Making a habit of recognising colleagues

Recognition in the early stages of your career should never be underestimated. With passionate individuals really focused on making a difference in the best way they can, creating moments that matter helps to drive forward positive development of people and clinical delivery. Research amongst early-career employees also indicates there is a high correlation between recognition and improving performance, plus having an impact on how you would describe that experience. In the feedback and analysis, those colleagues who were acknowledged were likely to describe this as uplifting, a great environment, and feeling fortunate. This is a massive part of why we started to talk to the British Veterinary Association (BVA) about forming the Young Vet of the Year Award. In a profession with high demands on individuals and teams, we feel it is even more critical to dial up and make this recognition even more visible.

At Zoetis, we aim to recognise our colleagues and teams working hard to make a difference. We started talking to BVA about these awards a few years ago, and it is great to see the continuing impact. It is hard not to be completely blown away by young vets' contributions to their profession and the positive affect they want to share with others. It is an honour to hear and see how individuals are making a considerable impression with others taking the time to nominate and share the fantastic efforts of young leaders in the veterinary profession.

One salient bit of advice I’ve had over the years is that it can be all too easy to focus on the end of the goal and celebrate significant achievements. With this perspective it is important to encourage individuals and teams to make time to celebrate small achievements on the way to accomplishing the bigger goals. Here at Zoetis we aim to make a habit of recognising colleagues, we try not to just deliver this with words and we aim to back this up with written nominations and we have a new initiative around celebrating success.

With such a fantastic cohort of nominees to date, we are keen to add to this impressive group of vets and hear and see more of your efforts. So what are we looking for with this year’s awards criteria?

We are looking for vets who:

• Give outstanding and consistent levels of care to their patients
• Have outstanding professionalism
• Have great interpersonal skills with both colleagues and pet owners
• Have gone above and beyond the normal call of duty
• Have made a significant impact on a specific cause or the veterinary community

There are so many wide-ranging challenges facing individuals, and we have seen such a diverse range of efforts to support mental health and wellbeing, One Health and, of course, the progression of clinical excellence. I am so grateful for the support of our Zoetis vets who have also put effort into forming the Young Vet of the Year awards and process. Wendy Talbot started off by helping to establish with BVA the initial criteria and early stages of the judging process. Edwina Gildea followed this as another keen contributor who bought to the table companion animal expertise and a passion for supporting the profession's development.

I am sure we can all recall moments of recognition that have mattered to us and left their mark on our progress, satisfaction, and purpose in life. Please take the time to nominate a young veterinary professional who is inspiring you and others around them as they carry out their day-to-day work or beyond. You are encouraged to share what you’ve been up to and send this in as well – we also welcome self-nomination too. We look forward to receiving the nominations and taking the time to shout out about you or your colleagues' efforts because this will have a positive lasting impact.