PDS BLOG
Pharmacy Staff Development
Leadership development and staff training is a key to success for independent pharmacy owners.
PDS BLOG
Leadership development and staff training is a key to success for independent pharmacy owners.
One of the biggest challenges for a pharmacy business is that no one likes to sell. It seems to be part of our psyche that if you are selling anything, it equates to a used car salesman selling a lemon dressed up as a Cadillac.
In other words, selling is perceived as trying to get people to do something that is not in their best interest. No wonder we resist it! And the problem is we are so busy avoiding selling that we are often not providing our customers with all the value we have to offer.
If you want to increase your sales, don’t train your pharmacy to sell; teach them to solve problems and offer solutions.
Problem Solvers and People Pleasers
In many cases, patients don’t even know how to think about what you have to offer, much less know how to choose it.
For example, a patient who has just been diagnosed with diabetes likely has a “deer in the headlights” look. They think they are coming in to pick up a prescription (or several). They don’t even know how to think about dealing with diabetes themselves, much less that you can be a resource and guide them through measuring and tracking insulin levels, adjusting meds and important supplements and resources. What to start with, what to do next, and how to make lifestyle changes that will determine their quality of life? When they are standing in front of the pharmacy counter holding their prescriptions in their hand, they don’t have a clue what is involved or how to make a decision.
Thisis where training your pharmacy team to identify problems and offer solution is essential. Once you have fully identified their needs, the next step is to educate them on what you can do for them. If your customers don’t understand the value you have to offer – they are going to make a decision based on perceived price – and you are going to be squeezed!
By identifying your customers’ needs based on what they are buying, you (and your team) can then recommend other products, programs or services that will support them. It is always the customer’s choice whether or not to buy what you are recommending. You actually take away that choice if you don’t let them know what you have to offer.
Your Pharmacy’s Profit Ignitor
Training this skillset can be hard work, but it is possible. To make your life easier, we developed the Pharmacy Profit Ignitor workshop where you can send your team to understand the vast opportunity of increasing front-end sales by offering solutions via nutrient depletion supplements.
This pharmacy training is where they will learn how to ignite front-end sales based on products already in your store or by bringing in new lines. They’ll leave with an action plan and return ready to increase your bottom line by $18,000 or more in the front end and much more on the back end of your store. And, learn strategies that can be used over and over to increase sales that compliment sync and data-mining initiatives.
To learn more about how to get beyond selling and build your superstar team, download our free eBook: Pharmacy Training – A Practical Guide to Creating a Superstar Team.
In this eBook, you’ll learn about…
Through a unique blend of business coaching and training, Pharmacy Development Services has a track record of producing some of the most groundbreaking and results-driven pharmacy teams in the industry. In fact, the average new member sees a 12.1 return in their PDS investment by implementing just one or two of our profit-focused programs.
In an industry where many pharmacy owners are discouraged by shrinking margins, increased competition and legislation, PDS Members are excited for the future. They’re investing in their businesses, and especially their teams, to gear up for significant growth.
In fact, PDS Members…
But they’re not just implementing a task list given to them by their PDS Business Coach and Performance Specialist. From pharmacy leadershipfront-end salesfinancial literacy, they are also investing in trainings for themselves and their employees.
Do those results sound irresistible to you? We thought so. The good news is that we have a handful of trainings on the schedule that you can attend! We asked PDS’ VP of Training and Development, Kelley Babcock, to tell us her top training picks for the Summer and Fall 2017.
My recommendations truly depend on your goals as an owner for 2017. You want to make your training decisions based off of your store’s vision and objectives. Trainings and workshops are powerful tools to aligning your team with the culture you desire and synergistic in achieving your store’s overarching goals.
Clinical Services Profit IgnitorIf one of your key focuses within the business is to generate increased profit, I would highly recommend the Clinical Services Profit Ignitor training that’s happening on October 27 – 28, 2017. Our trainers will show you how to integrate your clinical pharmacists into physicians offices so you can generate additional revenue from the visits alone, plus offer upsolutions and drive new business to the pharmacy. You’ll receive all the tools and resources need to set up shop in the offices immediately.
