1080. Veterinary leadership

Managing a practice seems easy to the outsider. I have 3 associate vets. I can sleep late and come to office whenever I wish. This is the wrong perception of outsiders. This is because employees start to slacken as the boss is seldom around. If the boss does not bother or become a womaniser as in some successful employment agencies I know, the whole business goes down the drain.

From Monday to Friday and some Saturdays, I leave home at 7.30 am, take a feeder bus to the subway, then another feeder bus or walk to Toa Payoh Vets.  On weekends and public holidays, I drive and reach the surgery before 9 am.

GETTING FEEDBACK ON SERVICES
1. I man the phone calls in the morning and get complaints or feedback on services provided by associate vets. It is better to receive negative feedback so that we can improve. One of them is long waiting time, as long as two hours in one case. I had spoken to my associate that waiting time should be less than 15 minutes in general.

2. Coming back for stitch removal after spay or neuter. I told my associate vets that this need to return must be stopped as we use dissolvable stitches. I don't ask the patients to come back in 10-14 days after surgery but my associates do. So, there is an inconsistency in services from the same company.

3. No offer of chair for client during one-on-one consultation. I simply grab a chair for the client when I see my associate vet not doing this despite my advice. Mindsets of the young ones are hard to change as they are brought up in a different affluent culture. But excellent services retains customers and the associate vets should be aware of this. We get more new customers but where are the old ones?" I asked them