The Unusual Pet Vets achieves AVA Employer of Choice Accreditation

^{(Image: The Unusual Pet Vets Sunshine Coast)}

The AVA is thrilled to welcome The Unusual Pet Vets (UPV) to our growing list of AVA Employer of Choice (EOC) Accredited practices – a rigorous auditing process that recognises employers with exceptional standards of staff recruitment, engagement and retention.

It was a satisfying end to 2023 for UPV when they received the news 3 days before Christmas that their 7 practices had achieved AVA EOC Accreditation. Founded 12 years ago by Dr James Haberfield, it is well-deserved recognition of the work the owners, management and staff have put into benchmarking and improving systems across their Perth, Melbourne, Canberra, Brisbane, Sunshine Coast and Adelaide practices.

With a well-established core value of continuous improvement, UPV researched several options and found the AVA’s EOC Accreditation aligned well with what they wanted to achieve from the review of their standards.  

^{(Image: Dr James Haberfield and Dr Hamish Baron, Directors of The Unusual Pet Vets)}

For James and fellow Director Dr Hamish Baron, AVA EOC Accreditation provides reassurance that UPV are on the right path. “The biggest benefit to our ownership group is knowing that we have all our processes and systems in line with the benchmarks of excellence that we should be meeting. This provides peace of mind and confidence to know that we are doing the right thing. [Our staff] know that our systems have been analysed and audited, meaning that we are doing everything right by them. We have very low staff turnover and I feel that this accreditation will only help to minimise that further,” explained James.

^{(Top L: The Unusual Pet Vets Ferntree Gully; Top R: The Unusual Pet Vets Osborne Park
Bottom L: The Unusual Pet Vets Murdoch; Bottom R: The Unusual Pet Vets Peninsula)}

With around 120 employees solely focussed on exotic animals (including birds, reptiles, amphibians, rabbits, guinea pigs, ferrets, rats, mice, fish, native mammals, and insects) attracting staff to work at one of their practices is rarely an issue, with UPV enjoying an impressive reputation as an employer. This is supported by remuneration well above industry standards, generous continuing education allowances, a Staff Wellness Program, and research grants, offering a positive and strong proposition to any potential staff member.

^{(Image: The Unusual Pet Vets, supplied)}

As Director of UPV, James appreciates that it’s very difficult to be exceptional in all the different areas of business management without additional support. “The AVA EOC Accreditation process helps to provide guidance and identify any areas of improvement, some of which we may not have even realised that we were missing.” For UPV, this involved adding a volunteer day initiative to improve their community involvement assessment, and modifying the format of their staff reviews by including more structure around position descriptions and how staff members are fulfilling their role in those areas.

Justifiably proud of UPV’s achievements, James is supportive of raising the standard for employment across the profession, noting that younger staff members have higher expectations when it comes to employment standards. He adds, “I do think that this accreditation process is a really good step forward for the industry and is an initiative that will help to combat some of the issues that have been plaguing it for a number of years. I think these higher standards will make workplaces where employees are not put first struggle, because they will find it difficult to attract and retain staff. Hopefully initiatives like this will help act as a wakeup call for complacent vets that have traditionally treated their staff poorly.”

^{(Image: The Unusual Pet Vets, supplied)}

Given the timing of the AVA EOC Accreditation announcement, James and the team haven’t yet had an opportunity to properly reflect on their achievement but are looking forward to celebrating at their leadership retreat later this year.

For more information about pursuing AVA EOC Accreditation, click here. To register for the AVA EOC Program, click here.