77% 73% 81% 82%


Total career development Total work engagement


All EEs Vets


3.2 3.6 3.8 3.8


Total compensation and benefits 3.0 3.1 Total relationship management 3.4 3.5 Total work environment Overall total


3.8 3.8 3.5 3.6


Percentage total


Combined Staff


3.1 3.8 3.0 3.4 3.8 3.5


71% 72% 70%


Table 2. ZZZ Equine Services 2017


All EEs Vets Admin Techs


Total career development Total work engagement


4.0 4.1 4.2 4.0 3.8 4.4


Total compensation and benefits 3.8 3.7 3.6 Total relationship management 4.1 3.8 4.0 Total work environment Overall total


4.1 3.9 4.4 4.0 3.8 4.2


Percentage total


3.8 4.0 3.9 4.5 4.3 4.1


80% 76% 83% 82%


4. Discussion


Since the introduction of our first employee en- gagement survey we have been able to offer the same survey to 14 other equine practices in North America, Germany, and the Netherlands.


Table 3. Combined NA and EU


All EEs Vets Admin Techs Combined


Total career development 3.5 3.9 3.2 3.4 Total work engagement 3.8 3.8 3.8 3.8


Total compensation and benefits


Total relationship management


Percentage total


Total work environment 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 Overall total


3.4 3.6 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.6 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.6 3.7


3.1 3.8


3.0 3.4


3.8 3.5


74% 75% 73% 74% 70%


Our initial survey in 2016 showed that our company of 10 veterinarians and 20 support staff had an overall score of 77%, which indicates a high level of employee engagement with room for improvement. A key finding for us was that our veterinarians were less engaged overall than our support staff (73% versus 81%). The key areas of concern were found in the components of Work Engagement, Compen- sation and Benefits, and Relationship Manage- ment. Specific scores and comments told us that the main areas of concern were that our vets were tired and potentially suffering from “burnout.” They were working 5 days a week, but the days were very long with appointments, client commu- nication, and medical recordkeeping typical to equine veterinary practice. What we also identi- fied was that the veterinarians did not feel that they were being compensated enough compared with col- leagues working with other species. While com- pensation was a concern for support staff it was especially important to our veterinarians. In addi- tion, our management team was not effectively com- municating with our veterinarians. In my role as president I didn’t seem involved with the day-to-day activities of the practice and it reflected on everyone else.


The comments were especially revealing. The anonymity of the survey gave everyone carte blanche to share what they wouldn’t tell us in per- son. It gave specific examples of what we needed to do to improve. As a result of the survey, we changed the sched-


Table 4. North America


All EEs Vets Admin Techs


Total career development Total work engagement


3.6 4.0 3.3 3.9 3.8 3.9


Total compensation and benefits 3.6 3.7 3.6 Total relationship management 3.6 3.6 3.6 Total work environment Overall total


4.2 4.1 4.2 3.8 3.8 3.8


Percentage total 154 2018  Vol. 64  AAEP PROCEEDINGS


3.5 3.8 3.5 3.6 4.1 3.7


76% 76% 75% 75%


ules of the veterinarians to give them a 4-day work week without changing their compensation. In es- sence they were able to work 1 less day while still being paid the same. I also focused more on being more engaged myself in the daily activities of the practice and the activities of our veterinarians. In the spring of 2017 we repeated the survey and


the results justified our actions the previous year. Our overall score improved by 3% to just shy of 80%. The big improvement came from the vet’s responses; what we did the year before was appreciated. Our vets were much more engaged. Not only did our veterinarians seem happier at work, but despite the 20% decrease in veterinary capacity our revenue


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