To provide Total Lifetime Care® for Pets through a Membership model that makes proactive, preventive veterinary care accessible and continuous.
Foundations Academy · Lesson 4
Professionalism & Culture
Culture is not a poster on a wall. It is the sum of every choice a Team Member makes in front of a Member, a Guest, a Pet, and each other.
Estimated time
45–60 min
Includes value flip cards, a Hannah Translator game, a role-based uniform guide, scenario coaching, a final assessment, and facilitator sign-off.
Lesson objectives
By the end of this lesson, you will be able to:
- Explain what professionalism means at Hannah and why every interaction matters.
- Describe Hannah's culture, mission, vision, and values in your own words.
- Use Hannah language and terminology correctly when speaking with Members and Team Members.
- Meet the professional appearance standards that apply to your role.
- Communicate professionally in person, by phone, by email, and with your Team.
- Demonstrate accountability and follow-through on the commitments you make.
- Contribute to teamwork across Medical, Service, Membership, and Hannah Team Support.
Prerequisites: Lessons 1–3 of the Foundations Academy. This lesson assumes you already understand the Hannah model, Total Lifetime Care®, and how Hannah locations and Teams fit together.
Module 1
Living the Hannah Culture
Every Interaction Matters
Professionalism at Hannah is not a dress code or a script. It is how we treat Members, Guests, Pets, and one another — every time, including when no one is watching.
Culture is carried by people, not documents.
A Member forms an impression of Hannah in the first few seconds of an interaction, and that impression is built from small things: whether someone made eye contact, whether a phone was answered warmly, whether a promised call actually happened, whether two Team Members spoke about each other with respect within earshot.
Every Hannah role — Medical, Service, Membership, Behavior & Training, Facilities, Hannah Team Support — carries the same culture. The tasks differ. The standard does not.
The Eight Values in Practice
Select each value to see how it shows up in day-to-day work.
Knowledge check
Two Team Members are discussing a difficult Member in the lobby, where other Members can hear them. Which value is most directly at risk?
Module 2
Hannah Culture
Shared standard
Culture is what we do consistently — not what we intend to do.
A world where every Pet receives lifelong care from a Team that knows them, and no Member has to choose between their Pet's health and their finances.
Compassion, Accountability, Respect, Ownership, Communication, Integrity, Teamwork, and Excellence — applied by every role, in every location.
Members should experience one connected organization regardless of which location or Team serves them. Internal structure is never the Member's problem to solve.
We expect to get better. Raising a concern, suggesting a change, or admitting a mistake is treated as contribution, not criticism.
Every touchpoint — a phone call, an arrival, a discharge, a follow-up — is part of one experience that we own together.
Does This Support Our Culture?
Select a behavior, then choose the column it belongs in. Each choice is graded immediately.
Behaviors to classify
Supports Hannah Culture
Needs Improvement
Module 3
The Hannah Language
Why words matter
The words we choose tell a Member whether they are a customer being processed or a partner in their Pet's lifelong care.
"Member" and "Pet Parent" acknowledge a relationship. "Owner" and "client" describe a transaction.
When every Team uses the same words, a Member hears one organization instead of several.
Precise language signals that we are careful — with words, and therefore with Pets.
Hannah terminology is part of what makes Hannah recognizable and distinct from traditional practices.
People Terms
Pet Terms
Other Hannah Terms
Total Lifetime Care®
Hannah's model of continuous, proactive care for a Pet across every life stage rather than episodic treatment when illness appears.
Hannah Membership
The Membership that gives a Member access to Total Lifetime Care® for their Pet, including exams, preventive care, and medical guidance.
Hannah Team Support (HTS)
Centralized support functions — Finance, Team Resources, IT, Marketing, Memberships, Facilities — that help the whole organization operate consistently.
Hannah Help Line
Phone support that helps Members identify urgency, answers questions, and connects them with the correct Hannah resource.
HE1
The Hannah Portland location.
HE2
The Hannah Tigard location, including 24/7 emergency operations.
MAT
The Member Advocate Team — the Team that supports Member concerns, plan changes, and billing questions.
Enrollment Agreement
The agreement a Member completes when enrolling a Pet in Hannah Membership.
Pet Parent
An alternative to "Member" that emphasizes the caregiving relationship between a person and their Pet.
Hannah Pet
A Pet enrolled in Hannah Membership.
Team Resources
Hannah's term for the Team that supports Team Members — hiring, payroll, benefits, and workplace questions.
The Hannah Translator
Read each everyday phrase and choose the correct Hannah-language version.
Module 4
Professional Appearance
Why it matters
A Member decides whether to trust us with their Pet before we say a word. Appearance is the first message we send.
Uniform requirements by role.
Select a role to see its uniform standard. Illustrations below are stylized role badges, not photographs.
