How to Discuss Professionalism with Your Team

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Does any of this sound familiar? Anna, the new technician, was sent home this morning to change into soil-free scrubs. Dr. Rosen showed up an hour late, inconveniencing the rest of the team. He didn’t bother to call and let anyone know he’d be late—again. And just when your day was getting better, an angry client accused Derek, your receptionist, of being nasty to her on the phone.

If you believe your veterinary hospital is the only one experiencing these scenarios, you are not alone!

Clients view veterinary professionals as skilled, educated experts and duly expect and demand professionalism from them. The experience that clients receive while interacting with your employees—from the first phone call to treatment and follow-up—must be positive to prevent them from seeking veterinary services elsewhere.

As a leader, you may assume that employees implicitly understand what professionalism involves. Unfortunately, many practices don’t discuss practice policies until someone breaks the rules. Or worse, the rules aren’t enforced evenly across the board. In order for an entire team to adhere to high standards of professionalism, they need to understand exactly what is expected.

The best way to accomplish this is by involving the entire team in developing practice policies on professionalism. This process offers a great opportunity for team development by ensuring that the entire staff has “ownership.”

Creating a new policy may be more difficult than revising an established, outdated one. Let’s consider starting from scratch with a team that is new to the concept of collaboration and trust. How do we ask for their input? How does a manager encourage a mature open dialogue and then follow up on its implementation? Are you prepared to ask your team to consider disciplinary actions to accompany the new policy?

Team Exercise:Setting Protocols for Professionalism in the Workplace  (Develop a team policy)

1. Introduce the desire for collaboration on the topic of professionalism at an upcoming team meeting, in a group email, or on a message board. Determine the time and place the collaboration will occur.

2. Offer reading materials to get the dialogue started before the first meeting. Ask each team member to read the materials and become familiar with the topic, as doing so gives them the tools to succeed. Determine which materials should be printed and which can be read on the computer. Provide work time for employees to review the materials and consider using a signature sheet to confirm that each employee has read the material.

Suggested reading examples for developing  a primary professional statement/policy: 

3. Place the topic on an upcoming meeting agenda and appoint a meeting facilitator.

4. Begin the meeting with an icebreaking exercise on the topic of professionalism. Ask open-ended questions that prompt participation from everyone on the team. On a flip chart, write each employee’s answers, even if a number of them are repeated.

Ask questions such as:

5. Break into groups of 3 to 5; select a scribe to write down thoughts, concerns and solutions and to draft policy.

6. Ask each person to offer his or her ideas and opinions of a “low-risk” topic; for example, professional dress (see Professional Topics, below).

7. Reconvene with the team; discuss the overall theme addressed by the small groups.

8. Give all written notes, draft policies, solutions, and concerns to the person responsible for drafting the written policy.

9. Hold a follow-up meeting to discuss the new policy before the final version is added to the employee handbook.

10. Ensure that the group meeting/discussions are “safe places” and that no one is singled out. The goal is to increase the awareness of/elevating the role of all team members as professionals—as agreed on by the entire team.

By using open-ended questions, you can create a space for creative, succinct dialogue. Don’t be afraid to discuss “the elephant in the room.” Build trust by working first with relatively simple topics before moving to more complicated issues. As a practice leader, strive to remain objective at all times, even if hospital management style is more hierarchical than open. It is important to keep your team focused on the big picture and help them build policies after they have had time to digest the facts.

While this approach may seem time-intensive, employees who offer their input, are listened to, and believe they have a say in their own destiny have higher career satisfaction.¹ Team members simply want to be involved in the process. | EVT 

Professionalism Topics

Low-Risk Discussions
These relatively straightforward issues are good places to start building team trust and a policy based on professionalism:

• Dress code
• Cell phone use during working, scheduled hours (including texting)
• Internet policy
• Tobacco use

High-Risk Discussions
These issues are more difficult to address and will likely generate heated discussion. Take on these issues after your team has become comfortable with the policy creation process and team trust has been established:

• Grievance process or conflict resolution
• Embezzlement
• Accountability of all team members
• Tardiness and absenteeism
• Tattoos and piercings
• Phone etiquette with difficult clients

How to Discuss Professionalism with Your Team
Rebecca Rose

Reference

1. Watson Wyatt Work Study humanresources.about.com/cs/strategicplanning1/a/strategicplan.htm