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OSSES
OSSES
is an acronym unique to Merrimack Veterinary Hospital. It is an
in-house, biweekly, continuing education program designed to create
an environment of Outstanding Service through Staff
Education and Standardization.
The focus of OSSES is to embrace the two complimentary philosophies
which have proven time and time again in service industry businesses
to differentiate the highest performers from the mediocre.
Operating
Philosophy #1: Staff Education
This philosophy
assumes that employees are an asset worthy of considerable
investment. It assumes that a forum will be provided for both
personal and professional growth (PPG) to maximize skill
development, team cohesion, and outstanding service.
PPG Areas:
Client Service
Patient Service
Communication
Relationship
Team Building
Technical
Time Management
Cross Training (consistent duplication of skills)
Personal Financial Management
Operating Philosophy #2:
Standardization
This
philosophy assumes that Standard Operating Procedures (SOP’s)
will minimize confusion, unnecessary duplication, and misinformation,
while maximizing consistency and outstanding service.
SOP Categories:
Service
Reception
Medical
Surgical
Boarding
Grooming
Day Care
Safety (radiation, slip & fall, bites)
Regulatory (DEA, FDA, OSHA)
Facility Maintenance and Beautification
OSSES Format:
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The
hospital closes every other Wednesday morning from 9-12pm for OSSES
meetings.
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There are
no surgeries or appointments scheduled during this time although
emergencies are permitted.
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Attendance
is considered mandatory and part of each full-time (and most
part-time) employee’s job description. However, a meeting can be
missed with a valid and approved-in-advance reason.
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Examples
of valid reasons might be illness (personal or family), continuing
education, or scheduled vacations.
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If an
employee misses a meeting they are still responsible for the
information that was presented. They need to get the notes and know
that information for the following week.
-
Each
employee is responsible for having working knowledge of the information
presented. This will be accomplished through repetition and reinforcement
during OSSES meetings, a quiz at the start of each meeting, and
through home study.
Rules of Conduct
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“Attitude
is Everything” (i.e. a positive attitude is required).
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Have
faith in the program. It is designed to help all of us grow at
work and out of work and there is tremendous value in this for all
of us if we remain open-minded.
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“Zero
Tolerance” policy for negativity and destructive criticism.
These are literally the cancers of effective communication and there
is no place for cancer in a healthy work environment.
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Solution-oriented constructive feedback is encouraged (we
will offer guidance on how to do this effectively).
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Participation is required (our goal is for this to be fun believe it
or not!). Introverts need to challenge themselves to be more
extroverted, while extroverts need to challenge themselves to be
more introverted.
- Each
OSSES speaker deserves your full attention (be aware that “sidebar”
conversations during a presentation are not appropriate).
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Challenge
old ways of thinking (i.e. the MVH paradigms that led to the recent
Client Survey results) by thinking “outside of the box” for better
ways to provide outstanding service.
- To be
early is to be on time, to be on time is to be late.
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Understand
that the MVH OSSES Program is being modeled, invented, and instituted
at essentially the same time. Small setbacks and failures are
to be expected in pursuit of such a grand vision. As we
move from vision to application and get feedback from you, we
will keep what is of value and modify or eliminate what isn’t
helpful. This is a work in progress so please be patient.
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