Providing Supportive HR for a Connected Employee Ecosystem

Narrator: If you have a pet – a cat, a dog, even a lizard or parakeet – you’ve probably taken them to the vet. Maybe you got a pandemic puppy or kitten. And your vet can answer questions on anything from native plants that are toxic to your dog, to what kind of lighting to use in your lizard’s tank. And that’s because they spent a lot of time in school. And because often, veterinary medicine had been a calling from early childhood for them. To them, it’s so much more than a job. Serving employees in a highly qualified profession like veterinary medicine is incredibly nuanced. From easing the emotional strain of compassion fatigue to improving access to the veterinary field, Melissa Marshall is working to improve not just the experience of current vets and their staff, but those of the future.

Melissa Marshall: It’s really about co-creating a very inclusive culture for our people where not only can they thrive, but their needs are heard and acted upon. And so what we do in our organization, not just my role, but the entire organization, it’s rooted in our purpose, which is around creating a better world for pets and the people who love them of course, as well. And we truly believe that high quality compassionate care starts with healthy, energized associates.

Narrator: Mel is Vice President of People and Organization at Banfield Pet Hospital, the largest general veterinary practice in the U.S. She is largely working with veterinarians who have gone through rigorous training and selection to be in their profession. There’s an average acceptance rate of about 11% to vet school, which takes an extra four years after undergraduate studies, and costs a minimum of $200,000. So not only is vet school massively competitive and prestigious, but it comes with a lot of student debt. So today, we’re talking about how to support vets and their staff holistically. Mel is going to show us how to use layers of technology to support communication among them, how to increase diversity in a predominantly white profession, and the many ways Banfield removes barriers to this highly qualified profession. On Cruising Altitude, we talk about employee experience lessons from leaders at companies with over 30k employees. A lot like reaching Cruising Altitude at 30k feet, things look a little different when you’re managing 30,000 people. On this podcast, we bring you insights from the leaders who inhabit that rarefied air. Today’s episode features an interview with Melissa Marshall.  But first, let’s take a quick break to hear a word from our sponsor.

Melissa Marshall: In my role at Banfield, uh, I lead our P and O, our people and organization team, which is our kind of fun way of saying HR at Mars Incorporated. Uh, Banfield is the largest general veterinary practice in the U.S. And so the role that I have is really leading the people strategy. Within that, um, if I have to pick a focus or simplify it, uh, it’s really about co-creating very inclusive culture for our people, where not only can they thrive, but their needs are heard and acted upon. And so what we do in our organization, not just my role, but the entire organization, it’s rooted in our purpose, which is around creating a better world for pets, and the people who love them of course, as well. And we truly believe that high quality compassionate care starts with healthy, energized associates. So I’m focused on how do we create that environment where associates can start, they can stay, and they can grow with us. Uh, we have roughly 20,000 associates across the U.S., um, and we really use this mantra of our culture being powered by our people. and so again, my role is really to make sure that we can prioritize the health and wellbeing of our associates, um, whether it’s through programs, initiatives, um, and again, they’re really born out of listening to our associates. And so really taking the thoughts, ideas, needs, wants of our associates and strategically putting that into practice, um, and ensuring that they have a place to start, stay and grow.

Narrator: Before we take off, let’s take a look at Banfield and the overall industry in the Flight Plan.

