How to keep good techs when your store is crazy?

[Chris co2012]

---

Members do not see this ad.

I work at a pharmacy that is crazy. We fill 5,000 scripts per week. When I started as a new grad, the job actually seemed reasonable. But now, my good techs are leaving and they are being replaced by crappy techs who have ZERO knowledge. So, I'm constantly being asked brand/generic names, how to perform simple tasks in our computer system, etc.

It's very difficult. Our tech hours AND our RPH hours have been cut. The good news is that I still have 40 hours. But after only 1 week, I can tell a difference.

I guess the major problem is that NOBODY wants to work for my store. I understand why... but how can the problem be fixed?

I'm stuck. The district manager is doing his best. I mean, I actually enjoy my store when I have good techs. It's actually a good store. But when I have to do all the responsibilities of the techs, I get super backed up... and that's a problem.

What can be done?

And side note, if I were a tech, there is NO WAY that I would EVER work at my store. The compensation just isn't worth it.

 

[pharmasaur]

Can you hire a student, perhaps a pre-pharmacy student, who has a tech license? They won't be there forever but at least they'll make a huge effort to learn and would really bust their ass to impress you/get letters of rec.

 

[Chris co2012]

Actually, no. We're in an area where there are no pre-pharmacy students nor interns. I'm actually from a city that has a pharmacy school in it. So, it's sort of culture shock NEVER seeing interns around every corner.

I'm at a problematic store. The ONLY way to fix the problem is to have quality pharmacists and quality technicians. I honestly believe that quality technicians are MORE IMPORTANT than quality pharmacists. When my good techs left, I really saw a difference.

What can you do?

My store used to fill over 6,000 scrips per week. Then they dropped to 5,000. Now we're not even hitting that mark. So hours have been cut across the board. So, the reality is... we're going to lose MORE BUSINESS because we don't have any help. Corporate doesn't understand that. I guess it's easy when you sit in a cozy chair and don't understand a damn thing about how pharmacies really work.

 

[doublehh03]

^ Wow a drop of 1000 scripts a week is HUGE. I'm surprised your DM/sup and corporate don't even care. That's like 20% of the business.

 

[pharmasaur]

It sounds like you need to incentivize your bad techs to become good techs. I mean are they just bad because they're new? Can you give them homework to memorize brand/generic? like 10 everyday or something? Bring in lunch or something so they feel more compelled to do a better job? It sounds like you just need to work with what you have =/ Can you at least ask for a summer intern....? A student from a saturated city might be willing to trekk out there for a summer to gain some cash and experience...

 

[CUninja]

And side note, if I were a tech, there is NO WAY that I would EVER work at my store. The compensation just isn't worth it.

heres your answer

 

[Unchained]

Leave this store as soon as you can. You cannot win at a store with this volume. I managed a store filling 4000 per week with increasing volume. The chains do not pay techs enough to deal with that kind of stress. You will constantly be replacing them. They will eventually hang you for the bad numbers. Ask to be transferred or leave the company.

 

[Chris co2012]

heres your answer

That's NOT an answer. That's a harsh reality.

 

[Chris co2012]

Leave this store as soon as you can. You cannot win at a store with this volume. I managed a store filling 4000 per week with increasing volume. The chains do not pay techs enough to deal with that kind of stress. You will constantly be replacing them. They will eventually hang you for the bad numbers. Ask to be transferred or leave the company.

Well, I will say that you have sound advice but I want to stay here. I think that if I work here for AT LEAST a year, then I'll have something to work with during future interviews.

There are so many new grads in today's pharmacy that I really need something on my CV that makes me stand out. I wasn't a great student in school and I wasn't involved in leadership roles.

So to put it figuratively, I need pure horsepower. I need something that says, "This guy has handled high stress environments. We want him over that new graduate with a 4.0 and all those accolades."

Like I said originally, my store CAN BE a great place to work at (ending sentence in preposition... sue me). I just wish there were an answer.

 

[Unchained]

Well, I will say that you have sound advice but I want to stay here. I think that if I work here for AT LEAST a year, then I'll have something to work with during future interviews.

