Veterinary Blueprints
The Veterinary Blueprint Podcast is all about taking the blueprint of industry experts and breaking it down in short, digestible episodes you can use to take your practice to the next level. Join host Bill Butler as he interviews experts on client and practice management, financial strategies, human resources, and more. Gain valuable insights and stay ahead in the veterinary field by tuning in to tips from successful experts inside and outside the veterinary industry.
Veterinary Blueprints
#12 - Languages of Appreciation
Transform your veterinary practice's environment with the insightful revelations from Marie Pabst, an aficionado in Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace. This episode promises to take you on a journey through Marie's innovative strategies, honed from her seasoned background in animal health, to boost morale and strengthen the fabric of your team relationships. Discover the essence of heartfelt appreciation that transcends monetary incentives, and learn why nearly half the workforce cherishes words of affirmation. Marie's company, Other Centered Growth, presents a beacon of change, leading practice owners and managers to embrace the power of tailored recognition in cultivating a vibrant organizational culture.
Unlock the potential of a happier, more engaged team as we explore the platinum rule with Marie Pabst—treating teammates as they prefer, not just how we assume they should be treated. We dissect the nuances of appreciation, examining the potency of handwritten notes and individual acknowledgment alongside the pitfalls of generic gestures. The spirited conversation moves towards the significance of everyone's role in mutual respect and recognition, advocating for a grassroots movement within your practice. Tune in for an inspiring session filled with practical tips and innovative approaches that promise not just to enlighten but to transform the way you and your team celebrate each other's contributions to your shared success.
Guest Info
Marie Pabst
Diagnostic Sales Manager
Antech Diagnostics
linkedin.com/in/mariepabst
Host Information
Bill Buter – Contact Information
Direct – 952-208-7220
https://butlervetinsurance.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/billbutler-cic/
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I brought the five love languages to one of my practices that I was very close with and I said you know, okay, we're going to just kind of informally change this for the workplace. Well, that's when I stumbled into. There actually is the love languages translated to the workplace.
Speaker 2:Welcome to the Veterinary Blueprint podcast brought to you by Butler Vet Insurance. Hosted by Bill Butler, the Veterinary Blueprint podcast is for veterinarians and practice managers who are looking to learn about working on their practice instead of in their practice. Each episode we will bring you successful, proven blueprints from others, both inside and outside the veterinary industry. Welcome to today's episode.
Speaker 3:Hello everyone, welcome back to the Veterinary Blueprints podcast, where Veterinary Care meets business ownership. I am your host, bill Butler, and in today's fast-paced world, so many veterinarians face practices face challenges in attracting and retaining top tier talent. More so, efforts to show appreciation sometimes miss the mark. This leads to frustrations that can erode practice culture and the crucial bond between those practice owners and managers and your staff. But don't worry, for today we have someone who has decoded this intricate dance of workplace appreciation not attrition appreciation. It helps alleviate attrition.
Speaker 3:Burry paps, a top producing sales representative with a career in animal health at Novartis, alonco and Beringer Ingle Time, and now is representing her own company at other centered growth. She is not only versed in building relationships, but is also a certified facilitator in languages of appreciation in the workplace. This innovative concept mirrors the popular five love languages many of us have heard of I not so much. I'm just going to be honest was something that Marie embraced in 2020 to address the critical issues she was observing among her veterinary practice clients. Marie will be sharing her insights on how these languages can bridge the gap, fostering healthy organizational culture and robust employer-employee relationships. So if you've been grappling with talent retention and I know many practices have. If your gestures of appreciation seem to be falling on deaf ears, then today's episode with a remarkable Marie Paps will be enlightening. So let's dive right in, marie. Thanks for joining us today.
Speaker 1:Thanks for having me on. It's always good to see you.
Speaker 3:It is always good to see you. So what's interesting is you and I, as we talked about we talk about frequently is our connection. My cousin, Tim, was one of your co-workers for quite some time at a couple of your pharmaceutical, animal health jobs, and when I launched my book last fall he got us connected and we've been off to the races since then, collaborating in your role, in doing what you do and what I do and what I do in the veterinary insurance world. So it's been an awesome relationship and we're going to chat today about something that's a little more unique that we haven't gotten into much detail on, but why don't you share with our listeners today a little bit about Marie, where you're coming from today, where you're at today and how you got started in the veterinary and animal services world?
Speaker 1:It's such an honor to be here talking about this very important topic because I found it to be a subject that every one of my practices was struggling with and it really is what prompted me to get certified as a Languages of Appreciation Facilitator.
