Are you a ‘Toxic Handler’ – the manager finds themselves bearing the pain and complex emotions of your staff? A recent study showed that leaders help their coworkers with personal issues and worries nearly as frequently as they help with work-related matters. However, shouldering this emotional load is not equally distributed but falls disproportionately on select leaders that tend to notice when staff are distressed and understand how that often diminishes their performance and collaboration.

Leading in today's work environment is emotionally demanding, especially when supporting your team's well-being. If you share this struggle, check out this article from our friends at the Harvard Business Review that discusses 5 proven strategies you can use to help you and your team excel without burning out: Leading Effectively When Your Team Offloads Their Stress onto You

Transitioning into pharmacy management is a significant career leap. I’ve been fortunate to help many of my client’s level up their career and noticed that the quickest climbers always have a long list of questions and concerns. Starting off on the right foot requires the ability to graciously learn from mistakes (yours and others) as you navigate your new role. Here are 6 tips to make that happen:

1. Show Appreciation:  Showing gratitude by acknowledging individual and team efforts pays huge dividends. Employees who feel valued and recognized are more likely to perform well and foster a motivated work environment.
2. Delegate Responsibilities: Effective managers reduce stress and improve team productivity by trusting employees with additional responsibilities. You’ll find that your team feels more fulfilled in their job and the workload is better managed.
3. Communicate Regularly: No matter how busy your team is, regular staff meetings are crucial for communication and alignment. Use this time to discuss goals, brainstorm ideas, and recognize your team's achievements. Keeping everyone on the same page improves efficiency and morale.
4. Maintain Composure: Mistakes happen. Great managers avoid focusing on who is at fault. They stay calm and solution-oriented because they understand that addressing problems constructively and learning from them ensures long-term team success.  
5. Stay Ahead of the Curve: Great managers stay informed about industry developments and help their team do the same. Build a reputation for excellence by researching current trends, attending conferences, embracing technology and continually seeking ways to enhance patient care.

Embracing this new position with the right mindset and strategies is essential for long-term success. By showing appreciation, delegating responsibilities, maintaining regular communication, staying composed under pressure, and keeping up with industry advancements, you can effectively lead your team and foster a positive work environment. Remember, the journey to becoming a great manager is a continuous process of learning and adapting.

Congratulations on your promotion! Best of luck as you embark on this exciting new chapter.

Retaining top pharmacy talent is a significant workforce challenge. More than simply keeping people happy, strategic retention efforts build better outcomes for patients, staff, the organization itself and the communities they serve.
Organizations that prioritize employee retention reap compounding rewards through a more stable workforce and report up to 30% higher productivity and 21% greater profitability.

Often thought of as proof of loyalty, retention is more accurately described as an organization’s ability to foster employee loyalty.
While specialist pharmacy recruiters play an essential role in identifying and attracting top talent, retention is the responsibility of pharmacy employers. Specialist recruiters are experts in sourcing and vetting highly qualified candidates in the pharmacy sector.
Finding candidates with the necessary qualifications is only one aspect of a specialty recruiters’ role. Assessing a candidate’s compatibility with an employer’s culture and values is often overlooked. This careful matching process ensures that candidates presented to an employer are not just skilled but also a good fit for the organization and likely to become a long-term employee.

Comprehensive employee retention programs build more stable and productive workforce resulting in more efficient, effective and profitable operations. Here are some key advantages:

• Reduced Turnover Costs:  The cost of replacing an employee can range from 50% to 200% of their annual salary. By focusing on retention, organizations can significantly reduce these costs. This includes:
  
• Improved Employee Morale and Engagement:  A stable workforce tends to be more engaged and motivated. When employees see that their colleagues are staying with the organization, it fosters a sense of stability and trust. High retention rates contribute to enhanced team cohesion, increased job satisfaction and higher engagement.
  
• Increased Organizational Knowledge and Expertise: Long-term employees accumulate valuable knowledge and expertise. Retaining these employees helps maintain institutional knowledge and enhance problem-solving efficiency.
  
• Better Organizational Performance:  Retention directly impacts an organization's overall performance. A stable and experienced workforce boosts productivity through more consistent quality and performance efficiency.
  
• Enhanced Employer Brand and Recruiting:  Organizations known for high employee retention often enjoy a stronger employer brand. Top talent is attracted through positive reputation and word-of-mouth referrals that reduce recruiting headwinds.
  
• Improved Financial Performance:  Combined, these benefits contribute to lower operational costs, increased revenue and higher profit margins.

