Veterinary Voices

Subtle Killers of Team Morale: Quiet (Silent) Quitting, Disengagement and Working to Rule

• Julie South of VetStaff & VetClinicJobs • Episode 192

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Have you ever wondered how to unlock the full potential of your veterinary team?

Join DISC Certified Trainer and Resilience Coach Julie South as she unravels some of the secrets to boosting employee engagement in the veterinary industry. 

Julie shares practical strategies and expert insights that can transform your clinic's culture and performance.

Three key takeaways from this episode include:

  1. Discover the impact of employee engagement on clinic profitability and customer satisfaction.
  2. Learn actionable techniques to uplift staff morale and cultivate a positive work environment in veterinary practices.
  3. Explore effective approaches to rekindle passion and motivation among your veterinary team members.


Southern Cross & BusinessNZ Workplace Wellness Study 

Hospital Staff Work to Rule - 2022

Ep 189 - Words and Gestures:  A window into your colleagues’ personalities – verbal and non verbal language 

Ep 190 - Cracking the Code to Team Success: Psychological Safety, Collaboration, and Connection

Contemplating your next career move?
Tania Bruce - VetStaff's passionate kiwi recruiter - would welcome the opportunity to have a 100% confidential chat with you. Tania's a former Ortho Head Vet Nurse so speaks your language!

How to get more bang for your recruitment advertising buck
This is what VetStaff is really good at so if you'd like to stretch your recruitment dollar, please get in touch with Julie because this is something VetStaff can help you with.

Committed to DIY-ing your own recruitment?
If so, then shining online as a good employer is essential to attracting the types of veterinary professionals who're a perfect cultural fit for your clinic.

The VetClinicJobs job board is the place to post your next job vacancy - to find out more get in touch with Lizzie at VetClinicJobs

Revive Your Drive - daily 2-minute videos for veterinary employers and employees to help revive their drives at work and at home.

Julie South:

You're listening to the Vet Staff Podcast, where veterinary professionals can top up their resilience tanks, get their heads screwed on straight and get excited about going to work on Monday mornings again. This is Episode 192, and I'm your show host, Julie South, certified Disc Trainer and Resilience Coach. In the last episode, we talked about the importance of employee engagement and how understanding yourself and your team's specific needs can unlock potentials. If you missed it, then go back and have a listen as it sets the stage for today's topic, and today we are looking into the concept of quiet quitting or silent quitting and how it differs from disengagement, and we talked about engagement last week. We'll explore the signs for you to look out for and give you some strategies to help you mitigate this subtle yet impactful issue in your life and your clinic.

Julie South:

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, a new term was born, or another new term was born in the workplace dictionary or the lexicon, and that was quiet quitting or silent quitting. A 2023 New Zealand study showed that approximately one in five Kiwi businesses is experiencing quiet quitting at their place. The research was jointly undertaken by Southern Cross, health Society and Business NZ. It was the inaugural employer survey about the prevalence of quiet quitting in the workplace, which is a term that gained traction around 2022-2023. I'll put the links to that research if you are interested in the show notes at vetstaffpodcastcom. 137 different employers across different industries participated in the survey and, from these, one in five or 21.5 percent, acknowledged witnessing instances of quiet quitting on their team, while the majority 60% reported not observing anything like that. What was interesting was that the study found that almost 1 in 4, 23.3% of employers with more than 50 employees noted that quiet quitting was a thing, compared to one in five, or 19.4 percent, of those with fewer than 50 employees. Nick Astwick, who's the CEO of Southern Cross Health Society, links the rise of quiet quitting to the changes that workforces experienced during and because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, that's probably not a surprise to you either. The pandemic has forever changed the world and it has forever changed the workplace. He specifically referenced the shift to remote work, which impacted vet clinics just like it impacted other workplaces, albeit somewhat different. Because of this, there's now an increased focus on employee well-being and job satisfaction.

Julie South:

Now, while quiet quitting is often confused with disengagement, quiet or silent quitting is different or silent quitting is different. Quiet quitting is when employees do the absolute bare minimum required by their job description, without going above and beyond or displaying any kind of commitment to their work. This might sound a bit like working to rule. That's what I have been thinking all this time. Well, if somebody is quiet, quitting, aren't they just working to rule? Well, I have been thinking all this time well, if somebody is quiet, quitting, aren't they just working to rule? Well, no, they're not. They are both workplace resistance or both demonstrate workplace resistance, but their approaches and their outcomes are different.

