Promotions are not just about titles – they’re recognition of your ability to take on more responsibility and make a greater impact.
They also come with the responsibility of finding solutions and ensuring team members also feel heard.
When Cassie Leavy was promoted at Castle Vets in Dublin, she wanted to equip herself with new skills to support her practice and her colleagues to thrive….
WHEN Cassie Leavy was promoted to practice manager at Castle Vets, she knew this was not the final measure of her career success.
Cassie immediately enrolled on both the VetPartners Developing Leaders and the Senior Leaders courses to help build her skills, develop a new network and boost her confidence so she could contribute positively to improving her workplace.
Developing Leaders is a new six-month programme designed for senior vets, senior nurses and senior receptionists, head nurses and head receptionists or anyone who has responsibility for leading a team.
The Senior Leaders course aims to equip practice leaders by teaching them about all aspects of running a practice. Run over months, it covers five modules – Leadership, People/HR, Strategy and Finance, Business Planning and Regroup (delegating and coaching).
Completing the training with other practice leaders from VetPartners Ireland has been transformative for Cassie, who is thriving in the responsibility of her new role at the Dublin practice.
“Both courses equip you with the right tools to do your job, which was very useful for me as I was starting fresh here as a new practice manager,” she said.
“The Developing Leaders course is a great stepping stone into running a business and it gave me the appetite to go on and learn more. I wanted to continue the momentum, so I went straight onto the Senior Leaders programme.
“It gave me much more confidence in my role and I feel it has helped me to improve. You get to hear about other people’s experiences, share ideas and learn new ways of doing things. The people on the course had been through all sorts of things so they could share their experiences so you can also learn from them.”
Cassie, who joined Castle Vets in 2022 initially as an RVN after 12 years at her previous practice, where she had been a practice manager, felt inspired by the two courses, and has been able to implement many improvements to protocols and ways of working at her practice.
Her promotion a year later was the first time Castle Vets had ever had a practice manager, which gave Cassie a great opportunity to share lots of ideas and listen to what colleagues wanted.
In the 2024 Best Companies Employee Engagement Survey, Castle Vets were highlighted as ‘one to watch,’ a special status awarded to businesses making positive change and where workplace engagement shows promising signs for the future.
She believes the support she has received from VetPartners Ireland Business Development Director Austin Donnelly has also been key to her succeeding in the role.
Cassie said: “Change is always daunting but moving to Castle Vets was the perfect decision as my colleagues are lovely and supportive and I understand the needs of the clients as I am from this area.
“There were no policies in place so you could see where improvements could be made by a new practice manager. The Developing Leaders course was really insightful as it showed me what I needed to put in place.
“We started having monthly team meetings, introduced new systems and protocols, and ensured there were regular updates.
“I am a very organised person so there were areas where I could really help the practice, and I wanted to ensure colleagues felt supported to get their views across so we could find easy fixes to any problems.
“I want a collaborative approach as it doesn’t work for a manager having only a handful of people are onboard. Some people have better ideas than me and I want everyone to feel their views were important.
“Our clinical director Amy Hanrahan and I are on the same page, and I like how the clinic is run. Plus, there is a really strong mutual trust between us and VetPartners Ireland. VetPartners is very different to other corporates and are very supportive to the practice and me.”
- Senior Leaders is a VetPartners programme provided for relevant clinical director, practice manager and appropriate senior colleagues. It aims to provide wider support networks and collaboration with like-minded colleagues from across the group, as well as upskilling colleagues on key topics to enhance their leadership, people and business knowledge.
For media enquiries, please contact Amanda Little, VetPartners PR and Communications Director, at amanda.little@vetpartners.co.uk or 07970 198492
