“Vets Now is a special company… made special by the people in it.”
Vets Now was founded on the principles of our four core company values:
innovation, caring, releasing potential and responsibility.
These values are testament to the culture and ethos of our highly talented, passionate and committed people; people who go the extra mile every day. They are the people who always have, and always will, decide how our company develops.
That means what kind of place we want Vets Now to be and what path we want to follow. At the same time, there are occasions when we all need direction and guidance to help us make those choices wisely.
The values have been defined to guide and support us with our daily decision-making, which in turn ensures that Vets Now remains a truly great place to work.
The values apply to us all, whether we have been in the business for 10 minutes or 10 years. As we worked through this, literally hundreds of people throughout Vets Now got involved.
From getting the core values defined, to describing how they should be applied in practice, if one thing should be clear, it is that these values were created by, and belong to, us all.
This guide is intended to help you understand exactly what is meant by our values and gives some examples of their practical application. This is far from exhaustive, just some real life examples. The values define what you should expect of others and what they expect of you. Whether you think of them as a rulebook, a guidebook, an instruction manual or a map, I really don’t mind. But, I do want you to think about them.
They are a fundamental part of our company and should influence and support everyone who chooses to work at Vets Now.
I hope you like them, find them useful and most of all enjoy living them. They are a core part of Vets Now.
So are you.
Together, we embrace change and creative thinking
At Vets Now we strive to be the best in everything we do—from being clinically excellent to providing industry-leading CPD.
That’s why we always ask ourselves ‘how can we make things better?’
We foster a culture that gives everyone the confidence to make their voice heard and bring their ideas forward. Innovation doesn’t have to come from big ideas—small improvements are just as important.
The ‘no blame’ culture is an integral part of Vets Now, and this means that we are not afraid or embarrassed about making occasional mistakes—instead we learn from them and make positive change.
We encourage people to share ideas and learn from each other, accept challenge from one another and actively seek solutions rather than focusing on just the problems.
Innovation brings change, and we welcome, embrace and adapt to it willingly for the very reason that if we are changing something it is because we are trying to make it better for our colleagues, clients and customers.
Your commitment to innovation
If you see something that can be improved, or do something every day that could be made easier or better then put your idea forward.
Keep looking for opportunities to make improvements and continue to be constructive.
Take part in meetings, workshops and webinars. This is your opportunity to contribute to Vets Now and make a difference.
Approach challenges with a positive attitude, celebrate those who make a difference, and be open to accept and make positive change from mistakes.
The company’s commitment to innovation
Time and money will be specifically allocated to focus on and support innovation across Vets Now.
Managers across Vets Now will actively encourage ideas and listen to suggestions from all members of the team. They will give constructive feedback and updates on the progress of any initiatives.
We will accept mistakes, and put processes in place to help us to learn from these experiences.
Together, we show compassion and empathy in our interactions
Vets Now is here to give people and their pets the care and support they deserve, at the time they need it most.
The pets we treat deserve a safe and caring environment and have the right to be free from fear, pain and suffering at all times. We aspire to treat them as if they were our own. We are committed to providing the best possible quality of care for their individual needs and offering compassionate care towards pets and their owners.
We respect our clients, customers, and colleagues and always consider how we would want to be treated if we were in their shoes.
We encourage a supportive working environment where people are listened to and treated fairly, honestly and considerately.
Your commitment to caring
Caring for clients and their feelings, and recognising the importance of their relationship with their pet is an essential part of all of our jobs.
We also respect the needs of clients and other professionals who use our services.
Get to know your colleagues. This takes time and effort but teams work better together when they share a common understanding of each other. Show that you care through your actions.
Caring is often about the small things, saying ‘good morning', ‘thank you’ or making a cuppa for someone who's having a tough shift.
The company’s commitment to caring
Vets Now will allocate significant resources every year to help ensure patients receive the care they need from staff who are trained to an exceptional standard.
Managers in Vets Now should know their team well and create time to listen to their views without judgement and to follow up and act on the feedback received.