Melissa Marshall: Banfield’s a part of Mars Veterinary Health, uh, which is kind of a family of practices, if you will, under the Mars Inc. umbrella. Uh, we are, as I mentioned, a general, uh, veterinary practice focusing on preventative care primarily, uh, which is gonna be more like your routine exams, vaccinations, parasite prevention, dental cleanings, things of that nature. So preventative before it’s an issue. Uh, we primarily see, um, dogs and cats for the most part, that’s a very general statement. Um, small animal companion care, um, is kind of the focus. We do have some unique, exotic care that happens in some of our hospitals across the U.S. So you will have the odd bunny or, bearded dragon or some other type of, uh, fun pet. Uh, but we do have a variety of pocket pet, small animal companion pets as well. Um, and then our 20,000 associates, that is made up of a variety of roles. And so if you were to break that into categories, we have about 3,600, uh, veterinarians here at Banfield. Little over 2000 veterinary technicians. So certified veterinary technicians who are really driving, uh, quality care in partnership with our clinicians. And then the remainder of our associates are gonna be in a variety of roles, whether it’s hospital support, paraprofessional support, leadership roles, um, hospital management, things of that nature. So 20,000 is kind of divided into those categories. We have a very dispersed workforce, and so we have 20,000 associates spread across over a thousand hospitals nationwide. And so, as you can imagine, our hospital teams are not sitting on a computer, uh, day in and day out, able to check email that frequently. They’re actively seeing pets. They’re performing surgeries. They’re talking to clients. And so we have to get creative on how we connect with them. Um, that means really prioritizing where they are and how they wanna be connected with and what makes the most sense and is conducive for their environment. So that means leveraging a lot of social media. Um, to be a bridge to connection. Um, hospital visits are incredibly important for us. So the ability to connect, um, with our people in person and have those in intentional touch points, um, is really, really important. And we really try to balance kind of digital and in person to make sure that we’re not only hearing directly from our associates on what’s working, but we’re finding ways to then take what we heard and help support them, uh, in turn. And so I think that’s the macro, I would say, challenge, um, of just physically how we’re dispersed. Then, if you overlay on top of that, we also have some broader, unique challenges that are more around the profession, not necessarily our business itself. Um, and I would say that’s from just a mental health and lack of diversity standpoint. And so we are really committed to addressing a lot of these systemic issues that we see through investments, through resources, through meeting our people’s needs I talked about in a more sustainable way. So kind of dispersed workforce, um, amidst some other professional, uh, and, industry challenges as well.

Narrator: Despite the unique challenges Mel faces in fostering a positive employee experience, Banfield is a shining example of caring for the whole employee. Let’s talk about how they do that in First Class. 

Melissa Marshall: I think that knowing that Banfield is a people first culture, uh, we’re centered around this two way dialogue that I talked about. And so really connecting at scale and then leveraging the right digital solutions to make the impact on our associates is kind of how we look and, find that right balance. And so our connection to our associate experience as we call it, um, is really based out of purpose. It’s based on intentionality. Um, when I think about where, uh, the pain points are in where some of the humanizing of connection needs to be balanced with digital. Um, one of the things that come to mind for me is mental health. We know that even before the pandemic and, and before 2020, um, the feelings of stress and anxiety were always there. Uh, we have data that shows how that has prevailed in the profession, um, especially with female, um, veterinarians on top of that, which our workforce is about 86%, 87% female. And so I, give you that context because we know that cultivating health seeking behaviors across our, uh, profession is going to be driven through not only human connection, but data and digital connections as well. And so we’ve come up with some high tech and low tech best practices to foster better connection with our people. Um, and I ground it in that initial part because it starts with meeting people where they are. And where they are can sometimes be a variety of places. And so we do leverage technology, um, to meet our folks where they are. Our workforce is roughly 75% millennial and Gen Z. So social media, um, and those type of connections are not even an option. It’s kind of a must do. It’s a ticket to entry, so to speak. Um, our leaders need to be where the conversations are happening, um, instead of expecting our associates to come to us, conversely, So that allows us to see and hear what’s happening with our hospitals, engage with our associates. And actually when there’s crucial times like the pandemic, um, that actually helped us stay connected even more so, um, just because of that, that ongoing, uh, nature that we had with connection through that kind of technological, um, platform. High tech, um, as well, uh, we’ve had a couple of ways we’ve done that. Um, I’ll start with a simple high tech or a straightforward solution, which is Headspace. Um, so we piloted Headspace for all of our associates because we knew that the connection to mental health support, meditation, mindfulness was gonna be critical. And so we offered that as a free app for our associates, so they could use it as many times as they needed to, their families as well, to help them be, uh, their best selves, whether it’s at home or at work. And so again, just a simple way to connect with them, but not just for the sake of connection, but for where the need was. And then on the back end of that, I think another option or another, um, offering that we’ve put together is more digital associate experience as an enabler. We launched something called, uh, the People Power Index a couple of years ago. And it was really to help counteract, um, the challenge of retaining veterinarians in this profession, amidst the incredible demand for veterinary services on top of that, uh, veterinarians and certified veterinary technicians. And so we know that we had a great amount of data that we had been using over the years. I think we’ve been collecting data since like 1994, if I’m not mistaken. And so we have a great way of using data to solve, um, caring for pets and advancing science and veterinary health. We thought about, well, how do we use data to help solve the associate experience? And one of those things is retention. And so what we did, we partnered with, um, IBM on a project to really develop a way that we can anticipate, um, risk for turnover. And I wanna caveat that it wasn’t about the data driving the narrative. It was around how does technology enable the human connection? And so it allowed our leaders to connect with associates where they are, where they’re needed in a much more pragmatic with a lot more precision, I would say. And it’s really helped to drive retention of our people. It’s allowed us to then dive into conversations and address root cause issues that we wouldn’t have known that were there before. And so, again, not at the forefront as the center or the core connection for our associates, but in the background, it’s been a great enabler for us to really drive, um, retention, and really drive a great associate experience. And then from a low tech standpoint, I would say, um, we’ve always, uh, gone with, uh, word of mouth as the way to, connect. Um, again, in our environments, um, in our hospitals, in our different footprints, it’s so important to have that human connection. Um, one of the things that we know is our doctors and our associates overall, word of mouth is how support, how connection happens, how community is really fostered. And so whether it’s through our diversity resource groups, whether it’s through our mental health and health and wellbeing offerings, we’ve really balanced kind of low tech, medium tech, high tech to be able to create community and draw community around some of these, um, major topics.

