Application Form - Cat Life Maine, Inc.

Workplace Culture Expectations

Create and Maintain a Safe Workplace:

• Take responsibility for keeping yourself, coworkers, volunteers, visitors and animals safe.

• Be part of creating and maintaining a culture of safety, even when you’re in a hurry.

• Know your own limitations and seek help when needed.

• Bring safety concerns to the attention of your supervisor.

Strive for Excellence 

• Make customer service a priority and strive to constantly improve the customer experience, both internally and externally.

• Be willing to continue to learn and improve oneself professionally through training, reading and other learning opportunities.

• Educate yourself on national and regional best practices in animal welfare.

• Be thorough, careful and precise in all work.

• Think and act constructively and look for solutions to make things better for animals and people. 

Support a Collaborative Animal Shelter:

• Practice “we” thinking.  We achieve goals together or not at all.

• Understand that whether as an individual or work groups, we all share the same goals and play different, valuable roles in achieving them.

• Support, mentor and uplift coworkers.

• When faced with conflict with individuals or between teams, focus on the situation or problem rather than the individual(s).

• Maintain constructive relationships with coworkers and between teams.

• Lead by example.

• Set each other up for success by sharing information, helping each other and keeping workspaces organized and stocked with supplies.

Demonstrate a Commitment to Healthy Communication:

• Communicate with staff, volunteers, other professionals and the public in a professional, positive and helpful manner. 

• Respond to emails, phone calls and in-person requests in a timely manner.

• Deliver and receive complaints, suggestions and other communications in a respectful and open-minded manner.

• Share information that affects others with them in a timely manner.

• Take a stand to stop gossip, grudges, cliques, conflicts and negativity and be part of solutions.

• Take time to listen and understand before responding.

Be Respectful:

• Respect different opinions and workstyles.

• Respect decisions made and directives given.

• Show compassion for and have patience with your co-workers.

• Respect all employees and volunteers equally, regardless of job title, seniority, position or opinion.

• Expect differences, know differences are not wrong and how to handle conflict with individuals or teams constructively. 

• Look for the contribution each person makes in helping animals and people in need.

Promote Trust:

• Take responsibility for yourself and be accountable for your own actions.

• Commit to working for a safe, humane future for animals and people.

• Build trust in all your interactions, regardless of who they are with.

• If you have questions or concerns, communicate upward, rather than complaining to or gossiping with others.

• Provide accurate, thorough, objective documentation. 

• Follow instructions carefully, meet deadlines when assigned.

• Ask for help and training when you don’t understand something.

Acknowledge the Emotional Aspect of Our Work:

• Remember to have a sense of humor, but never at the expense of others or professionalism.

• Identify healthy ways to reduce and relieve stress.

• Take care of yourself, paying attention to your work/life balance.

• Find appropriate ways to express strong emotions as they arise.

• Respect others’ response to emotions - they may be different than yours.

• Treat your colleagues as members of your Animal Services and police department family.

• Have fun! 

Show Appreciation:

• Remember why you have chosen to work in animal welfare.

• Practice appreciation at all levels and every day.

• Acknowledge people when they do good things. Shout-outs should be a daily occurrence! 

• Thank others when they make your day better and brighter.

Be Safe and Compassionate When Handling Animals:

• Treat all animals in your care with patience, kindness and compassion.

• Become adept at reading animal behavior to make sound, safe handling decisions.

• Pursue and take advantage of training opportunities offered at the shelter to help you become a better animal handler.

• Recognize each animal is an individual and should be treated as such. Avoid stereotypes and generalizations about breed, type, etc.

• Familiarize yourself with Fear Free practices and try to complete Fear Free Shelters Course.

• Model safe, humane handling to other staff, volunteers and the public. You are the expert .

'I acknowledge I have received, read and understand the Cat Life Maine Workplace Culture Agreement and I agree to follow it.'