Episodes

Send us a text Dr Karli Houston is a marathon running, fundraising, companion animal veterinarian. Karli was born in the US to two kiwi parents. Karli has a raft of qualifications behind her … she studied biology and theatre arts at the Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania, then Human Nutrition at th…

Send us a text Being interviewed for your first job straight out of vet school and university isn’t the same as being interviewed for your second or third job. Here’re 11 questions for new grads to ask at your first job interview and for clinics to think about when they’re interviewing new grads. T…

Send us a text At job interviewers, hiring managers / interviewers usually ask "do you have any questions you'd like to ask?". Many people mumble something like "you've answered all my questions" [which may be true] or "no - no questions". Here are 15 questions across three top level subjects to he…

Send us a text When someone asks you to “tell me about a time when …..” this is where the STAR methodology kicks in. Situation Task Action Result Everyone dreads the "tell me about a time when you................." type interview questions because they usually don't know how to answer and/or aren't…

Send us a text 9 behaviour focussed job interview questions that job seekers roll their eyes at, and interviewers feel they must ask. One vet told me a couple of years’ back that she declined a job because she didn’t like the soft and fluffy questions “someone from HR” asked her. In the vet’s opini…

Send us a text Veterinarian Dr Helen Beattie on: life after Chief Veterinary Officer at the New Zealand Veterinary Association Veterinarians for Animal Welfare Aotearoa - VAWAsome of the amazing opportunities Helen experienced as CVO NZVAsome more of the amazing people Helen worked with as CVO NZVA…

Send us a text Veterinarian Dr Helen Beattie on: Conflict, Tension & Moral DistressBooks Helen's reading and recommendsInspiration & aspirational parenting+ a bit of philosophical discussionPart 2 of a multi-part series getting to know Dr Helen Beattie before she became known to New Zealand…

Send us a text Dr Helen Beattie grew up on a South Island Central High Country station before going to Massey University. Her veterinary career started off in a mixed animal clinic in North Otago. Helen’s OE included working on the UKs foot and mouth response in the UK. From there she came home to …

Send us a text This week we’re looking at what vet clinics need to do to navigate Phase 2 of Omicron, what payment options you have for employees who get sick and then a lesson I had last week which, as Shania Twain would say – didn’t impress me much! At 11:59pm on Tuesday 15 February NZ officially…

Send us a text How NZ vet clinics and overseas qualified vets are impacted In real terms, what difference does this make? In some cases, it’s going to make a HUGE difference, in others, not-so much. What was MIQ – which those clinics fortunate enough to have vets enter NZ over the last 18 months or…

Send us a text So far, we’ve looked at the cost of employee turnover – episode 64 – how to lower the cost of churn – employee turnover by starting an Employee Retention Investment Fund at your clinic. Last week we looked at the 5-P questions – Pride + Place + Possibility + Permanency + Propel Today…

Send us a text Vet Clinic Employee Engagement Index Questions The second of a multi episode series focussed on helping vet clinics retain the top performing vets and vet nurses in your clinic and then how to attract more vets and vet nurses just like them. Recent Employment Relations Authority dete…

Send us a text Vet Clinic Employee Turnover Costs & Composition Today’s show is the first of a multi episode series focussed on helping vet clinics retain the top performing vets and vet nurses in your clinic and then how to attract more vets and vet nurses like them. Specifically, today, we’re…

Send us a text Margie's dreams, aspirations and how vet clinics can pay their vet nurses more This is the second of two episodes where I catch up with Vet Nurse of the Year 2021 Margie Rutherford of The Strand Veterinarian in Auckland’s Parnell. If you haven’t listened to last week’s episode – numb…

Send us a text Vet Nurse Margie Rutherford's Visions for Veterinary Nursing in New Zealand Margie Rutherford, BSC, BVT - Vet Nurse of the Year 2021 Episode 1/2 where Vet Nurse Margie Rutherford and I chat about her visions for veterinary nursing in New Zealand. Margie was awarded the NZ Vet Nurse o…

Send us a text The step-by-step framework that's guaranteed to help you live the life you want. Using the SMARTER SWOT framework I designed about 20 years ago to help clients live their lives to the full contributing their special difference to the world - at work and at home. If you’ve set New Yea…

Send us a text A vet clinic's workplace toxicity negatively impacts a clinic’s ability to ever become an Employer of Choice. 10 things - 10 warning bells - to look out for at the vet clinic job interview Vet Clinics need to deal with what’s not working first in order to become a Vet Clinic Employer…

Send us a text How to become a Vet Clinic Employer of Choice so that you create your own clinic's wait list of highly engaged and motivated top performers. In today’s job-seeking world, job interviews are just as much about the clinic doing the interviewing as about the clinic being interviewed. Re…

Send us a text Vet clinics experience high staff burnout, high staff turnover, some (sadly) have reputations for allowing toxicity within the team to continue, infect and affect everything that happens inside that clinic. Constructive Dismissals What conditions need to be met for the Employment Cou…

Send us a text Lately I’ve seen a few vets and clinics get caught out by believing one of the many urban myths that surround employment law in NZ so today, we’re going to put 11 of them to bed so, hopefully, YOU don’t get caught out by them too. We’re going to look at the employment law myths that …

Send us a text This is the fourth episode in the sustainability series and today we’re with Sophie Kennedy of The Strand Veterinarian in Parnell, Auckland, New Zealand. Sophie is the dedicated receptionist at The Strand Veterinarian who’s just recently been charged with the responsibility of projec…

Send us a text In 2019, Zoetis NZ set up a new internal group to examine environmental, social and governance aspects of its business, with a focus on driving long term business sustainability. In practice, Large Animal Veterinarian Kristen Baxter’s responsibilities have been primarily focused on i…

Send us a text Dr Paulo Lencioni – a companion animal vet turned computer coder turned practising accountant specialising who now works with vet clinics to grow their practices answers the question “The impact of the pandemic – vet clinics are busier – but are we treating our patients better or wor…

Send us a text Veterinarian Dr Paolo Lencioni - co-author of September 2021 Vet Clinic Practice White Paper “The impact of the pandemic – vet clinics are busier – but are we treating our patients better or worse?” Today is part one of a two parts where I caught up with Dr Paulo Lencioni – a Compani…