Speaker 1:So I started in animal health way back I don't want to say how many years ago, but it was 2000. I graduated college and joined Novartis Animal Health and it was such a great opportunity. I had an opportunity to serve a lot of different animal practices in different capacities, but it was in my role as key account manager with Elanco that I really got to take a much deeper dive into what goes on behind the scenes at animal practices. When you're a sales rep and you're slinging vaccines and heartworm and all kinds of other doggie drugs, you tend to deal with just the medicine. But that role as key account really led me into what was going on with the practice and in meeting with the owners and the managers I was hearing things like we're doing so much for our team and yet we're still struggling with this lack of appreciation, this culture war, where they're like now one's happy and there's all this friction. And it just got to be really frustrating for them because they felt they were doing so much but it wasn't landing as intended.
Speaker 3:So while you were doing the pharmaceutical animal health gig in 2020, you saw the need for this languages of appreciation, or just how business owners, practice managers, practice owners were interacting with their team and a disconnect about what they thought they were doing from an appreciation standpoint, but it didn't really come through. So you decided to jump in and assist them and tell me a little bit about the training or the certification or what really spoke to you about this languages of appreciation.
Speaker 1:So when I would meet with business owners and the head veterinarians, the practice managers, I would hear them talk about their challenges and I kept going back to books from my personal life, my parenting life, my marriage life, and often there would be many books that I could recommend to them that came from the family.
Speaker 1:Personal side, and one that kept coming up over and over again was the five love languages, and the concept is that we each speak love in a different and very unique language, and the concept lands pretty heavy where you're like, if I'm in Spain and I don't speak Spanish, I'm going to have a very difficult time communicating, but yet if I did speak the native language, then I would be a ton more effective. Everything would be a lot more pleasant. So I brought the five love languages to one of my practices that I was very close with and I said, okay, we're going to just kind of informally change this for the workplace. Well, that's when I stumbled into there actually is the love languages translated to the workplace, and I think that's a great relief to anyone with an HR slant, because one of the languages is physical touch and so obviously we want to be mindful of that in the workplace.
Speaker 3:Absolutely, and so you're using some of the insurance we sell to our practices which you don't want to use. All right. So for those on the podcast today listening learning about the languages of appreciation for the first time, how would you briefly describe how those five love languages evolved into the professional ones, to keep you out of trouble, and how did that evolution take place?
Speaker 1:Yeah, so at a really high level. The five languages are words of affirmation, quality time, acts of service, gifts and physical touch, and all of them have a place in every one of our relationships and if you dig into this concept, you'll find love languages for children. It's a wonderful concept, but in the workplace what's exciting about languages of appreciation, and what prompted me to get certified as a facilitator, is that one appreciation can be free, and I think that really really resonates with a lot of practices on your cash flow. And aren't some of the best things in life free? So I think that first perked up a lot of my practice's attention like, yeah, free, that sounds great.
Speaker 1:The other thing is that it's easy to apply and once you go through some of the concepts, you're like this is not difficult. You can do a fairly light touch on this concept and then apply it throughout the practice and then in your personal life as well. So, yes, there are assessments and quizzes where you can take to find out what your languages of appreciation are in the workplace. But what I like to teach the groups is, even in the absence of that quiz, let's go through the high levels and what really is going to resonate with the team.
Speaker 3:I was on a call with some other insurance professionals the other day and they were talking about appreciation in the workplace and there was one thing that people want more than love or money and it's praise and recognition and just being recognized for a good job. And I think it's so easy as, again, this podcast is about business ownership and entrepreneurship. I have a team that I have to remember. Somebody does a good job. You need to recognize them for that, for the good job. It's not just, hey, they did the job they were hired to do, they did a good job and recognize that. I think that's probably a lot of what this might go to, marie. So, when you're talking about appreciation and the language of appreciation like free and easy, sounds really nice how do you implement that and what are some cues that appreciation is needed in an organization?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think oftentimes we do take for granted that the team needs to be lifted up and appreciated, and so when you're walking through the halls of your practice and you're listening with fresh ears, you want to be looking for discouragements, irritability and resistance to policy. When you're rolling something out, there's a grumbling Want to be mindful of watching for absenteeism, tardiness, because that's really starting to show lack of engagement and if they don't care, why should I care? That starts creeping in Sarcasm, cynicism, apathy, social withdrawal.
Speaker 3:You're describing me to a T, so that sounds like a problem. Sarcasm and cynicism, uh-oh.
Speaker 1:It all has its place.
Speaker 3:It all has its place. So when you start to hear those things creeping in or you notice them, what can you do? Again, that free and easy component and the languages of appreciation. So those are the cues. How do you kind of turn that around and what are some things you can do as a practice to stop those things?