Julie South:

Quiet quitting or silent quitting is a passive form of resistance. It's when your team becomes disengaged or disillusioned with their jobs and they begin to mentally check out, they reduce their effort, they stop offering suggestions and ideas, they avoid or stop taking on extra tasks and or they might start looking for other jobs. It's subtle and it may not be immediately noticeable, but it can and it does have a significant impact on productivity and morale over time. As I said, it's a passive form of resistance where employees gradually disengage without explicitly or overtly expressing their dissatisfaction. Working to rule is an active form and a very overt form of resistance, and this is when your team follows all the rules and all the procedures strictly and only perform the tasks outlined in their job description.

Julie South:

For New Zealand listeners, you may remember that medical nurses, back in 2022, had a work-to-rule strike. I'll put the notes to that in the show notes to this episode at VetStar Podcast if you're interested in looking at that. For any reason, working-to-rule means that staff refuse to go above and beyond basic duties. Now imagine how that would slow down productivity and disrupt operations if that happened in your clinic. The goal of working to rule is to demonstrate to management the impact of strict adherence to rules and the importance of recognising and addressing employee concerns. So it's like the strike they have when they don't have a strike. Unlike quiet quitting, working to rule is deliberate and it's a visible form of protest that aims to draw attention to specific issues or grievances within the workplace. So, as you can see, while quiet quitting that's quite hard to say quiet quitting involves employees gradually disengaging and becoming less productive without explicit protest. Working to rule is a more overt and active strategies where your team will adhere strictly to the rules to highlight grievances and to push for change.

Julie South:

While your quiet quitting employees probably aren't being overtly disruptive or negative, neither are they fully invested in what they're doing. They may show up on time, complete their assigned tasks and maintain a kind of adequate level of performance, but they're not putting in any extra effort or enthusiasm. In a vet clinic, a silent quitter, a quiet quitter might perform their basic duties, such as examining patients and administering treatments, but they probably won't take the initiative to improve processes, to come up with ideas, to initiate any follow-up procedures, like nurse consults, for example, or go out of their way to provide over and above client service. They're coasting in their role where they're actively engaging in your clinic's mission or goals. When employees aren't fully invested in their work, it can lead to missed opportunities for growth, missed opportunities for innovation, missed opportunities for innovation, and client satisfaction suffers Over time.

Julie South:

A culture of silent quitting or quiet quitting can erode all the hard work that your clinic has put into place over the years to grow its performance and its competitiveness over the years. To grow its performance and its competitiveness. If you're a clinic leader, it's critical to be on the lookout for the signs and then to start taking proactive steps to address silent or quiet quitting. For example, how well do you know what motivates everyone on your team? When you understand what their motivations and their aspirations are, you can start thinking about how you can help fill up their cup in this way. Filling up your team's professional and motivational cup isn't only good for them, it's good for everyone else as well. You also need to set clear expectations for performance and engagement and, to quote Mahatma Gandhi, you need to be the change that you want to see in the world. In other words, you need to model the behavior you want to see in your team. Other words, you need to model the behavior you want to see in your team. When you create a positive, supportive workplace where people feel valued and empowered to do their best work, you can help prevent and mitigate silent quitting and you help grow the culture of true engagement.

Julie South:

Ultimately, whether it's silent quitting or more overt forms of disengagement, the key is to stay tuned to your team's needs and to take action to promote a healthy, productive workplace. One way you can do this is to make sure that you have regular one-on-ones with everyone on your team. If the mere thought of doing this puts you into a state of apoplexy, then you're either managing too many people and or you may need some leadership training, because you've been thrown in the deep end as a leader. I was at a leadership training course centuries ago where we were all told that the ideal number of direct reports is about the same as the number of people you would invite to a dinner party or a barbecue. If you had to work the room to get around everyone, there were too many people there, but if you could catch up with everyone in a meaningful way at the barbecue or at the dinner party, it meant that you had the right number of guests. That means that you've got the right number of direct reports. Therefore, I would suggest to you that the maximum number of direct reports to one single person would be 10. And that's a lot of people. Even an experienced manager would find themselves working hard with 10 direct reports. If you're a hands-on manager, then three to six direct reports would be about optimal.