Advanced Leadership and Leadership 3.0
Two trainings where owners see immediate impact are Leadership 3.0 (August 17-19, 2017) and Advanced Leadership
(August 25-26, 2017). We’ve seen hundreds of owners benefit from our leadership trainings by not only attending themselves, but especially with their mid-to-higher level team members.
Advanced Leadership focuses on self-awareness skills that will transform the way managers lead their teams, how to implement change effectively and maintain sustainability for positive, long-lasting results. Leadership 3.0 is the next level to Advanced Leadership and focuses on inner trust, followed by trust with your team and customers. Studies have show a correlation between low trust and a high cost to business and your bottom line. Leadership 3.0 is where you will learn to make business decisions with confidence!
With their newly-trained senior staff, owners can begin to feel confident about handing off tasks that usurp their time and can then focus on other areas of business growth, without their focus being scattered across many different programs.
SyncRx+ Intensive and Synchronization Bootcamp
If your team hasn’t started a medication synchronization program yet, or isn’t seeing the results you hear other pharmacy owners discuss at trade shows, the PDS SyncRx+ IntensiveSynchronization Bootcamp is your catalyst to quick implementation and getting 300+ patients enrolled.
During the two-day SyncRx+ Intensive (September 15-16, 2017), you will receive the training, policies, procedures, and templates to implement a robust and successful synchronization program in your pharmacy. We will cover the best practices in performing the SyncRx+ process and MTM opportunities. You are given everything you need to get this program up and running in your pharmacy.
With each training of SyncRx+ Intensive, course facilitator, Jason Turner, PharmD, has identified what pharmacists and technicians need the most to implement a synchronization program successfully. Incorporating slides, activities, and videos into the training are all key elements, but the lynchpin to achieving the greatest level of success is watching the process live in a pharmacy. At the SyncRx Bootcamp, Jason invites attends to step into his pharmacy to see the Synchronization process and his two-workflow system in action with the goal of each pharmacy learning how to process 50-60% of their prescriptions through synchronization.
Register Your Team for Pharmacy Trainings Anything is possible with a properly-trained team. Even with the best business plan and intentions, a pharmacy cannot be run by one individual – it takes a team. And wouldn’t you rather have a strong and truly engaged superstar team firing on all cylinders versus stagnant results?
Review all of the PDS Training programs and register at www.PharmacyOwners.com/Training.
Or, if you’re still not convinced in the impact pharmacy trainings can have on your pharmacy’s bottom line, download our new eBook: Pharmacy Training – A Practical Guide to Creating a Superstar Team
In this FREE eBook, you’ll learn about…
Lack of patient adherence is a struggle for many pharmacies that rely on dispensing medication to improve their customers’ health and keep the lifeline of scripts flowing. But there are ways to flip the tables on the conventional dispensing model and build a reliable return.
If you attended PDS 2017, you may remember a presentation from PDS Member, Jason Turner, about the substantial benefits of implementing a synchronization program for both patient and pharmacy. The program he presented will significantly impact adherence to deliver better care and help with the CMS Star Ratings system.
Jason recognized a need for enhancements when he noticed that with his existing SyncRx program, he saw significant improvement in adherence quality measures but only saw limited improvement in ACE/ARB and high-risk medication quality measures, which are core components currently in the Star Rating System.
He responded by creating an add-on to the SyncRx program that enables a quarterly Comprehensive Medication Review (CMR) for each SyncRx patient. This identifies intervention opportunities and creates better patient outcomes all while developing the clinical abilities of the pharmacy team.
Today, he is the leader and developer of PDS’ SyncRx+ Program and activist in patient care and outcomes. His MTM-focused enhancement to SyncRx into a full-blown, turnkey SyncRx+ program is available to any pharmacy who is interested in implementing this successful service.
If you’re interested in learning more about the program that’s so important, it is one of our few open enrollment training courses, you’ve come to the right place! Now you can watch an Insider’s Guide on-demand session that gives you the run-down on the program and benefits. It is facilitated by Jason Turner and Dr. Nicolette Mathey, PDS’ resident Clinical Services Director.
Watch the On-Demand Webinar by clicking here or below.