Speaker 1:I think the most important thing is to recognize it's not about the money, and so there's this massive disconnect with employers and employees when they're going through exit interviews, 89% of managers think that their people have left for more money, when actually only 12% leave for more money.
Speaker 3:Holy cow.
Speaker 1:And that's a massive change, especially when a business is thinking, oh, we have to raise our wages. Well, let's pump the brakes on that first. Are there some other levers that we can pull? And what we've found is that it's actually 79% of people are citing lack of appreciation as a massive reason why they're leaving. So then yeah, let's dig into how do you do that. And not every language is spoken in the same percent of intensity. So if we take a look at what people's primary language of appreciation is, words of affirmation is 47% of the workforce's number one language. So words are free. We don't want cheap words, but we want authentic words, and so we can start right now.
Speaker 3:We want free words with high value.
Speaker 1:Exactly exactly, and you can't just use them lightly. We have to use them with intention and there is a way to do it. So the first thing when we're taking a look at words of affirmation is how do we do it? And there's really three components and we've got to nail this. Number one we've got to use their name, always use their name in that recognition, whether it's in notes, whether we're talking to them directly. It gets their attention and just really resonates. And then we need to make sure we're using it accurately. So if we've got someone who has a difficult name like take the time, learn how to pronounce their name properly so we want to use their name. The second key component is these and their proper name.
Speaker 3:Right too, because so my name is William. I go by Bill, like, hey, will, great job. Like I'm going to look at you like that's not my name. My name's not Will, I've never been Will, no, and so the nickname, or anything else, it needs to be genuine, it needs to be their name, because it's that radio station that we're all listening to, wiifm. What's in it for me? And the number one thing you know, if you're in a crowd and somebody yells your name, everyone turns because they always want it. Oh, who's talking about me? So that really hits home for a lot of the personal growth and professional development I do. It talks about making sure that you're just from a sales perspective, when you're talking to somebody, use their name Marie, you're, like I said, my name. You perk up, you immediately pay more attention when your name's used, right.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, and you definitely want to ask people like what's their preferred name? And when we find names that you know aren't William or Marie, like that's pretty standard. Nobody can really screw that up, even though I get Mary and Maria all the time, that's cool. But you know, take the time. If someone's got a you know a name that you're not familiar with. I had a doctor everyone called him Dr A, dr A, and I was like I'm going to try a little harder and it took me a long time, but his name is Dr Antonichich. Right, like that doesn't just roll off, but it was appreciated when I could actually use his full name and so take the time, you know. So username. Next component is you want it to be specific. You know what did they do. And then the third, and probably that frosting on the appreciation cake, is what was the impact? Because that's what really seals it and that's the piece that oftentimes we forget and that's where the magic is.
Speaker 3:So you know, I'm at a practice, I'm a vet tech and I've done something well, handled a bad patient experience, because those happen all the time. I handled a bad patient experience in a great manner, and how would you kind of convey that to me if you give me an example of what that would sound like?
Speaker 1:Yeah, Bill, I'm so grateful you were here today because when Rosie walked in, like everyone kind of like stiffens up when Rosie walks in because we know how difficult she is to handle but man, you really stepped it up. You kept your cool, you were able to handle her so calmly. She didn't even flinch when we went in to do that nail trim and so I mean you put everybody at ease. Rosie felt great and the owner didn't hear screaming and barking from the lobby. So thanks a lot.
Speaker 3:So that was free. It sounds pretty easy, and so I think one of the last things that we'll kind of touch on today is there seems to be a disconnect between the effort that gets put in into appreciating their team and how employees are interpreting their efforts. So I might hear that a different way than you're putting that out there. So what's the breakdown, or how help our listeners understand where that disconnect might come from? Because I might seem like or I might think well, I tell them they're doing a great job all the time. I don't know what the problem is. They just walk around here, they're grumpy, they're irritable, they're sarcastic, and I tell them they're doing a great job every single day as the practice owner, but it doesn't seem like it's resonating. So where's that disconnect coming from?
Speaker 1:It's misusing the golden rule and forgetting that there's actually a better one. There's the platinum rule. So everyone's familiar with the golden rule Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. And so when you walk into the room or your entire world, thinking you know, I think I should be saying great job, that's what feels good to me and that's what's going to feel good to everybody. And that is, by hands down, the easiest way to go wrong with everyone and that's what language of appreciation shares with you is that if we follow the platinum rule, which is, do unto others as they would have you do unto them, then that's where it really lands.
