Good veterinary workplaces

Reward and recognition in veterinary workplaces

The importance of reward and recognition

Members of the veterinary professions put in a huge amount of discretionary effort every day, but this isn’t always recognised. Not feeling rewarded or valued has consistently been one of the most common reasons why vets say they plan to leave the profession, as shown by the RCVS survey of the professions 2019.

Fair reward and recognition is important for all workplaces. Provided a team member is paid fairly and at market rates, pay usually has little impact on satisfaction, but it can have a negative impact if you get it wrong and employees feel unfairly treated.

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How to improve reward and recognition in veterinary workplaces

The veterinary profession needs to challenge the culture that sees team members working for little reward or recognition. Review and assess what your workplace offers and how this can be improved.  

Benefits packages can be a useful tool for showing team members they’re valued, but can be costly, and cannot be used to compensate for other issues. The most important benefit an organisation can provide is to create a positive culture in which all members of the team feel valued, with the best leadership and management processes supporting this.

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Good workplaces:

• provide transparent, fair, and equal pay for all employees, relevant to their respective roles; and
• offer fair and equal benefits, which contribute to a positive work culture, to all team members.


Read pages 38 to 41 in our position on good veterinary workplaces, to equip yourself with a better understanding of how to reward and recognise team members.

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Talking about pay in the veterinary professions

A guide for employees, managers, and employers

Our resource on talking about pay in the veterinary profession has been created to advise and guide members how to discuss salary, total reward, pay structures and the importance of transparency surrounding pay. This guide is aimed at all vet professionals, from new grads through to employers and practice managers with relevant advice for each area.

This resource is available exclusively to BVA members.

Download now
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Webinar

Watch the recording of our webinar on reward and recognition with BVA President James Russell and Head of VDS Training Carolyne Crowe. 

Our third webinar of the series explored the importance of reward and recognition in the workplace, with BVA President James Russell in conversation with VDS Head of Training Carolyne Crowe sharing their thoughts on fair and transparent pay, benefits packages, what feeling valued at work means, and creating a positive workplace culture. Join the conversation to discuss what fair reward and recognition looks like to you.

Watch the recording
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