Are you tired of hearing the term “work-life balance”? Is it being overused to the point where it’s lost its meaning? With this being said, it’s a popular topic in many industries in today’s working world, particularly within veterinary. The veterinary industry consists of a highly demanding work culture, with significant yearning for a workplace that presents employees with the opportunity to attain a healthy work-life balance. Although this concept can be often seen as a moving target for many employees and employers, we believe that it’s possible to achieve a work-life balance in your workplace with a few adequate adjustments.

As a vet, you constantly strive to provide the best possible care for your customers and their pets. You have an innate need to help those around you, it’s in your nature. As an employer, the same applies, you want to help your staff maintain a good work-life balance. As a result of this, you’ll have happier and more productive staff. If you get it right, you’ll find yourself in a position of low staff turnover and surrounded by a secure, solid team. Ideal, we know! Here’s how you can provide a better work-life balance for your staff:

Flexible working hours

Each member of staff will hold their work-life balance in different regard to the next. For many parents, for example, flexible working hours are an absolute must. Flexible working hours, gives them the ability to do the school runs, eat dinner with their families in the evening and watch bring their kids to dancing or horse riding on the weekend. For other staff, flexible hours might allow them to make time for hobbies such as football, yoga or going for a swim in the evening.You might even go as far as planning a night out of a Saturday, so only working one in every three Saturday’s could allow them to do this, guilt free!

Out of hours / weekend rotas

Treating these with a little extra TLC, can have a massive impact on your staff’s work-life balance. This is where you’ll learn the art of delegation between staff when it comes to on-call, out of hours and weekend work. (It’s not as painful as it sounds!) Taking the time to talk to your staff will make it easier for you when organising rotas and figuring out what does and does not work for them. An equal rota for OOH and weekends gives everyone the opportunity to plans outside of work and get the balance right. These are also things worth mentioning when writing your job descriptions - it's important for staff to know the exact (or near enough) environment they're signing up to.

Communication is key

Talk to your staff, find out what they’re looking for. You might not always be able to offer them exactly what they want, but through clear communication you can definitely find a compromise. Show your staff that you value them and their needs, whether it’s with family, friends or studying. Happier staff is proven to boost morale and productivity around the workplace - it’s a win win for everyone!

If you want to find out more on how you can retain the best talent and reduce staff turnover, check out our blog, here.