QUARTERLY BEAT / JULY 2025
WORKPLACE CULTURE DERAILED!
BACK ON TRACK
HOW TO GET YOUR PRACTICE
Is your hospital culture starting to feel chaotic, disconnected, or even toxic? You’re not alone—but there’s a way back. In this VETgirl article, Dr. Wendy Hauser explores what derails workplace culture in veterinary practices and, most importantly, how to get it back on track. From understanding the differences between healthy, neglected, and toxic cultures to identifying red flags like disrespect, exclusion, and unethical behavior, this article breaks down the root causes of dysfunction. If you’re ready to reset your hospital’s culture and create a more collaborative, respectful environment, this read is a must! TOXIC WORKPLACE CULTURES A toxic culture is one in which employees dread going to work; it is common for them to feel anxious or stressed as they pull into the parking lot. Toxic culture was the single best indicator of turnover in the first 6 months of the great resignation. 2 Multiple studies have found that working in a toxic environment is associated with higher levels of workplace stress, burnout, physical illness, and mental health issues. Toxicity leads to turnover, with one study citing that “1 in 5 employees left a job at some point in their career due to a toxic culture” 2 . Less engaged employees are 20% less productive than those who are engaged in their job, due to decreased effort and absenteeism. Finally, in today’s connected world, toxic cultures are well known to job seekers; having a toxic employer brand makes it harder to attract candidates. What creates a toxic culture? There are five factors that drive behaviors seen in toxic cultures 2 : • Non-Inclusive: Exclusion occurs in hospitals when there is a perception that everyone is not treated fairly or are not uniformly welcomed, based on factors like “gender, race, sexual identity and orientation, disability, and age” 2 . It is worsened when leaders hold employees to different standards, playing favorites or when cliques are allowed to form, excluding others without specifying why. • Disrespectful: Feeling disrespected has been identified as the factor that most negatively impacts an employee’s overall
Wendy Hauser, DVM Peak Veterinary Consulting
Veterinary professionals are dedicated to promoting optimal health in and for their patients. Most practitioners do not promote that same care for their hospital’s organizational health, either because they do not understand its impact or because they do not know where to start. When practices are left to manage themselves, daily chaos is the norm. Chaos can be recognized by a lack of teamwork and professionalism, inefficiencies, and a lack of common guidelines that help to create consistency in how team members do their work. How can practice leadership keep their practices on track, creating a cohesive workplace culture where veterinary team members feel safe, heard, respected, and work collaboratively to achieve co-created outcomes? Culture is defined as “the set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an institution or organization” 1 . All veterinary practices have a workplace culture, which may manifest in different ways: HEALTHY WORKPLACE CULTURES A healthy workplace culture is the single biggest factor in creating a successful veterinary hospital. A healthy culture is critical in creating an environment in which all employees can grow and thrive. Workplaces with healthy cultures report greater employee engagement, job satisfaction, and more effective teamwork. Healthy workplace cultures have leadership that has adapted by expanding their skill sets to help empower employees. These leaders successfully manage themselves by understanding how their actions (or lack of actions) impact their followers. NEGLECTED WORKPLACE CULTURES Culture is neglected when leaders fail to define, create, and reinforce shared values and goals. Neglected organizational culture is unmanaged; there are no guardrails and chaos ensues. Due to lack of leadership, each faction in the practice operates under its own guidelines. This leads to misunderstandings, confusion, and resentment among animal health care team members. The impact on teams is often higher rates of absenteeism, burnout, and turnover. Neglected cultures are at risk of devolving into toxic workplaces.
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