Narrator: So Mel is leveraging these layers of technology to provide both work-related resources and references to vets while also connecting them socially so associates have a supportive community. 

Melissa Marshall: We have our, our intranet or Fetch, uh, which is kind of the main repository, um, that they’re able to, uh, connect with today. We have some, uh, late breaking and, or in the pipeline tools, uh, where there is an associate app that, uh, is being piloted that will actually connect our associates to all of these great things that I just talked about in a one stop shop. Um, and so that is the evolution of our current Fetch, uh, platform that we use today and really taking it to the next level so that they would have the answers they need the connections to the people that they need literally in their pocket, through their day in their scrubs, through their day, uh, to help them actually stay connected to one another and the content. We’ve also had some pilots where we’ve piloted the Alexa concept in our hospitals. Uh, so giving them the opportunity to, again, as I mentioned, they’re scurrying around, they’re in the back of the hospital, heads down and focused on caring for pets. And so how do they hear what’s happening? How do they get a chance to say, ‘Hey, Alexa, what’s the new, you know, fill in the blank?’ Whether it’s a new, uh, benefit program that’s being rolled out or new, late breaking, uh, practice news. So we’ve been piloting that, um, in a few of our hospitals as well to see how can we scale some of these unique concepts that you kind of use at home where you live, uh, in the work environment. The way that the app is being designed is to connect to we’re prioritizing a couple of areas right now, but the main thing is community. So as I mentioned, a thousand hospitals, when you’re working in a hospital, um, let’s say in Waco, Texas. Um, but you wanna know who’s actually around you who maybe has similar skills or who specializes in exotic animals, um, who may have a way to approach a case in a different fashion that you have had, um, that will allow them to have that level of connection. Uh, we’re also prioritizing the health and wellbeing component. So they’ll actually have, um, toggles that they’ll be able to go through where they can actually see, um, modules, if you will, or pages, um, for these different focus areas. Mental health, and health and wellbeing, as well as, uh, community connection or so some of the two initial ones that we’re focusing on. Um, and then we’re gonna just continue to build on it. Um, from that point. One of our main tools that we use, uh, we are big, uh, I would say data insights, uh, people at Banfield. And so Power BI is one of our, um, main platforms that we use majority of our practice, whether you’re a leader at our central team support. Or in the field, um, most and all of our data really runs through power BI. Um, and then we have some internal, uh, proprietary systems that we use as well to really hone in and, um, connect all these data points to our operating systems, to our hospital systems, to our practice management systems. So they all kind of speak to one another. Uh, there’s quite a bit of work underway to help connect all of those systems to our broader Mars vet health family in the long term as well, so that we have a very seamless transition for our clients, cuz they’re on the receiving end of how our hospitals operate, in the back end as well. So we’re excited for how that’s coming together. We have this notion of, uh, listening at scale and sharing to shape. Um, and that’s how we kind of, again, mantra or rallying and cry if you will, within the organization. And so listening at scale for us is looking at the data that we have to understand utilization of the programs in place. Um, we do a great job of hearing from our associates in a variety of ways, whether it’s through, um, our engagement survey that is run through Gallup. So that will give us some sentiment of what the current feeling is with our associates. We also run, um, a doctor and veterinary technician satisfaction survey, uh, each year as well, really to understand again, sentiment within our business, but then within the profession as well. And really looking at where is there a Delta between what our people, what the profession is saying and some of these key areas. And then that actually helps us to determine what are the new strategies that we’re gonna put in place to really counteract any opportunities or gaps that we hear. So we, you know, we’ll connect with them in person to hear and just kind of validate, uh, through observation and conversation, but then also using survey platforms and other ways, um, to assess, uh, progress over time. And then of course we have the data that will actually help us see, you know, are we retaining our associates more? Um, do we have the turnover data to support that the retention data to support that? Um, some of our background data that’ll also help us support that our teams are thriving, um, if they are in what areas. And so we really use a multifaceted approach, I would say, to pull all the data at our fingertips to then really look at the health of our population.