Pharmacy employee retention programs benefit patients and the community in several significant ways, contributing to improved healthcare outcomes, enhanced service quality, and overall community well-being. Here are the key benefits:

• More Consistent Care:  Patients who see the same pharmacist regularly are more likely to trust their advice and feel comfortable discussing their health concerns. Patients are 19% more likely to adhere to their medication regimens when they have a consistent relationship with their pharmacist
• Enhanced Patient Education and Counseling:  Pharmacists who know their patients well can offer tailored advice that considers the patient's unique health needs and lifestyle. Patients who have a regular pharmacist are 31% more likely to seek advice on medications and health issues resulting in an increase of a patients' understanding of their medications by up to 25%
  
• Higher Quality of Service:  Pharmacies with low turnover rates have a 20% higher average customer satisfaction score compared to those with higher turnover rates. Experienced pharmacists often manage their workload more efficiently, ensuring that patients receive timely care and more accurate dispensing. In fact, pharmacists with longer tenure are associated with a 50% reduction in dispensing errors.
• Stronger Community Health Outcomes:  Consistent pharmacist-patient interactions can lead to a 13% improvement in chronic disease management metrics in the community. Pharmacies with established staff are better equipped to lead and participate in public health initiatives, such as vaccination drives, health screenings, and disease prevention programs which foster a more health-conscious population.
• Economic Stability and Growth:  Pharmacies with low turnover rates are more likely to invest in community health programs and partnerships, furthering their positive impact on local health and economy.
  

While recruiters excel at finding talented candidates, retaining these professionals is a different challenge that falls to the employers. Improving pharmacy staff retention is essential for maintaining a stable, productive, and high-quality workforce. Here are some tips to help achieve this that hospital and local pharmacies have used to retain and attract top talent:

• Community Involvement: Encourage and support pharmacists' involvement in community health initiatives and professional organizations.
• Team Activities: Organize social events and activities to build camaraderie and a sense of belonging among staff.
• Employee Recognition Programs: Implement recognition programs that highlight individual and team achievements within the community and the organization.

By implementing these strategies, pharmacy employers can create a supportive and engaging work environment that promotes retention, job satisfaction, and overall employee well-being.

Investing in pharmacy employee retention is not only a smart business decision but also a vital contribution to public health and community vitality. Benefits that extend well beyond the immediate workplace.
Retention programs build a loyal, skilled, and motivated workforce that contribute significantly to long-term success through improved operational efficiency while simultaneously enhancing patient care, improving health outcomes, and helping community health initiatives all flourish under the stability provided by effective retention strategies.

Are you burned out? What are the signs? And what’s the best way to prevent it? To find out, ask yourself:

In my experience, the best way to prevent pharmacy burnout is to be proactive. Speak up. It’s very likely some of your coworkers also have similar feelings, and talking to someone who understands what you’re going through can help. Talk to your manager, too. If they don’t know how you feel, nothing will ever change.

Perhaps the best way to prevent burnout is to choose the type of practice and employer wisely.  The last thing you want to do is feel stuck in a pharmacy setting that doesn’t feel rewarding or challenging, or working for an employer who doesn’t treat you well.  Sometime a change is what you need to reinvigorate your career.  Reach out to me at [email protected].  I’d love to hear about what you are going through and hopefully help you find opportunities that could be a better fit. 

📌 Want to level up your career performance? Follow @Jana Rugg for top tips to help pharmacy owners, managers & directors, staff& clinical pharmacists, Pharmacy techs and intake specialists' level up!

People appreciate the positive vibes great leaders bring to the workplace. Listening to my clients share their experiences has given me greater appreciation for how the 'little things' make a huge impact. Here are a few of the 'Green Flags' that great leaders of all levels share:

What characteristics have you found most endearing  in leaders you’ve worked with? Share your comments below. Be sure to tag those that have made a positive difference for you and make their day️!

📌 Want to level up your career performance? Follow @Jana Rugg for top tips to help pharmacy owners, managers & directors, staff& clinical pharmacists, Pharmacy techs and intake specialists' level up!

Workforce shortages present serious challenges for pharmacies. Pharmacists are frustrated by expanding roles, responsibilities and how understaffing may put patients at risk. Record high sign-on bonuses and salaries are not solving the problem. And, retail pharmacy chains seem ambivalent to the issues. When will chain pharmacies begin treating staff as people and how will they leverage technology to better serve patients and staff?  Read on to learn why this is happening and when the staffing conundrum might be resolved.

Why is This Happening?
The pharmacy business model is changing.

Pharmacy retail chains are staking their future on expanding the health care services they offer. Thousands of community pharmacies are disappearing as retail chains acquire each other, close stores, reduce store hours and lay off staff.  Pharmacists and technicians are required to perform expanding duties with less support and longer hours. And prescription fill volumes are only increasing as are the services performed by retail pharmacies. Fewer pharmacies are fulfilling growing demand and pharmacy staff are getting squeezed from all directions.
It’s unsustainable. It’s dangerously irresponsible. Pharmacists and technicians are fed up.