Watch Now for Successful Synchronization
Anyone who manages an independent pharmacy knows how intractable the challenge of inventory management can be, whether perpetual or not. Cycle counting, managing C-II logs, order point adjustments, and tracking expired stock are among the labor intensive processes that can drastically impact the profitability of your business. How can a pharmacy with competing demands on technician and pharmacist labor keep perpetual inventory without a significant time investment?
You can hit a “profitability home run” by maintaining accurate perpetual inventory that can reduce the overall inventory carry, minimize stock-outs, and enhance the overall standard of patient care. The problem is one of automation—how can a pharmacy with competing demands on technician and pharmacist labor keep perpetual inventory without a significant time investment? How does a pharmacy balance profit vs. cashflow?
The current model for keeping perpetual inventory should be well-known to anyone who manages daily operations in an independent pharmacy:
The end result of these processes is, hopefully, accurate perpetual inventory. But the major drawback is the amount of time investment required to have someone cycle count, manage par levels and reordering, check in totes against a manifest, and physically place bottles on shelves. And if someone calls in sick, or it’s a busy Monday and there’s no time, or a technician forgets to cycle count, it can quickly become extremely difficult to keep up with the management cycle. The result is often the “garbage in, garbage out” problem, which is the tendency of manual inventory systems to drift over time, leading to inaccurate data, which in turn causes stock-outs, incorrect order quantities, and ultimately poorer customer service this crushes cashflow and suppresses profit.
Automating the cycle eliminates the problems inherent in the manual process, and is now finally achievable with the introduction of the RxSafe 1800.
With the RxSafe System, manual processes are replaced by automation, and stock bottles are actually stored in native packaging. This video explains the basic functionality of the system in more detail. Essentially, the RxSafe system is completely unique to the marketplace and shifts the focus of pharmacy automation from vial filling to inventory management, control, and efficiency. The time you save will allow you to pay closer attention to money-making opportunities, adherence programs, pharmacy services, and patient consulting, to name a few.
Add Datarithm to your RxSafe and realize the complete automated perpetual benefit from the cloud! Datarithm’s innovated features include: automated demand forecasting, order point updates, inventory returns and transfer recommendations, along with advance analytics in easy to understand reports. Datarithm’s customizable inventory solution adapts as your business changes ensuring you have what is needed, in the proper amounts, secured in your RxSafe!
Check out our FREE webinar with RxSafe to learn more about what automation can do for your pharmacy’s inventory. Being able to get a handle on this vital side of the pharmacy business will pay dividends down the road.
When you attend our Super-Conference, you’ll notice that one of our beloved traditions is to recognize the PDS members who have shaken the ground in their success in the last year. These are pharmacy owners who, in one short year, have claimed their success over a variety of struggles. Be it cashflow issues, cultural deficits, financial decline, stagnation — you name it, these owners have come out on top.
Have you ever wondered how successful pharmacy owners have managed to bet against the house and win? Well, we have your roadmap, and it’s easier that you think! You just have to come and sit at the table.
Hundreds of your peers can attest to the success they’ve achieved. We have proof in what your peers are saying and in hard numbers. This is the real deal and we have a guarantee to back it.
If you want to learn more about the PDS Super-Conference, watch the video below as our very own Nicolette Mathey, PharmD and Pharmacy Expert shows real success from real pharmacists… and how their success is your gain!
The PDS Super-Conference is the pharmacy event of the year that is guaranteed to change the way you run your business. Join us for the next event in February! Click below for details.
Every Saturday morning for the past year, I have been reviewing the Wall Street Journal’s summary of the week’s best-belling books, as reported by Nielsen BookScan.
Many bestsellers have come and gone over that time period, but what continues to endure, is the type of books found on the Hardcover Business list. They are not about hidden business secrets or a recently discovered financial formula that will guarantee millions of dollars overnight. Most of these books that endure on the list are largely about the people – the life blood of all businesses
They are about understanding yourself, others or the characteristics of successful people.
They are also about improving skills for:
I have often asked myself why this is the case? Why are all of these books about the people within a business context?