Narrator: One of the biggest challenges Mel says is diversifying the profession. Which will also help meet the demand for veterinary care. 

Melissa Marshall: And so given the role we play, um, at Banfield we know that we have a responsibility to help address that and really strengthen, uh, the talent pipeline, um, for years to come. And so we did some data and some studies previously. And so we know that 75 million pets in the U.S. may not have access to care by 2030. Um, and that’s just because of this kind of shortage that we’re talking about here. Nearly 90% of veterinary professionals identify as white, uh, making ours one of the least diverse healthcare professions out there. And so we’ve really fought long and hard around how do we solve for this, um, in kind of an upstream, midstream, and downstream, uh, kind of philosophy, if you will. So the upstream solution, um, to diversifying the profession and really strengthening that talent pipeline, um, one of the things we’ve done, uh, we launched a program recently, um, called NextVet. And really what it is in its simplest form, it’s an internship that really drives, um, access to the profession for students that, um, have not had access, um, from potentially marginalized communities, historically, diverse communities that could benefit from access to care as well. And so we welcomed this inaugural class of 15, uh, paid interns this past summer. And they’re learning firsthand about caring for companion animals, learning from our leaders, learning from industry experts and really just bridging that gap to access to the veterinary profession. And so we’re gonna keep doing that. Our goal and our, our intent is to scale that program, to get more students involved, uh, in NextVet. Another thing that we’re doing that’s a bit more on the upstream side to get people into the profession and actually, um, seeking out post-secondary education in the veterinary area is around, um, our partnership with the Boys and Girls Club. So we know that, um, again, access to, um, what’s possible, um, has been a barrier for underrepresented backgrounds and communities historically. And so we’re really working with the Boys and Girls Club to create a series of career outreach events that help these students understand that there is a possible career and a future for them in the veterinary profession that they maybe didn’t even realize was there. And so that’s really some of the upstream ways that we’re doing it. Currently, so for those who are in school already, or out of school, but wanting to join Banfield and trying to diversify from that perspective, um, from a recruiting perspective, we really keep diversity and inclusion at the forefront of what we do. And so whether it’s from the partnerships that we have, the job postings that we do, even the candidate experience, I mean, it really is woven like a thread throughout. We have partnerships with Tuskegee, um, and other Historically Black Colleges and Universities to really make sure that we’re bridging that connection to the profession and our business as well. And so between the industry, um, one of the partnerships that we have, that’s a really unique one, um, because of the demographics of the veterinary profession is the Mom Project. Um, the veterinary profession, as I mentioned, is made up of majority women, uh, about 86% for us at Banfield. And so the Mom Project, it really focuses on women reentering the workforce. And so we partner with them. Um, they have a talent community where we can raise awareness of opportunities in our practice, the flexible schedules that we offer, um, the remote openings that we have. And so just really giving again, access and visibility, we find is a critical way to reach diverse communities that either don’t have awareness of a possible career in the veterinary profession or for those that are already in the profession, but not sure about finding the right fit, perhaps, uh, for them. We really like to showcase through partnerships like the Mom Project and others that we have, just make sure that people get the understanding of what we do, um, and just ensuring that again, diversity and inclusion remains at the forefront of what they see and experience with us. We have quite a few, um, initiatives, I’ll say, around education. So we started with student debt, um, and our student debt program happened, uh, back in, we launched it back in 2017, um, and it really provides the opportunity for our clinicians to be able to coming out of veterinary