This new year of
2012, I will not try to be flexible as in the past
years. I will not tolerate casual dressing by my vets or
the staff or intern.
Sandals, T-shirts and jeans are out. Those who persists
will get the sack as they cannot do what they like
anymore. The young may think they are cool but it is
just common sense. How can clients trust you when you
dress as in sports shoes, sandals with your toes exposed
and T-shirts with advertisements.
Dressing casually is out in 2012 and those, including
vets who insist on dressing casually will need to look
for another job. I had asked intern Mr Lim whether his
school had taught him the importance of being properly
attired at the office. He said yes. Yet he and many
others including some vets used to dress casually in the
past years and needed to be reminded.
Last week, one vet told me she had left her shoes in the
car when I asked why she wore sandals to work. This was
after I had given her advice several times not to do it.
Then 3 days later, she had sandals on again. "A dog had
peed on my shoes," she said. I asked: "That is a
creative excuse. What will be your next excuse?"
No more nonsense from the younger generation when it
comes to office work and productivity. "Toa Payoh Vets
is like a baby or puppy," I said to Mr Min and Dr Daniel
Sing at his first day of work on February 1, 2012. "It
needs perpetual care and attention. It just dies over
the next few years if it is poorly managed or not
producing good clinical outcomes. Customers will run
away. There will be no referrals. The practice just goes
bankrupt and there will be no jobs for anyone."
For
the younger generation of employees, they can work
elsewhere when they don't like my instructions to adopt
a proper behaviour at work. But a bad work attitude is
not advised as there are some behaviour and common sense
expected of a young adult at work. First impressions do
count.
If employees want to challenge authority, it is best
they find work somewhere. I will not hesitate to fire
vets on the spot even if they have a great number of
clientele as their attitude erodes the morale and
productivity of the staff and other vets.
It is just not for vets, interns or staff to dress
casually at work where there is interaction with the
public. Vets who want to dress casually can open
their own practices and I wish them good luck. I have
enough of staff and intern who come to work at Toa Payoh
Vets dressed casually as if the office is their parents'
home. Young adult employees may know that they must
learn to accept instructions and learn from the older
generation before they can assume leadership positions
as there are predatory veterinary competitors,
litigation lawyers and regulatory officers in the real
world, unlike in their school days.
TOA
PAYOH VETS