Doctors
- Graphite scrubs
- White Hannah coat
- Closed-toe shoes
Nursing Team
- Navy or Indigo scrubs
- Hannah scrub jacket
- Approved undershirt
Service Coordinators
- Teal scrub top
- Ciel blue scrub pants
Behavior & Training
- Royal blue polo
- Black or navy pants
Facilities / Pet Limo
- Royal blue polo
- Black, navy, or denim pants
Memberships & HTS
- Business casual
- Hannah corporate apparel
- Dark denim allowed — no holes
Appearance Standards
Clean and controlled. Long hair tied back when working with Pets or in clinical areas.
Natural and understated, appropriate for a medical setting.
Minimal. Nothing that can catch on a Pet, a cage door, or equipment.
Conservative and limited. Nothing that creates a safety or handling risk.
Permitted when not offensive. Follow your leader's guidance for your role and area.
Light to none. Strong scents distress Pets and affect Members with sensitivities.
Appearance choices must never prevent correct use of masks, gloves, eye protection, or gowns.
Appropriate or Needs Improvement?
Classify each appearance choice. Illustrated icon cards are used here in place of photographs.
Module 5
Professional Communication
Shared standard
A Member should never have to work hard to be understood, or wonder what happens next.
Say what we can do. "Let me find the soonest opening" lands very differently than "we're booked."
Warm and steady, especially when a Member is upset. Tone carries further than wording — including on the phone.
Let the Member finish. Reflect back what you heard before responding, so they know they were understood.
Acknowledge every Member within a few seconds of arrival, even if you cannot help them yet.
Identify yourself and Hannah, confirm the Pet and the need, and state clearly who will follow up and when.
Write for the next Team Member: name, Pet, concern, urgency, what has happened, and what remains.
Scenario simulator
A frustrated Member arrives at the front desk. Her Pet's appointment was rescheduled and no one told her. She is upset and there are other Members in the lobby. What is your best first response?
Not yet. A policy explanation before acknowledgment reads as a defense. She needs to feel heard before she can absorb information.
Best response. You acknowledged the feeling, owned the miss on Hannah's behalf, protected her privacy, and closed with a specific next step. That is the full pattern.
Not yet. Naming another Team Member breaks One Hannah. To the Member, we are one organization — internal fault is never her concern.
Close, but incomplete. Finding the right person is often correct, but handing her off without acknowledgment or a timeframe leaves her holding the problem.
Module 6
Accountability & Follow-Through
Guiding principle
Own the Outcome. Share the Work.
At Hannah, every Team Member is accountable for helping ensure the best outcome for our Members and Pets. You don't have to solve every problem yourself—but you are responsible for making sure the right Team or Team Member receives the information needed to continue the Member's journey.
Name what happened without softening it. "I missed the callback" opens a solution; "the callback didn't happen" hides one.
If you promised it, it is yours until it is done or formally handed to someone else who accepted it.
Tell the Member before they have to ask. A delay explained early is an inconvenience; discovered late it is a broken promise.
Raise safety, medical, legal, or ethical concerns promptly. Escalation is a professional act, not a complaint.
Share the Member's name, the Pet, the concern, urgency, what has already occurred, and who owns the next step.
Sharing the work means asking for help early — not after the deadline has already passed.
Knowledge check
You promised a Member a callback with lab timing by end of day, but the results are delayed and you do not have an answer yet. It is 4:45 p.m. What does "Own the Outcome" require?
A Member's billing question is clearly outside your role. Which action best reflects "Share the Work"?
Module 7
Teamwork Across Hannah
One Hannah
Every Team owns part of the experience. No Team owns the experience alone.
Each scenario below crosses Team boundaries. Decide who should act — and how the information should travel.
Scenario 1 · Medical
A PetNurse is examining a Pet and verbalizing findings. Who enters the findings into Hannahware?
Scenario 2 · Service
A Member arrives for a 2:00 appointment. The Medical Team is running 40 minutes behind. Who owns telling the Member?
Scenario 3 · Membership
A Member asks whether adding a second Pet changes her monthly Membership cost. You are on the Nursing Team and are not certain. What do you do?
Scenario 4 · Hannah Team Support
A hospital printer used for discharge paperwork has failed twice this week. The workaround is slowing every discharge. What is the professional response?
Module 8
Living the Hannah Way
Your commitment
Culture is not inherited. Each Team Member either strengthens it or erodes it, every shift.
Everything in this lesson comes down to a daily choice: to greet, to listen, to follow through, to speak well of your Team, to hold the standard when it would be easier not to.
Reflection
Final Assessment
Show What You Know
Passing score
Score 90% or higher, then complete facilitator sign-off.
Before Facilitator Sign-Off
You should be prepared to explain:
- What professionalism means at Hannah and why every interaction matters
- Hannah's mission, vision, and the eight values in your own words
- The People and Pet terminology replacements, and why the language matters
- The uniform and appearance standards that apply to your role
- How you would handle an upset Member at the front desk
- What "Own the Outcome. Share the Work." requires of you specifically
Your assessment result is saved in this browser. A facilitator should verify understanding through discussion, not simply confirm that the quiz was completed.
Completion validation
Facilitator Sign-Off
The facilitator confirms that the learner can:
Every Interaction Matters.
You have completed the learning content for Professionalism & Culture. Completion requires a passing assessment (90%) and facilitator sign-off.