According to Deliotte’s 2015 Global Human Capital Trends report, companies are struggling to attract, retain and develop leaders at all levels within their companies, yet they are largely unprepared to address these issues. In fact, according to the report, culture and engagement was rated the most important issue overall across a multitude of industries.
Furthermore, Gallup consistently reports on the dismal levels of employee engagement not only within the U.S. but reports even worse numbers worldwide. In fact, Gallup estimates that lost productivity due to actively disengaged employees cost U.S. businesses $450-$550 billion each year.
So why is it that so many companies are willing to invest in new equipment, technology, assets and systems that help to improve their business performance, yet they are often reluctant or ill-prepared to invest in tools and systems that focus their people? These issues are typically viewed as “squishy” and therefore hard to define or repair. How do you measure success?
Well, it may feel squishy but there are very real and concrete success measures related to hiring, developing and retaining a strong team. Gallup among many others has recently reported that businesses who focus on and invest in talent selection and improving employee engagement show consistently improved top and bottom line financial performance.
The TTI Success Insights®, 2016 Trends Article, explains the use of talent assessments for selection dramatically improves a business’s good hire ratios. U.S. business spending in this category has consistently been on the rise. The Wall Street Journal reported that the percentage of large US companies that are using online assessment tools for talent selection has risen from 26% on 2001 to 57% in 2013. They project this will continue to increase to 75% by 2020. Talent selection is not just for big business. This “Big Data” approach adds value at affordable rates even for small and medium sized businesses.
These self-help business books only stay on the best seller list because people continue to buy them. It follows that people must be buying them to want to solve these problems within themselves. Business leaders and employees alike are looking for ways to improve their relationships with each other in order to drive more successful business outcomes. The next step is to make the right investments to improve company odds for realizing that success.
Are you ready to invest in your talent?
The Oval Group has been providing talent insight to individuals and business leaders for over 10 years. The Oval Group is an authorized supplier of TTI Success Insights® talent assessment, a world class developer of talent selection tools that have been proven to dramatically reduce bad hires and enable improved employee engagement.
Want more info on this topic? Watch the webinar with The Oval Group we recently hosted. You will learn…
One of the biggest advantages of managing employees at an independent pharmacy is the flexibility to design a personalized pharmacy team. In fact, a well-managed, high-performing team will produce better business results.
Effective communication is an essential part of effective team management. Better communication facilitates more streamlined operations, and helps eliminate time-wasting activities because everyone understands what is expected of them.
Pharmacy owners must shift the focus of their employees towards achieving business goals, personal accountability and top-notch customer service. Your customers and employees will all be happier thanks to this approach.
Here are some important tips for turning individual pharmacy workers into an impressive high-performance team:
1. Effective Time Management
Start by analyzing the duties of each team member. For a thorough and accurate analysis, it is best to do this without following the workers around like a shadow. Simply observe what they do throughout the day, and ask them about their duties. Ask these questions about different tasks to determine if they are essential:
Never make a change that compromises quality, service or accuracy in filling medications. When time-wasting tasks are cut and duties are clearly outlined for each team member, assignments will be finished faster. The day-to-day nature of the pharmacy business can be unpredictable, but implementing a time-management plan will make fluctuating volume demands easier to navigate.
2. Set Clear Business And Performance Goals
Every independent pharmacy owner should have specific goals. Setting daily goals for managing time, completing tasks or hitting a specific sales target can be a great way to help your team stay focused. Communicate these goals with your team members using a central shared bulletin board or an electronic system for better clarity. Hold regular meetings to evaluate progress.
3. Motivate With Incentives
When most independent pharmacy owners think of incentives, they think of cash bonuses. These are not always necessary. Weekly rewards such as a free bottled beverage and a protein bar could also do the trick to reward behaviors inexpensively. Consider offering gift cards, an extra vacation day or a credit voucher for in-house purchases to the best-performing worker on your team for each quarter. Simple recognition tactics such as paper awards, thank-you notes and a program for honoring the top employee of the month, can help boost morale and encourage quality work.
4. Rethink Training Strategies
Are staff members effectively trained when they are hired? Examine pharmacy training materials and methods. If there are processes that seem ineffective, remove or replace them. Ask your seasoned team members to suggest improvements for new employee, team training and development plans. One of the most important elements to incorporate throughout training and beyond is a collaborative culture.
