4 Quick Ways to Motivate Your Pharmacy Team without Raising Their Pay
All too often we are faced with questioning the level of positivity, productivity, and focus of our teams. Is it the pharmacy's culture? Is it a result of having unclear goals and expectations? Did I hire the wrong person for the job? It's natural to have these questions. However, the reality is that our jobs as a leader or manager is to protect and influence the pharmacy's culture and and its superstars.
In his book, How Full is Your Bucket, Tom Rath explains how each of us is born with an invisible bucket that is constantly emptied or filled, depending on what others say or do to us. We feel great if our bucket is full and we feel awful if it is emptied. Meaning, when your team's morale dips below average, it is your job to change gears with the goal of instilling a positive influence throughout the entire organization. As pharmacy managers, you are faced with the option to fill or drain your employee's buckets with positive or negative feedback.
Like any goal in life, you must have specific, actionable plans to transform good intentions into reality. Listed below are the four strategies that are most likely to produce results.
Four Strategies for Increasing Positive Emotions:
Strategy One – Prevent Bucket Dipping: For the next few days, try to catch yourself in the act of bucket dripping - then stop it. Consider your most recent interactions. Have you poked fun at someone? Touched on an insecurity? Blatantly pointed out something that person does wrong? If so, try to push the "pause" button in your had next time. Once you’ve consciously started to eliminate bucket dipping, keep track of your progress by scoring your interactions. Decide if, overall, each interaction was more positive or negative. Score each one as either a “+” or “-” in your head.
Now, as you consider what it would take to fill the buckets of your friends, family, coworkers, and others, ask yourself: “What would it take for me to reach that ‘magic ratio’ of five positive interactions for every one negative interaction?
Strategy Two – Shine a Light on What is Right: Each interaction gives us the chance to shine a light on what’s right – and fill a bucket. Every time you fill a bucket, you’re setting something in motion. Consider this: If you fill two buckets in a day, and the owners of those two buckets go on to fill two new buckets, more than a thousand buckets will have been filled at the end of 10 days. If each of those same people filled five buckets instead of two, more than 19 million buckets would be filled in just 10 days!
So continue the chain: When someone fills your bucket, accept it – never brush it off and diminish what that person is doing. Fill their bucket in return by saying “thank you,” letting them know that you appreciate the compliment or recognition. In turn, you are more likely to share your renewed positive energy with others.
Strategy Three – Give Unexpectedly: According to a recent poll, the vast majority of people prefer gifts that are unexpected. Expected gifts do fill our buckets, but for some reason, receiving things unexpectedly fills our buckets just a little more. It’s the element of surprise. And the gift doesn’t have to be anything big to be successful.
An unexpected gift doesn’t have to be tangible either. It can be a gift of trust or responsibility.
In your own interactions, look for opportunities to give small gifts to others out of the blue – maybe a funny little trinket, a hug, or an offer to grab a cup of coffee. Even a smile can be an unexpected and cherished gift.
Check out >> 21 Ways to Energize Your Pharmacy Team – Without Breaking the Bank
Strategy Four – Individualization: When it comes to robust and meaningful bucket filling, individualization is the key. So when you’re bucket filling, go ahead and reverse – or at least redefine – the Golden Rule.
An important aspect of individualization is this: What we recognize in others helps them shape their identity and their future accomplishments. This is why bucket filling must be specific to the individual.
Not sure where to start? Try these questions out on your friends, family, and coworkers:
The Bucket Filling Interview
- By what name to you like to be called?
- What are your “hot buttons” – hobbies or interests you like to talk about a lot?
- What increases your positive emotions or “fills your bucket” the most?
- From whom do you most like to receive recognition or praise?
- What type of recognition or praise do you like best? Do you like public, private, written, verbal, or other kinds of recognition?
- What form of recognition motivates you the most? Do you like gift certificates, a title for winning a competition, a meaningful note or e-mail, or something else?
- What is the greatest recognition you have ever received?
Take every opportunity to increase the positive emotions of those around you. It will make a big difference in your pharmacy business. It may even change the world. Don’t waste another moment. A bucket, somewhere, is waiting for you to fill it!