Feedback will be given in an honest, considerate and caring manner. It is much better in the long run to address any issues, allowing people the opportunity to respond and develop.
Vets Now will continually invest in the quality of care provided to both pets and their owners.
Together, we strive to be the best we can be
The strength of Vets Now lies in the strength of its people and so we want to see our people fulfilling their own potential.
Our people are at the core of our ambition to build a sustainable and successful organisation that continues to save pets’ lives long into the future. Building the skills of our workforce is an investment towards this ambition and gives the opportunity for people to fulfil their personal ambitions and goals, and to develop their career at the same time.
We discuss development needs with each other and take personal responsibility for our own development. We create an environment where we are open and honest about opportunities, and recognise that people also have skills outside of their current job role.
By releasing the potential of our people, we are making sure that Vets Now is the best it can be.
Your commitment to releasing potential
Take responsibility for your own learning and development and actively seek out opportunities.
Be open to challenging yourself and stepping out of your comfort zone, but be realistic about the expectations you set for yourself and that you have of the company. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes, but do be willing to acknowledge and learn from them.
Always ask for help when you need it. Saying ‘I don’t know’ is not a failure – but an opportunity to learn.
Work in collaboration with others outside your team, being involved in other areas of the company can be a great opportunity and immensely rewarding.
The company’s commitment to releasing potential
Time will be allocated specifically to talk about your development and personal ambitions.
Vets Now will invest in training and professional development for all employees.
Managers across Vets Now will identify opportunities to develop their teams, from job opportunities to involvement in projects and groups. Managers are expected to delegate effectively across their teams, ensuring everyone has the opportunity to grow in their role.
Vets Now will establish a means of collating skills and areas of interest of all employees and whenever possible utilise people more broadly than in their specific job role alone.
Together, we take ownership
We want Vets Now to continue to grow and this means that we all have a responsibility for helping ensure it meets its aims of sustainable profit delivered with integrity.
This means that together we must take ownership of our decisions, and act to protect the long-term future of our organisation and its people. As a company, we recognise the need to run a profitable and sustainable business and we commit to continually reinvesting in and securing the future of our organisation.
We expect people to take ownership of issues and seek to resolve them for the benefit of clients, customers or colleagues. We have a responsibility to keep our promises and will be held to account if we fall short. We understand that our actions reflect the organisation and define what people think about Vets Now, and we should always strive to ensure that we leave people with a positive lasting impression.
We recognise the importance of communication in the success of the business and we all accept responsibility to play our part in ensuring effective communications throughout the company.
We have a responsibility to ourselves and our colleagues to work within health and safety guidelines so that we all have a safe environment to work in. We must also challenge practices or conditions that don’t reflect our values.
Our people do the right thing for the benefit of our clients, customers and colleagues because together, we save pets’ lives.
Your commitment to responsibility
Take responsibility and ownership for your own work and the obligations that come with your particular role in the company. If you make a promise to deliver something, you must do your best to meet that promise.
Always think about how a client, customer or colleague will view your actions (or absence of actions) and the implications for the individuals and the reputation of our organisation.
We need to make a profit to secure the future of our organisation, and everyone that works at Vets Now must accept responsibility for their role in achieving this.
Take the opportunity to contribute by actively engaging in communication across the organisation.
We are committed to making a difference to the health and wellbeing of our people, and an important part of this is looking out for your own wellbeing, as well as that of those around you.
The company’s commitment to responsibility
We have a responsibility to help uphold the integrity of the veterinary profession and our patient care must always meet the expected standards.
We will make financial decisions that we believe are in the best long-term interests of the organisation. We will do this for many reasons but in particular because we recognise that many staff and their families depend on our long-term success. We also have a responsibility to ensure we can achieve our goals in a sustainable manner, so that we can continue to provide lifesaving emergency pet care long into the future.
We will not avoid making difficult decisions when they need to be made, but when these involve people we will ensure everyone is treated compassionately and respectfully.
We will not “turn a blind eye” to behaviours that are contrary to our core values. We will face up to these challenges and deal with them fairly.
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