school, either refinance, um, and pay down, um, at a significant rate, uh, the student debt, loans that they have as they’re coming out of school. And just to bridge the connection to the conversation we were having earlier about mental health, one of the, uh, main or primary stressors from a mental health standpoint is actually financial wellbeing. And so that was one of the main reasons that we launched our student debt program, because we knew that these students were coming out of school. They wanna thrive in their careers. They have this debt load that is outrageous. And so they can’t even focus on whether it’s starting a family or buying a home, or growing their life from this point, with this burden of student debt. So we put this program together to remove the burden or help reduce the burden, um, that they were carrying so that they could focus on being their best self, so to speak. And so that’s one element, um, of our educational support from a student debt standpoint. We also have other pathways, um, to really make an impact for our associates. One of them being, um, a partnership with InStride. So for that one, that’s for our current associates, paraprofessional associates. So that’s gonna be, um, whether you’re a shift lead, you’re a VA, a veterinary assistant. Uh, you’re a practice manager perhaps, but you’re in a non certified clinical role, probably the best way to say it. And so those associates get the benefit of paid tuition. Uh, and they can actually complete their undergraduate degree, whether it’s in business, uh, marketing, IT, whatever it may be. Uh, they can also uh, they can do a Pre-Vet program or they can do STEM, uh, courses as well. And so we’re creating more flexibility, um, in that realm for our current associates to either complete, uh, education, further their education, uh, whether it’s completing high school diplomas, uh, whatever the need is for associates. We’re really trying to meet them from an educational pathway standpoint and give them some of these offerings to really, again, remove some of these burdens, um, from a cost standpoint. That’s what makes this role that I’m in so rewarding, um, is to know the impact you’re able to make, um, or help make, um, in the lives of someone else, um, and their families as well. Right? Because what we do is not only impacting our associates day to day. But it’s impacting your families, um, their livelihood, uh, one of the ones that stands out for me probably related to in stride and, um, it was a veterinary assistant, And, uh, when this particular associate had the opportunity to go back to school and get a degree and further their education, not only was it a, in their words, opportunity of a lifetime. Um, but the story that went behind it around how it would change their life for the better, um, the individual didn’t think that they were gonna be able to ever afford to go back to school. They didn’t think that they would, as a single mother, be able to actually contribute the time, and again, the funds and the resources to do this. And there were some historic, um, family, sentiment that they shared just around being a first in their family to be able to actually complete, uh, secondary post-secondary education in this way. And for Banfield to play a role in that for them was really changing their life or air quote words, and it brings tears to your eyes because at the end of the day, what we do is for our people, it’s not for the business. It’s to make a better world for our people. I am not a clinician by any stretch of the imagination. I can help out a little bit in the hospital, but the best thing that I can do for our associates is removing the barriers for them to be the best that they can be. And so at the end of the day, I love the work that I do is because I can actually help make a better work for people. Um, and the programs that I’ve talked about, um, today are some of the mechanisms that allow us to do that.

Narrator: So from NextVet internships to helping pay down student debt and partnerships with Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Banfield is making big moves to support a stronger and more diverse talent pipeline. But things in the employee experience world don’t always go perfectly smoothly. Let’s talk about the more turbulent side of employee experience. Mel knows that she wants her associates to feel like they’re a part of a supportive community. But she also knows how she doesn’t want employees to feel. And that lesson came from personal experience.

