Australian Veterinary Association Employee Survey Results Fenruary 2014 ®

® Overall 80% response rate in % response rate in 2013 Overall, very positive responses about working at The AVA This year we broke down the survey into National Office, Division and SIG A lot of feedback from National Office employees about an interest in learning more about work done in Interstate offices

How do you rate the AVA as an employer…

Interstate Offices – 60% of employees rate AVA as a great place and love nearly everything, 40% of employees say they enjoy working at The AVA National Office - 50% of employees rate AVA as a great place and love nearly everything, 50% of employees say they enjoy working at The AVA

Do you feel engaged with The AVA? Overall Yes – 95% No - 5% (came from interstate respondents)

Do you understand the purpose, mission & strategic priorities of The AVA? Do you understand how your role is linked to them? Yes – 95% No - 5% (came from interstate respondents) Comment - Need to be reminded of what the objective etc is to be able to relate them to my role.

Do you understand the benefits the AVA provides to the veterinary profession? 95% of employees said they do understand the benefits

How else can the AVA support the veterinary profession? (1 of 2) Engage more with female veterinarians - the predominant demographic of the profession More social media Hire more admin staff & a marketing team More resources need to be put into place and processes streamlined before offerings of membership expands

How else can the AVA support the veterinary profession? (2 of 2) Members seem to be very divided regarding the "value for money" of a $700 membership. Many of the member benefits are somewhat intangible which makes it harder to justify. Educating the public what the AVA does and where it stands in the veterinary profession

Corporate Communications

Comms – what is missing SIG and Division newsletters Well informed on big events with the AVA but do not know what is happening in the divisional offices Briefings about mail outs – a mass mail out impacts on the numbers of calls and s we receive How are we tracking to budget Corporate Plans

Does your team have regular meetings? Yes – 80% (16% of respondents in Sydney said no, 27% of interstate offices said no) If Yes –Not often enough – 25% –Just right – 75% Overall positive comments with how the meetings are being run

Does your Manager discuss and update you on AVA’s strategic plans? 75% - yes 25% - No – 27% of respondents in interstate offices said no, 20% in Sydney Comments – Those who commented said they find the updates very useful, a few employees commented that they would prefer Graham Catt to provide the updates and information

What would you like to get out of staff meetings in 2014 (1 of 2)? 90% of employees want to continue the regular staff meetings. Out of the 10% that did not – 7.5% of them were Sydney based How we can effectively engage non members Updates on new member benefits Strategic direction of The AVA Hear from all the divisions on their roles & want to hear from SIGs and Interstate more Challenges being faced by teams Advocacy issues and where they are at

What would you like to get out of staff meetings in 2014 (2 of 2)? Bimonthly would be better, monthly is too frequent They have improved a lot this year, would be good to have interstate offices contribute more The CEO to discuss AVA plans for the future Learn more about the SIGs Hear updates from the Events team

What topics and content would you like to see in Animate? Majority of respondents said they do read Animate monthly How we track against goals Light hearted info on staff and keep the wine segment Personal and professional achievements Upcoming birthdays, weddings, special occasions Short interviews with staff members to highlight their role and how we can utilize their skill/department More news from interstate offices Its perfect the way it is

What is good about working at the AVA A flexible employer Good variety of work Like mixing with veterinarians and industry reps Open and friendly culture I have a great Manager Positive overall and looking forward to IT development in 2014

Job Satisfaction & Culture Disagree 123 Agree 4 I am able to work independently0% 15%85% I am able to determine and execute the most efficient way to complete my work 2.5%0%25%72.5% I am able to use my initiative to complete my work 0% 15%85% My job allows me to utilise my skills and abilities 0%7.5%42.5%50% I have a meaningful performance and objective plan 2.5%5%47.5%45% I participate in decisions that impact The AVA 5%10%52.5%32.5% I feel free to express my views at The AVA 5%2.5%42.5%50%

AVA Management & Training & Development Disagree 123 Agree 4 My Manager and I maintain clear communications about all aspects of my work 7.5%2.5%47.5%42.5% My Manager actively supports my professional development 2.5%12.5%25%60% My Manager has provided me with feedback in the last eight weeks 7.5%10%22.5%60% I receive necessary training to maintain/improve my skills 7.5%25%47.5%20% I have a clear career plan supported by The AVA 17.5%37.5% 7.5% I understand how to apply and undertake training 7.5%15%27.5%50%

Do you think there should be a workshop for all employees in 2014? 25% of employees said No 75% of employees said Yes 1/3 of the employees who said No were from interstate offices

Top Three Suggestions for Improving the AVA for employees and members (1 of 3) Decrease Membership Costs More $ and staff in membership – focus on outbound as well as inbound Members: offer a non-financial membership category, higher level of service for existing members, more marketing. Focus more on members and less on ourselves, communicate what AVA does for members More interaction with members

Top Three Suggestions for Improving the AVA for employees and members (2 of 3) A tight membership journey map – a lot more follow up calls with members Other membership websites have a "chat with a team member" live chat facility - for simple questions that can be answered quickly Become more commercially focused Closing down the barrier in financial relations between National Office and Divisions Lunch time professional development sessions and IT training/systems training sessions

Top Three Suggestions for Improving the AVA for employees and members (3 of 3) More emphasis on career progression Flexible work hours Clearer SOPs for all staff – one page documents with bullet points Get rid of silos - services provided by teams with particular expertise rather than generalist staff reporting to groups Upgrade electronic infrastructure Use social media more

What one thing would you change about the AVA (1 of 2)? The AVA database linked with CRM functionality Fortnightly e-line - more regular communications to member Less division between national office and interstate offices Building the “One AVA” Less hierarchy Move National Office to the city Less segmented office

What one thing would you change about the AVA (2 of 2)? Encourage everyone to say Gday – some people ignore you Office needs an update More flexible work arrangements Alignment of budget process with strategic plan The amount of accounting paperwork

One word to describe AVA culture complacent supportive engaging Diverse Vibrant friendly inclusive relaxed education Hard Working Kind positive great dynamic professional busy progressive warm BUSY great condensed

What next? All consider how we can help Management team to evaluate Be vocal – don’t wait Do it all again in 12 months Everyone responsible – IDEAS IDEAS IDEAS!!!!