Hiring a new pharmacy employees can be both exciting and nerve-racking. Your business is profitable enough that you need help and can afford to pay for it, but do you know where to begin? Where will you advertise the new position? How much can you afford to pay? What questions should you ask during the interview? How will you know if a candidate is a good fit?

Even if you’ve done it a dozen times, the hiring process can be a little daunting, but there are surefire methods to make the process run smoothly. Here are 8 common mistakes to avoid when hiring new pharmacy employees:

1. Lack of Preparation

Your potential employee is prepared for the interview and you should be, too. Start by clarifying why you are hiring. Create a job description that includes desired outcomes and competencies that match your pharmacy’s needs. What skills or certifications are necessary for performing the job well and what skills are secondary? If you don’t think of this ahead of time, you may forget to ask important questions while meeting a potential candidate face-to-face.

2. Hiring Close Friends and Family

Use caution when interviewing and hiring friends and family of your current staff members. Remember that even if a candidate is someone you know personally, the same standards for interviewing, hiring and training should apply. Hiring qualified staff to fill a specific role is the first step to building an effective pharmacy team. Selecting an employee based on a personal relationship can be a big mistake.

3. Asking Prohibited Questions

You wouldn’t intentionally break the law during an interview, but it could easily happen if you haven’t been trained in human resources protocol. Some questions related to age, marital status, ethnic background or religious choices may come up naturally in conversation but can create a legal nightmare down the road. To avoid this, make a list of interview questions in advance, ensure they are compliant with the law and stick to your list during the interview.

4. Failure to Conduct a Background Check

When hiring pharmacy employees, trusting your instincts alone is a very dangerous practice. Carefully review the candidate’s resume and check their references before extending an offer. Search online for arrest records and double check their educational certificates. Investing the time necessary to call previous employers can save a lot of trouble down the road.

5. Too Few or Too Many Requirements

For best results, maintain a list of hiring criteria between about six and eight factors. Using less than six elements will make it difficult to eliminate unqualified candidates, while using more than eight requirements will make it difficult to find candidates who meet your standards. Finding the right balance of qualifications will allow you to develop an excellent pool of candidates to choose from.

6. Using Your Own Example as a Template

You’ve done a great job running your pharmacy, but that does not mean you should look for staff with the same traits to fill every role. When using yourself as a model, objectivity is lost and your vision is skewed. Using your own profile as a template for hiring is a major mistake that will result in personality conflicts and incorrect hiring.

7. Lack of Follow Up

An unprofessional hiring process can impact your reputation as a business. In some cases, you may decide to follow up with everyone who applies for a position, even if they are not selected for an interview. Regardless, following up with those who attend interviews should be mandatory. Providing honest and meaningful feedback as to why the person is not a great fit for the position will help them conduct a more productive job search. It will also help you, as a business owner, to build a positive and professional image in your community.  

8. Drawing out the Application Process

Don’t assume that your candidates will wait a long time to hear back from you. If a potential employee is actively engaged in a job search, one or two weeks can be too long between rounds of interviews. While you are interviewing other applicants, your most outstanding candidate could be hired elsewhere.

Avoiding these eight mistakes when hiring new pharmacy employees will save precious time and money. If you are interested in learning more about hiring and training an outstanding pharmacy team, watch our free webinar, Hiring Your Best Pharmacy Team

Staff productivity is critical to any business, especially independent pharmacy. As a business owner, you may be confident about your own daily productivity, but what about your staff? Are you positive that you are getting maximum results for what you are paying them? Below are some of the things that you should be doing to improve your pharmacy staff performance:

1. Properly Train New Hires

The road to effective pharmacy staff is paved by smart hiring and training practices. The best employees are trained correctly and promptly from the beginning of their employment. It is important to maintain some uniformity. Each staff member should be provided with the same tools and expectations from day one.

2. Continuously Monitor Performance

After new employees complete a thorough training, the owner or manager should follow up regularly to provide performance feedback. It is important to put quantifiable measures in place and then review them at regular intervals. In many cases, business owners choose to conduct reviews every quarter. Whether the process is formal or informal, it is important for staff members to know that you will monitor them continuously.

3. Provide Motivation by Rewarding Performance

It is human nature to display better performance when oneis feeling happy, motivated and supported. To get maximum productivity from your staff, set up programs to motivate them. In addition to or instead of financial compensation, you may choose to reward your team with gift cards to their favorite restaurants or e-commerce websites. Do not underestimate the power of small gestures like handwritten thank you notes or public recognition for a job well done.

4. Set Reasonable Guidelines

Every business needs a set of guidelines for employees to follow and your pharmacy is no exception. It is important to set forth a group of carefully thought out rules without condescension. Remove any rules that are archaic or unnecessary and you may see an increase in workplace morale and productivity.

5. Make Work Fun

Nothing ruins productivity like feeling burnt out. In order to prevent burnout, make sure you allow your staff to have adequate time off to spend with friends and family. As a business owner or manager, you can make work more enjoyable by planning team building activities. Organize a team dinner or a family field day. Take the opportunity to reward staff and invest in their professional growth by sending them to out-of-town industry events

6. Manage Conflict Immediately

Personality conflicts, miscommunications, and misconceptions are inevitable in any workplace, but your employees will be unable to maximize their potential if they are distracted. As a manager, you have a responsibility to provide a positive workplace environment by effectively managing conflict as soon as it arises. When employees feel like you have their best interests at heart, they will be able to function at their highest level.

7. Maintain Open Communication

Communication is key in any relationship, including business. You cannot hold a staff member accountable for what they have not been told, so effective communication is critical to pharmacy business success. All of your employees need to know exactly what is expected of them and who to speak with when they encounter challenges.

8. Monitor Computer Usage

The computer is one of the most beneficial resources ever added to the pharmacy industry. We use the internet for research, billing, marketing, record keeping and more. However, computer and internet usage can squash productivity when not managed properly. During the new employee training process, be sure to set parameters for the use of company computers.

9. Offer Flexible Schedules

Some of your staff may be early risers who are most productive in the morning, while others would prefer to work an evening shift and stay up late. Your business may require an overnight shift for stocking new products, but that shift will not be appropriate for everyone. Find a way to schedule your employees during a time that is best for them. Scheduling an employee at a time when they are naturally most productive will help optimize performance.

Motivating a staff with diverse skills and talents can be challenging, but following these nine steps can help ensure that you get the best possible performance from each of them. If you’re looking for more ways to increase your pharmacy’s profits and optimize staff productivity, we would love to help. Among other things, our business advisors are specially trained to help you empower your staff, improve store culture, identify new niches and implement new programs. Click here to request a free business assessment