Melissa Marshall: If I think back, many, many, many moons ago before I even joined Mars, um, but being in, in the interest of time, I think that the headline is being in an organization or being in a role that you are not seen, heard or valued. Um, and that comes to life for you through how you’re treated, how you’re spoken to, how you’re disregarded to some extent. Um, for me, that’s one of the reasons I do what I do today. And it underscores the importance of listening to people, uh, listening to our people and really fostering this two-way dialogue that we talked about earlier. Uh, because I, I know what it feels like when that doesn’t happen, just personally, right. And, and so for me, I stand by this thought of, um, we have a mission to truly understand people for who they are, their whole selves, everything about them, um, truly understand their capabilities, truly understand kind of what’s possible versus that proverbial, judging a book by its cover and being on the receiving end of that type of experience in treatment, I’ve just, I guess, counted it my mission if you will, personally, uh, to really ensure that any organization that I work with, people will come first. We will listen. Uh, we will listen at scale and, and we will actually act on what our people say. And so I love that at Mars, at Banfield, uh, within Mars Vet Health, this is the culture that we have where, uh, we foster that kind of connection with our people. So, um, wasn’t great when I was younger, I would say in that first experience, but it helped me see what great can be because of what wasn’t such a great experience.

Narrator: Since Mel is constantly working to create the very best experience for associates, she has tried new initiatives to see if there are areas she can still improve. But things don’t always go as well as she would have liked.

Melissa Marshall: I think that there are times that we have tried to in our organization, um, launch new experiences, if you will. Uh, we attempted to make some operational changes. So when you think about the associate experience, the actual work environment and, and the day to day flow of the day for our associates, that’s a part of that, that’s an element of the associate experience. And with all great intention and best in class, uh, ideas, uh, from the back of the house, so to speak, from our support office, we came up with what we thought was a phenomenal way to help our associates in the hospitals run their day. And oh, were we wrong. And, uh, I think this is where listening at scale comes back into play because we have such an environment where our associates feel empowered to voice their opinions, to share transparently and candidly. And so, um, they let us know pretty quickly that, uh, what we had put together as a great idea, uh, wasn’t that great. And it was actually impacting negatively their engagement, their experience, and their ability to do their work in the most efficient and effective way. And so, uh, we took that, we shut the project down immediately, actually brought the associates into the conversation. And I think one of the outcomes of that was any project that we’re doing at Banfield, um, we’re bringing the voice of the associate much earlier into the discussion. Um, our hospital associates are coming in, they’re providing feedback. They’re part of the co-creation. Um, and we’ve also adopted more of a, um, MVP kind of pilot mentality. So kind of skateboard, bicycle, Corvette, right? So let’s not just jump to the Corvette and scale it everywhere, but let’s test and learn. Let’s try things out. Um, and we’ve actually empowered our hospitals to think about things that way and actually do that themselves. So you’ll find across our thousand hospitals now we’re at a place where, if a hospital in Texas is trying something, a hospital in New York may be doing something totally different and that’s okay. Cuz we want them to find the best way to do whatever initiative, tasks or responsibility, but in a way that works for their hospital team, their environment. And so I link it to associate experience because that’s about empowerment and that’s about engagement at the end of the day. And so that’s just, I guess, one example of, where I’ve seen it not go well, but it has helped fuel what is the example or the norm, if you will, today, which is the voice of the associate is front and center. And now we just pilot and we trial and we, scale, uh, things in a different way. And that’s because of our associate’s voice.

Narrator: One particular challenge Mel is working to address, is supporting the emotional and mental health of vets because they’re experiencing “compassion fatigue.” It’s something any caregiver could experience.