Talent Drain
It’s getting harder to draw the next generation of pharmacists amid an industry in turmoil.
As front-line providers, pharmacists bear the harsh burden of change. Bled Tanow, a former Walgeens pharmacist agreed saying, pharmacists “carry the weight of the pharmacy on their shoulders.”
The once-revered community pharmacist role has been diluted over the years.  The perception and desirability of the profession has declined, and the talent pipeline is dwindling accordingly. Graduation rates and applications to pharmacy schools are in steady decline. There's been a steady drop in applications to pharmacy schools, falling 64% from nearly 100,000 in 2012 to about 36,000 in 2022, according to the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy.

Breaking Point
Understaffing fuels pharmacy staff burn-out and put patients at risk. Pharmacists, administrators and advocacy groups are ringing the alarm bells.
Around the country pharmacy staff have staged walkouts to raise awareness of harsh working conditions that make it difficult to safely fill prescriptions and the danger this poses for patients. A New York Times article highlighted the pressure on pharmacy staff to do more with much less. “It was so mentally taxing,” said Dr. Poole, a Tuscaloosa retail chain pharmacist. “Every day, I was like: I hope I don’t kill anyone.”

Workload Demands
Chain pharmacies like CVS and Walgreens appear to ignore concerns, consistently slashing staffing levels while saddling front-line workers with an expanding list of additional duties. A 2022 APhA survey showed that nearly 75% of respondents felt they did not have enough time to safely perform clinical duties and patient care.
When faced with inquiries from the media or regulatory bodies, chain pharmacies often attribute their challenges to the impact of COVID-19 and assert that the data they are scrutinized for is outdated. However, this explanation falls short in addressing the persistent issue of understaffing. Despite the closure of hundreds of community pharmacies over the past decade, there remains a pool of qualified pharmacists and technicians seeking employment opportunities. The discrepancy between the available workforce and the ongoing understaffing raises pertinent questions about the dynamics within chain pharmacies.
Retail stores often operate with just one pharmacist behind the counter for a 12-hour shift. A USA TODAY investigation revealed that 10 years ago a pharmacy might have had two pharmacists and six pharmacy technicians filling an average of 500 prescriptions a day.  Today that same store may have half the staff and a higher prescription volume – plus an endless flow of vaccine appointments, rapid tests and patient consultation calls.
It’s a recipe for disaster. “Pharmacists are so overwhelmed and worried that they’re going to make a mistake. It’s so easy to make a mistake under those conditions,” said Shane Jerominski, a pharmacy labor advocate who spent a decade working at chain pharmacies including Walgreens and now manages an independent pharmacy.
Pharmacists and pharmacy technicians are often on the front lines, dealing with an ever-increasing workload. The expansion of services offered by pharmacies, such as vaccinations and patient monitoring, has not been matched with adequate pharmacy staffing, leading to burnout and publicized staff walkouts.
“The primary reason is our concern for public safety,” said Corey Schneider, one of the CVS pharmacists who participated in the Kansas City walkout. “It’s also about basic decency. Pharmacists shouldn’t have to cry at work or go home worried that they made a mistake.”
One CVS pharmacist reported that as CVS first began to cut staff, they budgeted additional staff hours. But that soon ended and the increased volume became part of the normal daily workload. She often found herself filling one prescription every minute and a half over the course of a 13-hour shift.

Real-Life Consequences
Perils linked to understaffing are undeniable. Persistent understaffing and mandated quotas in pharmacies jeopardize patients and staff. Hazardous working conditions lead to burnout and exacerbate the risk of serious errors. The dangers are real. The consequences can be grave.
A 2022 survey conducted by the National Pharmacy Technician Association (NPTA) showed that 91.4 per cent of pharmacy staff experienced burnout because of understaffing, high workloads, high expectations, low wages, and productivity quotas. In the long run, understaffing can negatively impact the health and well-being of pharmacy staff.
The results of staff shortages can range from mild patient inconveniences to harmful medication incidents. In many cases, pharmacy errors due to unsustainable workloads have had significant consequences. A Virginia Beach a customer ended up in the ER after receiving an antibiotic despite a known history of not tolerating the drug. “The pharmacists cannot properly concentrate because they have so much to do,” said Kristopher Ratliff, a member of Virginia’s Board of Pharmacy. In Florida, an 85-year-old died after a Publix pharmacy dispensed a chemotherapy drug instead of the antidepressant she was prescribed.
Health dangers aren’t limited to patients. Ashleigh Anderson suffered a heart attack while working a shift at a CVS store in Seymour, Indiana, in September 2021. Anderson was the only pharmacist on duty the day she died. Direct statistics are murky at best but a recent study reveals that pharmacists are at higher risk of suicide - at an approximate rate of 20 per 100,000 pharmacists compared to 12 per 100,000 in the general population.

