Congress 2020 saw the launch of SPVS’ The Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM) leadership development programme.
SPVS’ core aim is to create a culture of responsible leadership within the profession, and it has designed the course to be accessible for everyone with operational responsibilities within a veterinary business.
It has been developed by veterinary professionals, for veterinary professionals. It is completely bespoke; unlike anything else available.
SPVS has chosen to work with a specialist training provider, the Agile Group, which is rapidly becoming known as one of the most effective leadership training and coaching organisations in the UK. Together, we have built a very specifically practice-focused qualification.
Demand
The need for the course was identified by the SPVS membership who, through our surveys, had consistently demanded this kind of training. Members – especially those new to management – were asking for formal support with leadership and people management.
A recognised qualification was desirable. The transition from colleague to boss is challenging, but leaders aren’t just born knowing how to inspire their teams – it is a skill that can be learned.
Change
The profession is undergoing rapid change in an increasingly corporate landscape and SPVS is looking to support responsible leadership within this changing landscape. We have identified delegates who would benefit from these qualifications as including nurses who have been promoted to head nurse positions, assistant vets who buy in to traditional partnerships, corporate acquisitions where the owners leave and a less experienced vet becomes a clinical director, vets and RVNs who invest in joint venture partnerships, and entrepreneurial vets who found their own independent practices.
All these professionals are incredibly skilled clinically, but have had little or no business training at college and university, and risk being faced with responsibilities they feel underprepared for. These are the potential veterinary business leaders of the future and will demand credible, formally accredited veterinary leadership training.
Course development
The SPVS board, with Ryan Davis taking the lead, worked with Pete Wood of Agile Group to develop the courses. We knew a demand existed for a formal qualification to complement the many excellent workshops and CPD sessions already available to the profession, and that though there were “off the shelf” leadership qualification courses available that we could have bought and badged under the SPVS name, nothing quite fitted the unique challenges of learning to lead in our profession.
Agile was identified as a provider that has proven to live up to its name by being responsive and flexible, and it has delivered a really practical and achievable course. The level 3 course is delivered over 12 weeks, with no need to take time away from practice – you and your cohort work remotely with each learner, receiving one- to-one support from a tutor.
Support also exists for the candidate’s line manager so that his or her responsibilities to the learner (and vice versa) are well defined, and performance improvements are easily identified and evaluated. Participation within the practice is encouraged – you can take what you learn straight back to your team and your leaders, and put it into effect straight away.
To find out more about the leadership development programme, members of the SPVS team involved with the project chatted with VBJ editor James Westgate during SPVS-VMG Congress at Celtic Manor.
Mr Wood explained how he has modelled the course: “When you’re new to anything, you don’t know what you don’t know until you start learning. It’s better to be taught how to do something than to have to learn from your own mistakes. All the activities in our workbooks are related to what is actually going on in practices all day, every day. The qualifications are experience based and that leads to good solid learning.
“These are good, solid, tangible measurable skills; veterinary businesses are getting slicker, and client expectations are changing. This course gives the skills, models and techniques that aren’t taught in veterinary training, and will raise the standard of operational leaders in any practice.”
Dr Davis added: ”What’s really different about what we have developed with SPVS is that it’s been created by vets so that it’s directly relatable to our needs in practice. It is related to what goes on in practices all day, every day. It’s a gateway to management when you spot talent in practice. It can fit very small one-man band practices managing only two or three people, and could also apply to regional managers of the larger groups who might oversee hundreds of people across multiple practices.”
They explain that the mental health of leaders, especially when experiencing the stressful transition to new responsibilities, will be improved by having the tools to coach and lead their teams instead of having to be reactive and working it out as they go along.
Qualification levels
ILM as an awarding body is well established – it is the leadership and management arm of City and Guilds, well established in 55 countries and trains 55,000 students a year. The SPVS ILM Leadership development programme is offered at two levels. ILM Level 3 is equivalent to A level, or the vocational qualification formerly known as a higher national certificate. It is an organisational, operational qualification suited to any manager who wants to take his or her practice to another level.
ILM Level 5 is equivalent to the first year of a degree in its depth, and earns credits that can be used towards a diploma if the learner wants to study further. Level 5 is more strategic in its aims and is ideal for those in more senior positions. It will allow candidates to engage with all levels of the business and motivate colleagues to maintain a high performance culture. It can follow on from Level 3 or each qualification can stand alone. Level 5 will launch later this year and runs over eight months.
Signing up
The first cohort of ILM Level 3 is underway, with many sign ups taking place immediately after the course was launched at congress.
Anyone can sign up, with preferential pricing for SPVS members. Level 3 costs £580 for members and £725 for non-members. Existing individual SPVS members can consider upgrading to a practice membership so multiple members of the team can undertake the ILM courses.
- To find out more, sign up for Level 3 or register your interest in Level 5, visit www.spvs.org.uk or email office@spvs.org.uk
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