Julie South:

What we've been talking about here is an aspect of employee well-being, so your team can be, and become and stay resilient. When you have resilient people on your team, they're more likely to thrive when life throws them or your clinic a surprise curveball. You can't expect people to be resilient when they're constantly and permanently exhausted. Having too many direct reports can be exhausting. When was the last time that you sat down and had a one-on-one with your team members, and or when did you have one with your manager?

Julie South:

Having said that, as a leader, it's important to realize that this is a two-way street Both employers and employees, team leaders and team members have a role to play in up and down the communication chain. None of us are mind readers. Even the best team leader can miss something in one of their team if they've got stuff going on in their own life. And that's where teams that communicate really well, teams that have each other's backs and know each other's strengths and weaknesses, are strong teams. From the leader's perspective, recognizing your team's individual needs begins with active listening and observation. So if you're the team leader, you need to start paying attention if you don't already to your team members' behavior, their body language and their communication styles.

Julie South:

I've talked about verbal and nonverbal cues that we all exhibit, that we all have that. Give us a way. I'll put links to that episode as well in the show notes so that you can go back and have a listen to that, or you can go back and listen to episode 189 when you finish this episode. The episode that you're looking out for is entitled Words and Gestures a window into your colleagues' personalities, verbal and non-verbal language. So here are some signs for you to look out for.

Julie South:

Ask yourself open your eyes. Are your team members enthusiastic and engaged in their work, or has their get up and go? Gotten up and gone At meetings? Are they withdrawn and disinterested? Do they share ideas freely, their concerns as well, or are they reluctant to say anything? What's their physical posture like? Are they making eye contact? Do they laugh, do they smile, or are they sullen, withdrawn and clammed up? Setting up regular check-ins and one-on-ones are one of the first steps that you can take to start checking the pulse and the team health at your clinic. Remember to ask open-ended questions such as what challenges are you facing in your role? Make sure they're work-related. What resources or support would help you be more successful at work? By creating a psychological safe space, which we've talked about last week, you can build trust and encourage your team members to be honest about their needs. If you haven't listened to that, then it's. We actually did that a couple of weeks ago. It's episode 190, and it's called Cracking the Code to Team Success Psychological Safety, collaboration and Connection.

Julie South:

Now, of course, as a DISC certified trainer, I wouldn't be doing my job properly, and it'd be remiss of me not to mention how powerful the DISC assessment tool is. I've seen firsthand how it makes such a difference to people's communication styles, their motivations and their work preferences. Somehow it's almost like it automatically gives people permission to be more of who they really are and to up the ante and step into their strengths. I've literally seen people start glowing because, for example, they know they're into making sure that they've got all the information they need before they can make a decision. But now it's like they truly believe it's okay to do that and somehow they've gone from appearing anal to appearing more relaxed and researched. Likewise, I've seen that gregarious outgoing types step into their outgoing nature and build even stronger, better client relationships. Discflow the type that we're accredited here at Fetstaff truly is an amazing tool. I know I keep banging on about communication, and that's because it's absolutely essential.

Julie South:

My takeaway for you for today is to make time to get to know the people you work with, especially if you're the team leader. Schedule regular short one-on-ones with your team to find out what lights them up, what challenges they have and what their professional aspirations are. And if you're the employee, if you're the team member and your team leader hasn't started the ball rolling yet, then start it yourself. Ask for a one-on-one with your manager or your team leader and share with them where you're at, let them know professionally where you're sitting on the quitting engagement spectrum. Go to the meeting with solutions for them to help you find your mojo or keep your mojo burning bright.

Julie South:

I've just mentioned that I wouldn't be doing my job properly if I didn't extol the virtues of DISC personality and behavior assessment profile. Seriously, you'll feel and see the light bulbs going off when you do this, and a good place to start is by finding out the composition of your leadership team, their communication preferences, styles and behavior. You've got to know where you are before you can plot a course forward. Otherwise, any path will take you anywhere and that might not be the somewhere you want to be. If you like this podcast, please can you share it with your team, especially your team leader and or someone that you think has lost their work mojo. Thank you very much.

Julie South:

Until next week. This is Julie South signing off, inviting you to go out there and be the most fantabulous, engaged, resilient version of you you can be. The Vet Staff Podcast is proudly powered by VetClinicJobscom, the new and innovative global job board, reimagining veterinary recruitment, connecting veterinary professionals with clinics that shine online. Vetclinicjobscom is your go-to resource for finding the perfect career opportunities and helping vet clinics power up their employer branding game. Visit vetclinicjobscom today to find vet clinics that shine online so veterinary professionals can find them.

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