Speaker 1:Okay, so let's go back to that words of appreciation. If words of appreciation is my language and there's different ways to communicate it, so there's written, there's in a small group, there's verbal and there's in a large group. Well, bill, if you were someone who was absolutely mortified of being called out in front of everyone which, spoiler alert, most people are if you hate public recognition and I pull you up to the front of the staff meeting right, put your name on a plaque or certificate what did I do wrong?
Speaker 1:Not only did what did I do wrong, but then some people are like you know, oh great, you know now I'm the brown nose, or you know, however they're.
Speaker 3:However, they're interpreting how that came through. It wasn't received the way I thought it like. I called them out in front of the team meeting. I told them they did a great job and instead they were more fired and they wished it never would have. I wish I hadn't done the good thing. You just train them not to do the good thing next time, because they don't want to get called out right.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So what we want to encourage people to do is with the words. You know you want to start smaller and go bigger. You know you want to grow into it, and so the first thing I might encourage them to do is, you know, make that comment one on one and then see where it resonates. You know I might sprinkle in a note and then get a feel, for you know how public they like it, but that's really important that you give it to the way that they want. Follow that platinum rule. And then where I found that most practices were going wrong is they were doing gifts, which that is the least preferred language. And so you know, you're hitting everybody up on vet tech week and you want the coffee mugs and the it. It doesn't land, it's expensive and the difficulty is it's so not one size fits all. You know we're getting Starbucks for everybody. I'm a Duncan gal, oh well that was a miss.
Speaker 3:You know, yeah, and you know one thing that that hits me is is we do some personality testing here at Butler Vet Insurance for our team, and there's there's one of the one of the components on the test is is an economic driver whether somebody's driven economically, and what's interesting is there's actually two economic drivers.
Speaker 3:There's money, but then there's also time, and if you waste somebody's time, that can, that's worse than telling them that costs $100. Like, I would rather pay you $100 to not have to spend any time with you or have you waste my time. And so I'm a high economic, but my economic is time, not necessarily money. So I'm not driven by money, I'm driven by time, and so meeting people where they are is really important, and one thing that that I know is resonated and has worked well with me is is those hand written notes and not delivered at the at the office, but or or the practice, but mailing that card to their house. You don't have to have a gift card in there, it doesn't have to be that Starbucks card when they're, when they're a Duncan or you know whatever chain where you're at. What's the big coffee shop down in Chicago? I mean, Starbucks obviously is everywhere. But what's the big chain in in Chicago that rivals Starbucks?
Speaker 1:I mean it's Duncan.
Speaker 3:It's one of the two yeah.
Speaker 3:So we have Caribou up here, because it was a Minnesota company. That's where they came from. So Caribou is starting to spread out. But those are the big competing ones.
Speaker 3:But you know, back to the note, the. The other thing with getting that note at home is the significant other, the spouse. It's not, you know, you're writing that kind of creepy note. Back to the bad touch situation. It's a professional hey, you did a great job, we really appreciate you. And it's them getting recognized away from the workplace in front of their loved ones and family.
Speaker 3:And oftentimes I've, you know, I've done that with my team those cards make their way to the office and get put on the desk at the office, even though they got mailed to the house. And so you know it doesn't take much. You know it's a stamp in three or four minutes and when I write those cards to my team, I sit down and I just take a quiet moment and I reflect what you know. What do they do? And again, how, how does that going to be received? And instead of just thanks for a great job, bill, it's the impact and what they did and and again, like you were talking about meeting them where they are. So what's another way that there there might be a breakdown happening, or how can you resonate better as a as a practice owner or manager when you're trying to to give some of that appreciation to your team?
Speaker 1:I think not feeling like it's all in your shoulders as the owner. You know you're going to have to model this good behavior, but it's really most effective when it's grassroots and it's coming from everyone and it doesn't have to all be you. So you know, I love how you talk about the currency of time. Quality time is one that resonates quite high in the workplace and sometimes that means one-on-one with the boss, getting mentored, but most often, if it's quality time, I value time. Team building and bonding Now you got to be careful. Some people see that as forced fun and I just want to get home.
Speaker 3:The time waster. Yeah, now you know you're wasting my time. I'd rather be on lunch by myself.
Speaker 1:Yes, so you have to know, like what resonates from the time. You know if I'm a big volunteer, if my kids are in Little League, you know. So you just have to be really careful that, yes, you know what that language is, but what's the dialect. And so you know, I would roll this concept out to the leadership team of the practice and then from there ask them to spread it amongst their, you know, circle of influence. You know the head techs, the managers, head lead receptionists, but then catch them being good and appreciating them for appreciating. You know I saw what you did Like that really meant a lot to Bill.