Melissa Marshall: Most veterinarians, caring for pets is bigger than a job, right? It’s a calling. They knew they wanted to do this from, you know, wee ages of 4, 5, 6. I mean, if you talk to some of our associates, some of our doctors, they’ll tell you, they knew they wanted to be a vet before they could even say the word vet, right? Like it was just a calling and something that they were drawn to do. And so I think because of the passion in the profession, um, for helping pets and the length that our associates will go to, to do so. They put the pets before themselves. It can create a significant challenge, uh, whether it’s compassion fatigue, um, daily work stressors, the student debt that I talked about earlier. These type of feelings if left unaddressed, it can, um, unfortunately converge into what can be physical, mental, um, health challenges over time. And of course, lead to stress, depression, anxiety, exhaustion, and, I remember my, first week at Banfield, um, I had transitioned from another part of the Mars organization. And as we do with most leaders coming in the business, your first, um, part of your onboarding is spent in the hospitals. And so your in scrubs, side by side with our associates, learning the business from their vantage point, which is a beautiful way to, to understand this business. And I’ll never forget, I had a brand new doctor that I was working with that day. Just graduated outta school, um, just a few months before. And in a short period of time, they had, uh, an amazing experience with a maybe seven or eight year old, uh, child who came in with their family. Brand new puppy, exciting, came to get the traditional, uh, preventative shots and boosters and all of that, and then had to turn around within 15 minutes of that appointment and having to euthanize a pet. And then, you know, within a few more moments later, their next appointment, um, having a very challenging, uh, complex surgery. And so there is a bit of a roller coaster that our associates feel, um, day in and day out. And so, we have made it our mission to ensure that we have a relentless focus on health and wellbeing. Um, we’ve designed what is a five dimension, health and wellbeing strategy that touches all elements of health and wellbeing. Whether it’s mental health, financial, community, uh, you name it. But we have a strategy and resources dedicated to support our associates. Um, so whether it’s Headspace, whether it’s Spring Health, whether it’s our, through our health and benefits programs and offerings that we have. We have a platform called MVH For You that we collaborated with the Mars Vet Health family on that gives access and resources to mental health support. This is free, um, to the profession as well. Not only our associates, but we’ve really done a multitude of things, um, to support, uh, the ability to not only, um, see and understand where there’s risk, but also address risk when it comes up. And one key element of programming, if you will, that we put together, um, is ASK, uh, and it’s an acronym of a mental health program that we created, which is around Assess, Support, and Know. And this program has evolved into a two part program. Program One was really helping associates understand how do you spot risk? How do you see when someone is in need? How do you see when someone needs support? What do you do, uh, when you, recognize the need and what do you need to know to kind of action from there? And so, when we launched this program, we actually shut all of our hospitals down across the country, um, to teach and educate and listen and hear from our associates on, um, how they were feeling in this space and actually use this program and this training to help them better themselves, each other, their families, um, in dealing with stress, in dealing with, um, complexities, mental health challenges, et cetera. And so ASK has been an amazing program, um, that’s been incredibly helpful for us as a business, but we’ve also launched it for free to the profession. Because we know that the stressors I’ve talked about are not only sitting at Bandfield, but this is something that any veterinarian could be experiencing. And so we provided this as a free resource to the profession so that anyone who needs support, um, can have that, um, at their fingertips. And as I mentioned, we are evolving, uh, part two of that program that really takes it to the next level of skill building. So we’re continuously focused on, um, just making sure that our associates have the support, the resources and the access, um, to be able to have what they need to thrive. And so with our amazing health and wellbeing team, uh, that does include social workers, who are qualified and certified in this space. Um, we designed programs, resources and support for our associates to ensure that they have what they need to work in an environment that is so passionate, is so loving, but again can be quite stressful at times.

Narrator: Speaking of stress, with the limit in veterinarians to begin with, pet ownership increased dramatically during the pandemic. According to the ASPCA, nearly 1 in 5 American households adopted a pet since March of 2020. So a vet’s time is in even higher demand.

