Look after your team and they will look after your business

Liz Somerville on why her veterinary practice signed up to the Code of Good Employment.

Can you tell us a little bit about you and your business?

My name is Liz Somerville and I am a Practice Manager and Director at Loch Leven Equine Practice. We are an equine only veterinary practice in bonny Scotland.

What does good employment look like to you?

My idea of good employment is making sure that as well as having all of the necessary legal elements in place such as contracts, handbooks, pensions etc, that we always treat our team fairly and prioritise their development and wellbeing so they enjoy coming to work every day.

What prompted you to sign up for the Equestrian Employers Association Code of Good Employment?

We signed up to the EEA’s Code of Good Employment because we wanted to demonstrate how seriously we take our legal and moral responsibilities as an employer within the equestrian industry. I also think this is something that has been seriously lacking within the industry for too many years and that as equestrian employers we should be supporting this fantastic resource.

How do you think the code of good employment could benefit other equestrian businesses?

I think the biggest benefit has to be the message that it will send to potential employees. The recent survey by the EEA shows just how many employees are being employed illegally and this is a great opportunity for employers to demonstrate their commitment to their team.

The resources the EEA have put together are an added benefit with the online Contract Creator allowing employers to quickly and efficiently create contracts and the Pension and Payroll service is a great resource given that this can be quite a tricky area to navigate.

When it comes to running your business what’s the best piece of advice you have been given?

The best bit of advice I was given at the very beginning was that if we looked after our team they would look after our business.

So we set out agreeing that we would never expect our team to do something we weren’t prepared to do ourselves and this is something we still remind ourselves about on a weekly basis!

Find out more and join the Equestrian Employers Association.

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