5. Create A Team Culture
pharmacy success stories have a positive culture of teamwork, which translates to increased efficiency and improved ROI. Though building a strong team is not a one-time activity or a box you can check off. The process itself takes time and work, and maintaining it requires a team-oriented workplace culture.
If a pharmacy has several employees and a few departments, it’s a good idea to designate leaders for each. Then encourage team leaders to strengthen their sub-teams and support one another. It can be helpful to have regular “all team” meetings where workers praise one another for their efforts.
High-performing pharmacy teams are worth their weight in gold. Pharmacy owners have the power to create a positive and collaborative store environment that makes for happy customers and better results.
Would you like to learn more about building and leading a High-Performance Team? Let’s talk!
“In this volatile business of ours, we can ill afford to rest on our laurels, even to pause in retrospect. Times and conditions change so rapidly that we must keep our aim constantly focused on the future.” -Walt Disney
As a Pharmacy Owner, you mayfeel the constant obligation to seek new ways to provide your customers with a better experience. The value of quality customer service should never be underestimated. Complacency in any business will ultimately allow our competitors to advance beyond us. In the book Be Our Guest, the Disney Institute emphasizes that we should constantly strive to improve customer service standards and product offerings, especially as the desires and needs of our customers change.
The astounding success of The Walt Disney Corporation is inarguable. It is no wonder that thousands of companies worldwide have sought to learn the secret to these achievements. How does Disney keep its customers not only satisfied, but happy and returning year after year? The answer is simple: magic. Not surprisingly, magic is the edict of every Disney employee and the premise that each of its theme parks is built around. Provide your customer with a magical experience and they will come back for more. You can and should incorporate magic into your own pharmacy business “theme.”
How has Disney been able to establish such an admirable benchmark for magical customer service? By practicing the art of guestology – or the science of knowing its customers better. Disney recommends striving to meet, then exceeding the expectations of your customers every time. As anyone fortunate enough to have visited a Disney Theme Park knows, the memory of the experience lingers for quite a while. The same can be said about a visit to any business establishment.
Whether the experience is good or bad, the customer will remember and talk about that experience long after. (Although maybe not quite to the extent of meeting Mickey Mouse for the first time.) And if an experience is great the customer will return.
The following four components of the Disney’s Quality Service Cycle can help create outstanding customer experiences within your pharmacy business.
1. A Service Theme
A shared vision by all employees, which becomes the motivation behind providing the customer with excellent service. Disney’s Theme is to “create happiness by providing the finest in entertainment for people of all ages…” What’s yours?
2. Service Standards
These provide the basis for successfully implementing the service theme and are critical in keeping our customers happy. While Disney’s standards are universal (safety, courtesy, show and efficiency), a Pharmacy’s could also include reliability, personal attention, etc. When a person’s health is at stake, an atmosphere of trust and dependability is crucial. Education is anotherimportant standard. It is important to be current with the latest market trends and to have well-trained and educated employees regarding these trends. Your own standards will depend on the demographics and psychology of your customer base.
3. The Delivery System
Disney guests have stated that the warmth and charisma of the cast is the chief factor behind an exceptional park experience, and is the number one reason behind a return. It is obvious that the attitude of an employee makes an important difference in a company’s success. Employees are the key element in the delivery system.
The Setting: “Wherever your guests meet you.”
Speaks volumes to your customer. Walt Disney spared no expense in his endeavor to provide guests with the ultimate visual and auditory experiences. His approach to creating the perfect environment was based on the assumption that everything speaks. It is important that your setting is inviting and has pleasant qualities. People gravitate toward anything that is sensory appealing.
The Process: How your business delivers its services.
This includes the manner in which your employees interact with each other and your customers within your pharmacy business. At Disney World, the process begins with the parking of your vehicle. It continues with check-in and culminates in the check-out process. Disney’s process includes line management, restaurant service and involves emergency response factors. Anticipate potential problems and solutions before they happen.