Melissa Marshall: The pandemic pet boom, as we call it, uh, was very real. 23 million households, uh, having new pet, family members join. And I think the converse to that, or the tension to that was in that same year, only about 3,200, roughly students graduated from vet school. So you had this tension between the number of pets that were, uh, increasing in our society and the number of staff that was there to support and, and provide for them. And so, as I mentioned earlier, this tension that we’re facing in the labor market, um, in the veterinary labor market it came to head if you will. If you overlay the pandemic with that, our associates were, I would say, um, ready, willing, and able to be there for the pets that needed them during this time. Uh, they were excited to be there to support families, especially, um, when we were dealing with the pandemic and being, first caregivers, if you will. And, um, being available for the, uh, society at that time. However, it was very stressful because they were some of the only ones that were available at that time. And so we had to create this balance of, uh, putting our associates’ mental health at the forefront while still serving the pets that need us. And so we, we came up with creative ways to support them, making sure of course they have the support, um, to get the relief that they needed. Um, our teams were working around the clock at times to make sure that they could be there for their communities and those that they needed them. And we just worked really closely, heard their voices, um, put different programs into action to support. We had a variety of COVID programs and things of that nature that helped support them and their families during this time as well so they could be safe. Uh, they could be healthy and that, of course, they could continue to do what they do best, which is caring for pets, and of course, supporting their families as well. And so it was a balancing act, I would say. Um, but we just kept our associates at the forefront and heard them, listened to them for what they needed to be able to do this. And while we haven’t solved it, because we still need to solve for the missing link of more veterinary professionals joining, cuz we now have this, uh, broader population of pets, but the programs we’ve talked about earlier, uh, those are the things that’ll help cultivate, uh, future generations of, of veterinary professionals. Uh, and so we’re committed to continuing to do that, but also helping our associates thrive through this in between time as the, uh, the care for pets continues to grow. The need for the care for pets continues to grow. If I had to narrow this down, uh, working through a time like this, where like the last two years with COVID, if you will. Um, the, the biggest thing I would say is being agile, right? So the ability to flex, um, a lot of the programs that we have now put into place that we’ve accelerated, we would’ve done them anyways. We were planning to do them, but it, we really had to be agile, um, and really flex our thinking. And I think the ability for not only myself as a leader, but our associates being able to be, uh, open, willing and having an open mind to, um, deal with the ambiguity that we were navigating, and on a dime, uh, be able to apply new skills, um, apply a new way of delivering care. Um, and really think about the work they were doing in a reimagined way, probably the best way to say it. Um, that was probably one of the biggest lessons that I think I personally learned and, and our teams and our, and our associates have learned over time. That’s sticking with us going forward. So we now have this mentality of reimagination. And how do we kind of think about the next thing and the iteration. And so really again, this test and learn mentality that we haphazardly stumbled on several years ago with that one little blip of a project. But bringing that to life to say, how do we keep thinking bigger? How do we reimagine? How do we reinvent the things that we do? And so I think that that level of just agility, um, has really come forward. Um, and it’s been a staple for how we lead and how we operate our business today. Relationships, relationships, relationships. Everything that I have, um, talked about today, some of the strategies, the initiatives were all birthed out of collaboration. And so the ability to partner well and successfully is gonna come from having great relationships with your team, that report to you, uh, indirectly, other functions. And so the ability just to partner well and collaborate, um, as they say, teamwork makes the dream work. It literally is a thing. Uh, and so I think the more that you can start your career or start this element of your career with relationships at the foundation, I think will be critical. And then the other one I would say is, the people strategy is the business strategy. And if you can remember that with anything that you do, I think that’ll help you, um, in a role like this to remain grounded. But also just think about impact and strategy in a different way. Um, and that’s something that I personally keep in the back of my mind as an organization. We think about it that way as well, which is our people strategy really is the business strategy. I said it kind of jokingly before, but we are in a people business, caring for pets. And the more that a, an HR leader can think about their business in that way with whatever their industry is, I think, um, that’ll help you again, hopefully have a rewarding, but successful career that is truly impactful, but in the right way and, and focus on the right things.

Narrator: But Mel is already focused on the right things. She’s listening at scale to the voice of associates, supporting them emotionally, connecting them with peers, and tearing down barriers to entry to the veterinary field, which naturally creates greater diversity in the industry. All of which can be applied to any industry to support the whole employee. 

Melissa Marshall: We are continuing to just listen, learn and grow, um, and that can only be done through the help of our associates. And so we’re on a, journey to go from good to great. Um, and I think, you know, knowing that your company truly cares about you. Cares about your wellbeing, cares about the experience that you’re having. Um, all of those things come from, again, having an inclusive culture where people are at the center. And so I just thank you for the time that that to tell the story of, of what we’re doing at Banfield, how we’re coming together in service of our people and really using, um, this opportunity to hopefully help other organizations think about how they can help, um, think about people solutions, um, to really help their associates thrive as well. So…

Narrator: And thank you for listening to this episode of Cruising Altitude. This episode is brought to you by Firstup, the company that is redefining the digital employee experience to put people first and lift companies up by connecting every worker, everywhere with the information that helps them do their best work. Firstup has helped over 40% of the Fortune 100 companies like Amazon, AB InBev, Ford and Pfizer stay agile and keep transforming. Learn more at firstup.io