Speaker 3:It can't be a week later either. Right it has to be.
Speaker 1:Yes, and that's a thing Like it's. It does matter to different people and there are some cues you know. So the older we are, the more tolerant we are of, the longer it goes. And so, like my grandma's, you know somewhere in heaven being appreciative of me sending my thank you notes, right, but the younger the generation is, you've got to give up to them faster, and so if you've got a young team, shoot it off in a text, you know. If it isn't within a day or two, you've really lost it.
Speaker 3:Lost it. Yeah, it can't be. When you're remembering it the following Monday, you know, back to the back to the timeliness. It can't be. You know, monday when it when that happened on Wednesday the prior week, like they had a weekend, it feels that might not hit land as well. Talking about that disconnect piece, like yeah, that was yeah I totally forgot.
Speaker 1:Like what are you even talking about? You know they've moved on, but I still think like if we're going to make a mistake, I'd rather make it in error appreciating and have them be like well, that was weird, like I didn't think that was a big deal, then not not saying anything at all.
Speaker 3:Then not even trying so. So if I was a practice owner or manager and I wanted to dive a little bit deeper into this concept, how would I go about doing that?
Speaker 1:So the what's great about it, I think, is this how it overlaps into your personal and professional life. So first thing, I would go to the five love languages website, because that free, that quiz there is free, and so what's nice about that is you can go and learn what your love language is and get comfortable with that and kind of play around with that at home. And then there's also languages of apology, which is also pretty fantastic, and then from there I probably need that I probably need that at home.
Speaker 1:It has been transformational with with my family. We all thought we spoke different languages of apology. We all speak the exact same one, but how we deliver it is different and we're like oh my gosh.
Speaker 1:That is explained so much. But then with languages of appreciation in the workplace, you know, there are the books, there are the assessments, what? What I host from from time to time are webinars where we roll out the concepts at a high level. We'll be doing some soon, so I'll be sure to get that info to you. Okay, but yeah, just going through, like what are the languages, what percent are the most common, and then digging into words and how do you, how do you get into it a little bit instead of just doing it wrong.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I keep seeing you offering these, like you've given this talk a number of times at your local Rotary Club and I'm up in Minnesota, you're down in Chicago. I was like man, I wish I could go. Maybe I'll go to a Rotary meeting down in in Schoenberg or somewhere in the Chicago area to to visit and catch one of these live in person. But so you're offering these live in person and you're also doing some of these online. There's, I'm sure, if you Google in the Google machine, languages of appreciation. You'll have no trouble finding this.
Speaker 3:But I just want to thank you, marie, for your time today sharing with us some of these insights of languages of appreciation to help our practice owners and managers appreciate their team, because the job market's tight, everyone's worried about where they're going to get their next team member from, and you don't want to have to try and to add more. So what's probably the last thought you would leave our listeners today with? On what they could do if they just did one thing after listening to this podcast? What would be the one thing they could do?
Speaker 1:I would say immediately go, practice the words with the three components name, specific impact. You will be amazed at what it means personally, professionally. But get out and do that and when you see the fruits of that, contact me. Let's talk some more and go a little deeper.
Speaker 3:Perfect. And where can our listeners reach out to you? Where are you online? Where can they, where can they get a hold of you?
Speaker 1:My agency is other centered growth and we are at other centered growth dot com. Lots of information on languages there, and then we'll be having a lot of events posted, both live and virtual, so be on the lookout for those.
Speaker 3:Great, we'll have some of your contact information, the show notes. You and I are connected on LinkedIn and I see all your events popping up on LinkedIn and I'm just like I'm missing these in person. But thanks so much for joining us, marie, and thank you for sharing some of your insight and how our practice owners and managers can better appreciate their team, both in person and in written form and all the different ways, without having it be weird and a love language perspective, but a business language perspective.
Speaker 1:Yes, absolutely. It's free, it's meaningful, it really improves the culture and they'll be glad they invested the time in it.
Speaker 3:It's free and easy. Veterinarians, practice managers it's free and easy, so just invest a little time, look, look out, look out on the internet and connect with Marie if you want more information. Well, thanks so much for joining us, marie, and look forward to connecting with you again soon.
Speaker 1:Thanks for the invitation, Bill. It's always a pleasure.
Speaker 3:Thanks for tuning in to Veterinary Blueprints. If you have any thoughts, questions or suggestions for an episode, I would love to hear from you. Email me at bill at butlervetinsurancecom. Don't forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode, and if you could do me a huge favor you know it helps with the algorithm. If you can like, share or comment on the post, leave a review, I would love it. Thanks for tuning in and until next time.
