Turbo-Charge Your Veterinary Practice System

Turbo-Charge Your Veterinary Practice System

Management

Our Purpose: To help professionals improve and grow their business by implementing proven, powerful, practical and simple to apply strategies, techniques, tools and tips which give immediate results to the owners.

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The facts of life

Why Uniforms Are Critical To Your Business Success

How uniform is your Workforce?

In the modern Veterinary Workplace, the question that I hear from many Veterinary practice owners and practice managers is;

“Is it more important to allow my staff to express their individuality, or to express the company’s culture?”

This is one of many considerations in taking the important decision of whether to introduce a ‘corporate’ uniform.

Many professionals are traditionally uniformed;

those who need to be recognised in a crowded environment (transport operators, service industries, and security personnel),
those who require protective clothing for health and safety reasons (chefs, health professionals, construction companies and fire fighters), and
those who need to be identified for their status, such as judges.

For others there may be a clear reason not to insist upon a uniformed workforce; those who are rarely in the public eye,

those who need to express their individual identify through their clothes, and
those whose work benefits from them dressing in a similar way to their clients.

The Veterinary business could be said to fall between these clear distinctions, however.So, if you are in this situation, how do you decide whether to introduce a corporate uniform?

Identity is the central issue here, but poses many questions. And the perceived ‘loss of identity’ is one of the keystones that makes applying a ‘uniform policy’ so difficult in many practices.

Perhaps the most controversial is to what extent religious and cultural identity may be accommodated.

Possibly not so important in the Australian Veterinary business, the importance of the hijab to the Islamic faith an acute example, as has been recently demonstrated by Ikea’s decision to introduce a branded hijab.

Simultaneously the identification of an individual’s role can be most effectively communicated by a corporate uniform.

In these days of heightened security, we take assurance in being able to easily identify security figures by their clothing.

A lasting impression is formed within the first 90 seconds of a meeting - and 70% of this ‘first impression’ is formed on the basis of the visual ‘impact’ or perception that is made.

Of all the marketing and branding mediums, a uniform is perhaps the most visible representation of the Veterinary culture (existing in that business), reflecting and reinforcing the quality and character of the Veterinary brand.

Through a uniform, the Veterinary practice can assert itself as being modern or traditional, bold or understated, corporate or fun.

Sue Stedman of Sue Stedman Corporate Clothing Limited, has been designing uniforms for a range of clients, including Aviance UK, Berkeley Homes, Bryant Homes, the Royal Opera House and the Natural History Museum, for 16 years.

During this time she has seen many companies moving towards having a uniform, rarely simply for a ‘corporate’ look:“Many companies today want to be seen as modern and approachable and this is reflected in a shift towards more casual uniforms. Branding is important and uniforms speak volumes about the company’s style, but the use of corporate colour is increasingly subtle, often with just a hint of the corporate colours in the weave,” says Sue.

In the Veterinary industry, rarely can a Veterinary practice afford to engage someone like Sue to design a uniform specifically for THAT practice.

And frankly, that level of investment is just not needed.

There are plenty of high quality commercial uniforms available from various uniform supply places – all over the world.

Regardless of how colourful or ‘corporate’ the clothing, the uniformity in itself communicates certain standards and this avoids the problem of staff devising their own their dress code.

“There is a tendency that casual dress can lead to casual attitude. Instead, the company’s dress must reflect the seriousness of the job,”

Sue Stedman comments. “When you are seeing a doctor, a Veterinarian, aheadmaster or a financial advisor, you want to be confident in the people you are dealing with, to reassure you that you are making the right decision. A uniform also prevents people making social judgements about staff based on their dress, be the style fuddy-duddy or youthful, liberal or conservative, expensive or shoddy.”

A uniform enables staff to become ambassadors for their company and act accordingly.

Invariably because they look smart and feel comfortable they are able to portray a more suitable image.“In being dressed in the ‘company’ colours, staff immediately represent their company. A uniform that they enjoy wearing is important in motivating them to do so to the best of their ability,” says Sue.

“This is particularly important in sales. Sales staff are often both the first and the final in the sales process and so they have a vital role, in first capturing the interest of the potential purchaser, through to finally closing the sale. It is imperative that they feel and act professionally.”

The motivational impact of a corporate uniform should not be underestimated. In many cases, the introduction of the uniform in itself is actually a ‘perk’ for employees, enabling them to dress smartly while saving money on a working wardrobe.

A corporate uniform also ensures that clothes are suitable – footwear is comfortable and clothing is as warm or as cool as necessary.

Wearing a uniform to work gives people a sense of belonging.

They know that all members of staff are treated the same and are all united to providing their respective service as a Team.

Uniforms foster the growth of team spirit and gives a sense of being united to work towards a common goal.

Work uniforms and their use have countless advantages and is a tradition that has been followed for hundreds of thousands of years. It has secured a firm foothold in the business world and is unlikely to change any time soon.

As with any significant change, the best way to engender enthusiasm is to involve staff in the process, giving them a degree of ownership in the decision. Ideally Veterinary Practices should canvas views during the design stage and undertake wearer trials to test whether proposed garments can stand up effectively to the day-to-day rigours of the job, but the limitations of consultation must be understood and the final decision requires senior input as well as a set of very definite guidelines and time-frames.

A uniform is central to the practice’s image and must be strongly ingrained in the culture of the practice.

If you hire someone to develop a specific uniform for your Team, then they must get to know your practice very well. As sue Stedman says, “We carry out substantial research prior to even taking a brief from our client. We make it our responsibility to understand the company’s culture, corporate identify and ambitions for change in order to propose designs which are truly representative of the company and its staff.”

Again – you do not need to go to that ‘level’ – however you could always consider it….

The introduction of a uniform impacts on all aspects of the practice’s output, simultaneously affecting staff motivation, customer services, internal communications and branding – if you haven’t previously, then now would be a really good time to consider it….

Where The Rubber Hits The Road

When you do more than just find this article interesting – when you do something about it and TAKE ACTION.

When are YOU going to take action …..?

Document EXACTLY what you intend to do, WHO is going to do it and By When

WHAT / WHO / BY WHEN
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