The Meraki Initiative is a professional community movement intended to accelerate cultural change. By inspiring leadership, Meraki supports the profession to create a culture that people love to work in, improving the well-being and sustainability of the workforce.
Four-years in the making, Meraki is the brainchild of Veterinary Practice contributor Olly King. After years working in the profession, he saw an opportunity to improve professional morale, reduce staff attrition and enhance workplace cultures by enabling employers to build their reputations to better engage and recruit teams based on workplace values.
Vet and nurse students, veterinary care assistants, vet and nurse professionals and practice managers can register as individuals to create their free career profiles on the professional community. After registration approval, professionals and practice managers can go on to create a workplace profile as a paid subscription service.
These unique, searchable workplace profiles enable veterinary employers to share honest, transparent insights into their team, culture and life at their workplace. This helps the best workplaces stand out, build their reputation, and engage top talent. Integrating job vacancies and student placements enables these employers to recruit and retain talent who share their values, leading to thriving, high performing teams and, in turn, better retention.
Founder of this professional community movement, Olly King, has first-hand insight of the profession as a practising small animal and equine vet and training leadership coach. His motivation to create The Meraki Initiative began four years ago as he became demoralised by unmet career expectations, disengagement and waning mental health.
“I noticed an absence of action to address the profession’s retention crisis. There was a void in leadership and workplace cultures felt disingenuous and unsupportive, I saw many talented people leave the industry.”
“The goal of The Meraki Initiative is to raise cultural awareness, inspire leadership and create more human-centred workplaces where veterinary teams can fulfil their ambitions. Meraki exists to help improve retention by helping build great veterinary teams where people can belong, loving what they do, where they do it and who they do it with.”
The Meraki Initiative will be used by students, professionals and employers, and has already received strong support from employers and professionals alike:
“The Meraki Initiative is a great platform to showcase your practice and the unique selling points you have in terms of recruitment…. helping potential recruits see the clinic before they approach us and really get to understand what our business is all about,” said Laura Shears, MD Pets Kitchen, Swindon.
Nicola Warren-Smith, head of operations at Langford Vets, Bristol, said: “The Meraki Initiative gives a good opportunity for well-being and the importance of a good workplace culture to be shared across the profession.”
“[In showcasing our business and people] the Meraki Initiative will allow us to get the right people in the right position for us and the right job for them, so it is a win-win for everyone,” observed Diane Storer, owner of Cockburn Vets, Coalville.
Laura Mather, owner of Greenbay Vets, Torquay, said: “The Meraki Initiative allows us to give real insight into what it is like to work at Greenbay. I believe it will help connect people and practices in a really positive way, and ultimately improve retention within the profession.”
For more information and to register on The Meraki Initiative please visit their website.