What’s the Pharmacy Staffing Solution?
Chain pharmacies initially responded with financial incentives. It hasn’t worked. While financial incentives like sign-on bonuses are attractive, they fail to address deeper retail pharmacy issues such as job satisfaction, work-life balance, and long-term career prospects. Bonuses can create a culture of transience, where individuals hop from job to job in pursuit of the next bonus, rather than committing to a particular employer or community. And, they fail to provide long-term solution.

Critial Thinking
To address these challenges, pharmacy chains must rethink their approach to staffing. Young people have to see pharmacy as a viable career path. This includes creating a more sustainable work environment, offering better support and career development opportunities, and re-establishing the role of the pharmacist as a respected and integral part of the healthcare system.
A holistic approach that addresses the root causes of dissatisfaction and burnout is essential for attracting and retaining the dedicated professionals needed to keep our communities healthy.

Pharmacists are People Too
Pharmacy staff gets yelled at. A lot. Pharmacies are usually the last stop for weary, frustrated and overwhelmed patients. Often staff literally feel patients’ pain.
Most patients don’t really understand what goes in to filling a prescription. It’s more than taking pills from a big bottle and putting them into a smaller bottle. Pharmacists are charged with assessing what medications a customer is taking, ensuring that there will be no adverse interactions and advise them about side effects and best practices.
Retail chains must establish an environment where pharmacists and technicians:

• Are set-up for positive patient interactions.
• Work in fully staffed and supported environments.
• Have safe and quota-free workloads.
• Feel confident they are providing quality patient care with every script filled.
• Feel heard and are encouraged to discuss and solve workplace issues with management.

 
Technology Solutions
With pharmacy-school applicants shrinking and the current workforce pool drying up, retail chains see a future filled with automation and remote processing. The sad reality is that the workforce shortage is likely to worsen. Technology can help retail pharmacies weather the talent shortage today while improving safety, efficiency and patient interactions moving forward.
Retail pharmacies can improve pharmacy working conditions and customer experiences through a variety of systems designed to:

• Reduce fulfillment time.
• Eliminate dispensing errors.
• Improve inventory visibility.
• Eliminate human monitoring.
• Streamline clerical tasks.

Virtual verification technologies can help reduce prescription fulfillment delays. Prescriptions can be verified by a remote pharmacist working miles away. The highly secure technology solution complies with state laws and is a game changer for retail stores, helping prevent delays and reduce the workload for on-site staff.
An estimated 68% of medication errors occur during administration. Digital drug dispensing systems (DDS) are capable of nearly eliminating errors while simultaneously accelerating prescription processing. And these systems reduce pharmacists’ stress while freeing them up to spend more time on tasks that require human interaction such as patient consultations.
Automating medication inventory management directly impacts patient safety, satisfaction, and outcomes. And reduces pharmacy staff workload by virtually eliminating manual, error-prone methods, such as “eyeballing the bottle,” to capture inventory levels.  Automated systems accurately and efficiently support chain-wide inventory counts, forecasting, and replenishment.

Conclusion
Healthcare industry stakeholders must address the critical issue of pharmacy understaffing before more lives are put at risk. The time to act is now.
It is imperative that we heed the warnings of pharmacists, administrators, and advocacy groups to prevent burnout and protect patients. Only through concerted efforts and systemic changes can we ensure the safe dispensing of medications and the well-being of pharmacy staff.

About Ridgemont ResourcesRidgemont Resources is the leading national search and recruitment firm dedicated exclusively to the pharmacy profession. Since 1998, we have been committed to finding and securing the best candidates in the United States for our clients in the Hospital, Specialty Pharmacy, Long Term Care Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Science, and Clinical Research industries.

Mastering these 15 core interview questions will give you the edge over other potential candidates. Confident responses when navigating your job interview can be as challenging as getting through pharmacy school. Interviews can be high stress, anxiety-driving situations. Whether you’re fresh out of residency or a seasoned veteran, preparation always pays off.  Interviewers will probe your knowledge, patient-care acumen, and decision-making skills. Likely you already know the right answers. But will you be able deliver clear, concise answers under pressure?

Here are 15 essential questions that you’re likely to face during your next clinical pharmacist job interview and some expert tips on how to respond.

TULSA, OK March. 15, 2023 // Ridgemont Resources, the leading specialty pharmacy recruiting firm in the United States, is pleased to announce that it has been officially approved for General Services Administration (GSA) Contract #: 36F79723D0085. The five-year contract further solidifies Ridgemont Resources as a trusted and reliable partner authorized to place pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and speech language pathologists as contractors within government facilities.