Workplace culture is about more than employee happiness and it’s crucial for a thriving business, says paediatric occupational therapist and co-owner of MoveAbout Therapy Services, Dave Jereb.

“Having a great workplace culture is crucial, and it starts with having a clear and meaningful vision, and values that are in service of others and making an impact,” says Mr Jereb.

“Happy (is important, but) is not enough. It’s important for therapists to feel content, joyful and connected,” he says.

“They need to have meaning in what they do and feel that they are making an impact on the world.”

“If your team can have fun, be joyful and connected, constantly learning and growing, they will make a massive impact. Making a difference is what makes our work meaningful- it’s why we got into occupational therapy and it sustains us.

“Joy is really important but it’s only part of the experience of being human, being a therapist, and finding your work meaningful. Employees can love what they do and find meaning in their work even during challenging times if they are supported by, and connected to, their team.”

Mr Jereb says one of the biggest mistakes companies make that lead to employee discontent is overpromising and under delivering. 

“We had a huge shortage of therapists in Australia. All the job ads sound the same: ‘Great professional development, competitive salary, work-life balance’.

“It’s really hard to tell the difference between a great place to work and someone who’s all talk. When I’m giving advice to therapists looking for a job, I tell them to visit the workplace for at least half a day and make sure they are there for lunchtime to see how the team relate to each other, how they share knowledge with you when you join their session, and whether they like to connect with each other in their breaks.”

Another common misstep is focusing too much on short term revenue at the expense of vision and values, which can also put your long term financial future at risk.

“It’s much more cost effective to take care of and keep amazing therapists than have to recruit them,” Mr Jereb says.

“By ‘taking care of’, I mean support, empower, foster team connection, and promote clinical and professional growth.

“When you have a great culture, people want to be a part of that. We have a philosophy that we hire for team culture first, we can teach the rest.”

To help other occupational therapists assess their own professional satisfaction, Mr Jereb has created an industry specific scorecard called, ‘Is Your Paediatric OT Workplace Working for You?’.

The scorecard has 18 questions across five domains, including:

Vision & Values
Culture
Career Growth
Work-Life Balance
Finances

“It takes three minutes to complete and you receive customised results, insights and recommendations. These include strategies for improving your current workplace and improving your own circumstances.”

The goal of the scorecard is to give the OT a quick and easy, yet comprehensive, review of their current workplace and how it is serving them in their life, vision and values.

“The feedback we are receiving is that OTs may feel uneasy or unhappy in a workplace but they’re not sure why. If they just jump ship to another workplace without identifying why, they could land in the same circumstances.”

“With the strategies provided, they are then empowered to make improvements in their current workplace or look for a place that can better meet their needs.

“I would always recommend that therapists speak with their supervisor about what’s not working for them and take an active role in improving their current situation. Often, management may not realise these things, and are happy to grow in a way that helps them better support and keep great team members. If they’re not happy to change or develop, then you have your answer- find another workplace that will meet these needs.”

To complete the score card visit: https://dave-n3wfmo2w.scoreapp.com/