4. Integration
Integrating these elements into your pharmacy business operations will produce smooth, efficient and successful results. You can even try out an Integration Matrix – similar to a tic-tac-toe board, with your service standards on the side and the elements of the delivery process across the top. With the driving force being the psychology and demographics of your customer base and the major delivery component being your employees.
Disney stresses that happy and well-trained employees will always deliver a better customer experience. Each combination of service standard and delivery process represents a service moment of truth and should be carefully considered in determining your own method of providing exceptional customer service.
Tip: Disney recommends storyboarding to provide a visual map of service solutions. In other words, create a picture of every service standard and delivery process. When you can picture a process from beginning to end, it becomes easier to execute.
Your results can create a multiplier effect on your business. In other words, the value of the whole organization becomes greater than its parts. Never underestimate the magic of exceptional customer service! Your success depends upon it.
Based on the book Be Our Guest! Perfecting the Art of Customer Service, by the Disney Institute
As your pharmacy grows and a larger staff becomes necessary, interpersonal conflicts will be inevitable. It can be difficult to focus on the daily tasks associated with pharmacy ownership if you are constantly mediating employee issues. To reduce time wasted on drama-filled relationships and increase the productive energy needed to manage and expand your business, try following these seven steps:
Step 1: Lead By Example
You will not be successful in reducing pharmacy drama if you are involved in it yourself. As the leader of your staff, the entire team looks up to you and follows your lead. Use your own actions to demonstrate the positive behaviors you would like to see from your staff. If you are a good role model, chances are your team will “mirror” your behavior.
Step 2: Diagnose the Cause
Just as you would not expect an aspirin to effectively treat an undiagnosed disease, you cannot resolve a conflict in your pharmacy until you fully understand the root cause for it. While multiple factors can contribute to negative behaviors and drama in the workplace, here are four common triggers to be aware of:
Step 3: Develop a Plan to Confront an Issue
Once you identify the origin of a particular conflict, develop a plan based on the exact situation and employees involved. It may be best to handle the situation in a private meeting, especially if the problem employee is prone to outbursts. When one or more closed-door conversations have already taken place, you may consider making an announcement regarding workplace conflict resolution in your next staff meeting. In some cases, it could become necessary to remove staff members who are spreading negative energy and causing problems on a regular basis.
Step 4: Develop a Friendly Rapport
When meeting with an employee who is prone to conflict, be careful to begin the conversation with a neutral, open-minded tone. Explain the purpose, set the ground rules and be clear about your goals for the meeting. Your leadership will provide a solid foundation for a productive conversation. Set expectations about what you want to discuss and clearly communicate that your end goal is to resolve a problem and move forward.
Step 5: Be Direct and Professional
Begin the difficult part of the conversation with a non-confrontational, respectful phrase that explains the purpose of the meeting. Use facts instead of subjective, opinion-based statements to describe the problem. As the business owner, you should be careful not to leave any room for argument or interpretation. Allow the employee to provide an explanation while maintaining your authority.
Step 6: Obtain Commitment to Change
Finish the meeting by obtaining a solid acceptance of responsibility and a commitment to change. This step demands clarity from both parties on what future expectations are, so it is important to be specific. Instead of saying, “don’t cause drama,” perhaps you can say “don’t complain to others about your problems with the XYZ.” This is also the time to clearly outline the next course of action if the situation does not improve.
Step 7: Encourage New Behavior
While it is important to address negative actions, it is even more critical to reward good conduct to increase morale. Validate your employee’s new and improved behavior with encouraging feedback and a follow-up conversation. A handwritten note is a simple way to reinforce positive performance
These seven steps for confronting drama and introducing authenticity in workplace relationships will help keep your pharmacy productive and growing to its full capacity. Don’t let silly arguments derail amazing potential. Make sure you are prepared to take action before negative behavior and conflict become a problem.
Managing multiple personalities in the workplace while running a successful pharmacy can be difficult, but you don’t have to do it alone. Hundreds of pharmacy owners, who are just like you, use PDS to help lead their staff and find innovative ways to increase profits and stay ahead of the competition. If you would like to join a community of independent pharmacy owners who are committed to industry-wide success, then we would love to speak with you. Click here to request a free pharmacy business assessment today and one of our business advisors will get in touch with you shortly.
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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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