VETgirl July 2025 BEAT e-Magazine

QUARTERLY BEAT / JULY 2025

perception of their workplace culture. These feelings are strong when there is a lack of consideration, courtesy, and dignity for others. In surveys, respect toward employees rises to the top of the list of cultural elements that matter most. 2 • Unethical: Unethical behavior impacts employees at both the organizational and personal level. Common terms used by employees to capture the emotions of working in an unethical environment include shady, cheat, unethical, mislead, and lying. • Cutthroat: This emotion is present in the workplace when employees feel a lack of collaboration and teamwork at the organizational level. At a personal level, team members felt undermined, describing their environments as ‘dog eat dog’, being thrown under the bus and that teammates stab each other in the back. 2 • Abusive: “Abusive management has been defined as sustained hostile behavior toward employees” 2 by those in leadership positions. Leadership behaviors that are abusive include “bullying, yelling, or shouting at employees, belittling or demeaning subordinates, and talking down to people” 2 .

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

GETTING PRACTICE CULTURE BACK ON THE RAILS Creating and maintaining a healthy workplace culture is the single most impactful job of practice leadership. It requires commitment and guidance that trickles downward from the practice owner to all employees. It is the responsibility of the owner, manager and all team leaders to model and reinforce the behaviors that are expected in the workplace. Where does a leader start? DEFINE WHAT IS IMPORTANT WITHIN THE PRACTICE What are the organizational core values that define how your team does their work and treats others? Shared core values serve to define the mutual beliefs about the ‘identity’ of the practice, which is the role the practice plays every day and why it is meaningful to pets, clients, employees, the community, and the veterinary profession. Shared core values should serve to guide all actions leaders take every day. MODEL DESIRABLE BEHAVIORS Veterinary team members take their cues about acceptable workplace behaviors by watching what practice leaders do and how they act. This helps team members understand what behaviors are “encouraged, expected and tolerated”. 3 Every leader within the practice has an obligation to reinforce the shared values through their actions. This includes desirable actions as well as regulating emotions that are better off suppressed. An example of this is when a veterinarian or team lead within the practice avoids labeling clients as ‘difficult,’ ‘cheap,’ ‘unreasonable,’ ‘emotional’ or other derogatory terms. When a leader voices these feelings, even behind closed doors, it signals to the team members that it is acceptable to negatively label clients. These attitudes adversely impact the client-practice bond, as well as serving as a source of toxic emotional culture for the entire team.

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.

HOW LEADERS FACILITATE TOXIC WORKPLACE CULTURE The best predictor of toxic culture can be found by looking at leadership. 3 Reshaping practice culture requires that leaders be willing to hold themselves, and all employees, accountable for behaviors that lead to neglected and toxic workplaces. There are three primary drivers of toxic behavior, which are toxic leadership, toxic social norms, and poor work design 3 : TOXIC LEADERSHIP Leaders are rarely accountable for the actions of poorly behaved employees. 4 Leadership actions, either directly or indirectly, may enable poor behavior that violates agreed-upon practice norms. These actions negatively impact individuals who are on the receiving end of coworkers’ abusive communication styles or the target of gossip. The practice can be harmed when an employee fails to adhere to practice policies, creating inconsistencies in how client management and patient care is delivered. SOCIAL NORMS Social norms are behaviors that are desirable and acceptable in the workplace. Norms develop implicitly and if not actively managed they will dictate team dynamics. Examples of unchecked social norms include habits and unspoken ‘rules’ like who sits where and who has the most influence. WORK DESIGN In studies, poor work design has been found to contribute to stress and lead to toxic behaviors. Work design with the highest correlation to toxic cultures include workplaces with role conflict, excessive workloads, and role ambiguity. 3

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