Where have all the leaders gone?

Lauren Chalwell
3 days ago
3 min read

The work-from-home conundrum and its quiet impact on Veterinary team culture

Over the past few years, working from home has become normalised across many industries. In some sectors, it’s an unquestioned benefit. In veterinary practice, however, the conversation is far more complex.

Unlike many professions, veterinary teams don’t get the option to work from home. Nurses, vets, receptionists and support staff must be physically present to care for patients, support clients and keep the clinic running. When leadership roles — particularly Practice Managers — are frequently remote, it creates a visible and often unspoken divide.

And quietly, culture feels it.

This is the Practice Manager work-from-home conundrum: When leaders are absent from the floor, teams feel it — even if the admin still gets done.

Culture can’t be managed from a spreadsheet

Culture isn’t created in policies, rosters or KPIs. It’s created in moments.

A quick check-in with a nurse after a difficult consult
Reading the room when tensions are high
Noticing when a junior team member is unusually quiet
A two-minute conversation about a leave request or injury
An open-door moment with a young, aspiring team member who just needs reassurance

These moments don’t show up on dashboards — but they are the foundation of trust, engagement and retention.

When leaders aren’t physically present, they lose context. Interpersonal conflicts are harder to understand. Small issues escalate because no one noticed them early. Teams start to feel unseen.

And slowly, culture erodes.

Leadership is a presence, not a position

Strong leaders act as barometers of the team. Their presence sets the tone.

Being on the floor allows leaders to:

Model behaviour and professionalism
Be part of the team, not separate from it
Understand workload pressures as they happen
Build relationships over time, not just in scheduled meetings
Create legacy — especially for young nurses who learn by watching

You can’t lead what you don’t see.

And you can’t build future leaders if they never see leadership in action.

“I just get interrupted” — or are you avoiding the work that matters most?

One phrase I hear often is:

“I can’t get anything done at the clinic — I’m always interrupted.”

But here’s the uncomfortable truth:

Leadership is interruption.

If spreadsheets are consistently prioritised over people, something is off — either:

Tasks aren’t being delegated appropriately
Systems and processes aren’t fit for purpose
Or the role itself has drifted too far from leadership into pure administration

Very little in veterinary practice is so urgent it can’t wait an hour — but people rarely can.

Rosters, admin and the myth of “needing” to work from home

Gone should be the days of Practice Managers building rosters from home.

Modern veterinary-specific software allows:

Live workforce planning
Accurate wages forecasting
Mobile roster access for tech-savvy teams
Real-time adjustments without isolation

Rosters should be designed strategically, not built in isolation.

If a leader needs extended time away from the clinic to complete core responsibilities, it’s worth asking:

Are the systems failing them?
Is the workload unrealistic?
Or is the role no longer focused on leadership?

The uncomfortable question for owners

If your leaders are requesting more time away from the clinic to “get on top of admin”, it’s time to ask:

Do we have the right leadership structure or the right people in the right roles?
Are we supporting leaders with the right tools?
How is their physical absence impacting the team?
What message does it send when leaders aren’t present, but the team must be?

There is no surprise there is a direct correlation between strong culture and leaders who are visible, accessible and grounded in the day-to-day reality of the clinic.

Finding the balance (because this isn’t anti-flexibility)

This isn’t about banning flexibility or ignoring focused admin time.

It is about balance.

Yes — block time for component tasks.

Yes — work from home occasionally if there’s no suitable office space.

But leadership roles must remain people-first, presence-based and connected to the floor.

Because culture is built in real time — not remotely.

How Unlock Veterinary Consulting helps clinics get this right

At Unlock Veterinary Consulting, I work with clinic owners and leaders to rebalance leadership roles so culture, performance and sustainability grow together.

Support includes:

Leadership coaching for Practice Managers and senior team members
Role clarity reviews — separating leadership from admin overload
Roster and workforce planning reviews aligned to budgets and wellbeing
Culture diagnostics to identify where leadership presence is being felt (or missed)
Research, selection and implementation of modern rostering and practice technology
Practical systems design that reduce admin without removing leaders from the floor