Apiam Animal Health's Deniliquin Veterinary Clinic achieves EOC Accreditation

_{Image: the Deniliquin Veterinary Clinic team with their Employer of Choice Accreditation plaque}

The AVA’s Employer of Choice (EOC) Accreditation program is an intensive, rigorous auditing process. It recognises employers with exceptional standards of staff recruitment, engagement and retention. On 27 April 2023, Apiam Animal Health and one of their practices, Deniliquin Veterinary Clinic (DVC), achieved EOC accreditation.

Apiam Animal Health is one of Australia’s leading rural veterinary businesses. They have 79 business sites, including 73 Veterinary Clinics, across rural and regional Australia – most of which are long-standing pillars of their communities. The Deniliquin Veterinary Clinic has been a member of the Apiam family since 2015.

Apiam’s purpose is to enrich the lives of animals, people and communities. Since they already prioritise the health and wellbeing of their people, embarking on the Employer of Choice accreditation pathway was a logical step. “We care for the staff that work in an Apiam clinic,” says Leisa Denaro, veterinarian and Recruitment Consultant at Apiam. “The EOC program helps to reinforce our team culture and ensure our workplace is aligned with the high standards that the EOC program demands… This will benefit in recruitment of new staff, retention of existing staff and engagement with our community."

They achieve this by focusing on work-life integration, and committing to developing employees’ special interests. As Leisa says, they are proud to “offer an environment where [staff] are able to develop into high-performing members of the veterinary profession.” Having access to a such a large knowledge base across all their veterinary sites is a huge bonus. “Our collaborative approach means we have great support both within our Deniliquin Veterinary Clinic team and by being able to draw on the broader expertise within Apiam.”

Apiam’s leadership team involved their staff throughout the EOC accreditation program, ensuring the content was embedded into their daily practices. “This engagement facilitated a whole-team approach, providing deeper understanding of the purpose of the program as well as fostering accountability for the standards set in the clinic,” says Leisa.

The EOC accreditation process helped Apiam to improve their communication systems, both locally and throughout the company. With a large team of 1219 dedicated professionals, including 332 highly experienced veterinarians, communication is key. “Improving our documentation of meetings as well as engaging in more regular opportunities to communicate has allowed our staff have more clarity about and input into decisions … as well as being able to access the information more readily when required,” says Leisa.

Apiam’s People and Culture team have worked tirelessly to ensure there are centralised processes consistent across all their practices. However, having a clear and consistent purpose – enriching the lives of animals, people and communities – means individual clinics are empowered to drive their own workplace culture.

Now that they have completed the EOC Accreditation process, the Apiam team will continue to actively engage in the EOC content, focusing on employees’ development and conducting regular team satisfaction surveys.

DVC staff were excited to achieve EOC accreditation, an achievement which formally recognises the clinic’s high standards and positive culture. To celebrate, they organised a celebratory bonfire evening along with well-earnt dinner and drinks. 

^{Image: Deniliquin Veterinary Clinic staff celebrated with a bonfire night, dinner and drinks}

For those looking to embark on the journey, Leisa recommends using the program to extend beyond the minimum standards. “The online content was extremely helpful in fostering new initiatives and systems that have improved our standards as a clinic,” says Leisa. “We highly recommend any team that prioritises employee wellness to complete the EOC accreditation process.”