Why your practice needs a mentorship program—and how to get started

Many veterinary clinics report challenges in hiring and retaining qualified team members for all positions. A 2023 AAHA survey found that 30% or more of veterinary professionals in clinical practice are considering leaving their current job. One of the top attrition factors identified was a desire for career development. Mentorship supports career development for individuals of all career stages and positions on a veterinary team. Implementing a mentorship program may feel overwhelming, but your practice can use existing resources to get started.

The role of mentorship in recruitment and retention

Mentorship benefits veterinary practices in many ways. First, it positively influences recruitment, especially for early career veterinarians. Senior veterinary students consider mentorship to be the most important factor in choosing a job, according to the American Veterinary Medicine Association (AVMA). A lack of mentorship is a top factor that drives early career veterinarians to leave their first job, often within 1-2 years of starting practice.

And that’s a major problem, because attrition has many negative impacts on veterinary hospitals.

When clinics are short-staffed, revenue is likely to decrease. This, combined with the costs of hiring and training new employees, can negatively impact the practice’s financial health. Additionally, team morale, stress levels, and patient care can suffer.

Mentorship has been documented to improve job satisfaction and retention in many industries, making it an effective tool to improve retention and prevent the negative effects of attrition on veterinary hospitals.

Beyond their integral role in recruitment and retention, mentoring programs support mental health and wellbeing of veterinary professionals as well as diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. These initiatives are integral to successful practices and improve career sustainability in veterinary medicine.

Three components of a successful mentorship program

Successful in-clinic mentoring programs are built on three key components: clear expectations, an action plan, and consistent communication. The AAHA Mentoring Toolkit includes forms to help mentors and mentees through the mentoring process from start to finish.

1. Set clear expectations

One of the biggest reasons mentoring programs fail is due to mismatched expectations, especially when a mentee expects more support than a program is designed to provide.

Both the mentor and mentee should discuss expectations prior to formally entering the relationship. Mentees should be sure that the level of support planned meets their needs. Mentors should be sure that they have the time and knowledge necessary to fulfill their obligations to the mentorship. Practice leaders should assist in setting expectations to ensure the practice has the resources to support the needs of the mentors and mentees.

At a minimum, the following should be discussed:

• Frequency and length of one-on-one mentoring meetings.
• Length of the formal mentorship period.
• Individual responsibilities of the mentor and mentee.
• Expected outcomes of the relationship.
• What additional resources will be provided to support mentor and mentee.

Part of setting expectations includes creating a mentorship agreement. This ensures all parties know what to realistically expect during the mentorship period and helps hold both mentor and mentee accountable throughout the process. For in-clinic mentoring programs, consider adding a list of responsibilities for the practice leadership team, such as protecting time for regular mentor meetings and contributing feedback.

As you work to set expectations, review the Mentoring Guidelines and Toolkit. Specific sections to review include sections 4 and 5 of the Guidelines, which discuss roles, responsibilities, and expectations for the mentoring relationship, and step two of the Toolkit, which provides a template agreement.

2. Create an action plan

The action plan expands on the expectations discussed prior to starting the mentoring relationship. This plan should be developed during the initial mentor meetings and be re-evaluated periodically throughout the relationship. Section 6 of the Guidelines includes a list of questions to consider at the early mentoring meetings to help in developing this plan.

A key component of the action plan is a list of goals, which can be discussed for both mentor and mentee. Making progress towards these goals will help to move toward the desired outcomes of the mentorship. For instance, if one of the desired outcomes is for the mentee to improve efficiency in appointments, some goals might include shortening the length of appointments to the standard length seen in the clinic or creating strategies to complete medical records promptly.

When developing these goals, consider not only what the goal is, but when you want to accomplish it, the potential obstacles that may need to be addressed, and resources you might need to help in achieving the goal. Step two of the Toolkit also includes a format to help you design goals.

While the toolkit utilizes the SMART goals format, it is important to remember that not all individuals process information in the same way. Mentors and mentees should discuss what format will work best to help them achieve the intended outcomes.

3. Maintain consistent communication

The success of a mentoring relationship requires both mentor and mentee to maintain open communication. Regular mentor meetings are a crucial tool for this, and it is essential that time be blocked and protected in the clinic schedule for mentoring meetings. Holding these meetings off-site can sometimes help minimize distractions or interruptions that may occur in the clinic.

Before mentoring meetings, each individual should review the current goals and how they are progressing as well as how the relationship is going overall. Step three of the Toolkit provides a list of questions for mentors and mentees to consider before each meeting.

During the meeting, it is helpful to maintain a consistent agenda to maximize efficiency and ensure all key points are covered. However, if a mentee or mentor is having a particular struggle, it is ok to go “off script” and delve more deeply into the issue at hand. Section three of the Toolkit includes a suggested agenda that mentoring pairs can adapt to meet their individual needs.

While mentoring meetings are an important part of a successful relationship, it is not the only time that mentors and mentees should communicate. Discuss what preferred communication methods are and set boundaries around availability—especially outside of the clinic—to ensure that the communication remains positive and productive.

Photo credit: © AAHA/Mickey Thomas

Disclaimer: The views expressed, and topics discussed, in any NEWStat column or article are intended to inform, educate, or entertain, and do not represent an official position by the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) or its Board of Directors.