There are so many new grads in today's pharmacy that I really need something on my CV that makes me stand out. I wasn't a great student in school and I wasn't involved in leadership roles.

So to put it figuratively, I need pure horsepower. I need something that says, "This guy has handled high stress environments. We want him over that new graduate with a 4.0 and all those accolades."

Like I said originally, my store CAN BE a great place to work at (ending sentence in preposition... sue me). I just wish there were an answer.

This is reasonable. I tell all new grads who go to work for the slave driving chains that they should have an exit plan at the 2 year mark. Managing a high volume store for 2 years set me apart from all the other applicants when I went searching.

 

[joetrisman]

My store averages 6k/wk. While there are some techs and rphs that have been there a long time, the majority of the staff has turned over several times since I started a few years back. IMO, the best thing one could do at my store is work 7on/7off to avoid the utter chaos that is day shift. It still sucks on nights but it is definitely more manageable. I think the tech deal is a lost cause for the aforementioned reasons in previous posts. We have maybe 5 techs out of 20 at my store that have been there longer than 2 years.

 

[Chris co2012]

This is reasonable. I tell all new grads who go to work for the slave driving chains that they should have an exit plan at the 2 year mark. Managing a high volume store for 2 years set me apart from all the other applicants when I went searching.

But you *managed* a high volume store. Managing a high volume store is on a whole new level. There is no way in hell that I would ever manage a high volume store. Never.

I don't think I'll stand out that much just being a pharmacist in high volume, but still... it'll help.

 

[Chris co2012]

My store averages 6k/wk. While there are some techs and rphs that have been there a long time, the majority of the staff has turned over several times since I started a few years back. IMO, the best thing one could do at my store is work 7on/7off to avoid the utter chaos that is day shift. It still sucks on nights but it is definitely more manageable. I think the tech deal is a lost cause for the aforementioned reasons in previous posts. We have maybe 5 techs out of 20 at my store that have been there longer than 2 years.

Wow 6,000/week... I couldn't imagine that!

What's the highest volume pharmacy in the US? I'm curious to know.

 

[joetrisman]

Wow 6,000/week... I couldn't imagine that!

What's the highest volume pharmacy in the US? I'm curious to know.

It varies by day. We used to hit #1 once a month or so for our chain before esi left. I think Wags has a store in St Louis that does comparable numbers that hit #1 a lot more often than us

 

[Chris co2012]

It varies by day. We used to hit #1 once a month or so for our chain before esi left. I think Wags has a store in St Louis that does comparable numbers that hit #1 a lot more often than us

So what are your RPH and tech schedules like?

 

[Chris co2012]

And let me be clear here. I personally cannot imagine filling 6k scrips per week. My store filled 6k/wk TWO YEARS AGO. One year ago, we filled 5,000. Now, we're at 4,500.

So I guess my store was once one of the busiest stores at least in the Southeast.

We're still busy, don't get me wrong. But I couldn't imagine what it would be like to fill 6k per week.

 

[littleowl]

I've been a CpHT for a loooong time (9+ years) and my experience is this...every tech has to start somewhere. I know the newbies are tearing your nerves up right now but if you stick with them and try to guide them in a way that promotes learning, the chances of them getting better and sticking with you grows exponentially. My first tech job was with a CVS store (also in the Southeast) that filled 4200 scripts per week with no overlap pharmacist. That situation was awful, but I loved and respected my pharmacy manager so much that I stayed for almost five years...at less than $10 an hour. I was promoted to Lead after only 8 months because I was willing to learn as much as possible to make our days easier. I only left to take an outpatient hospital position because my husband was laid off and we needed the additional income. Even then, I worked extra on the weekends at that same store to help train the new hires. My point is that you sound like you want your work environment to improve without sacrificing your employees to the wolves. You can make it happen with a little elbow grease 🙂

 

[Hello2000]

Well, I will say that you have sound advice but I want to stay here. I think that if I work here for AT LEAST a year, then I'll have something to work with during future interviews.

There are so many new grads in today's pharmacy that I really need something on my CV that makes me stand out.

Dropping the store from 6k to 5k items will certainly get noticed on your CV.

Get the hell out of there before there is a big accident.

There's nothing you can do if corporate are still cutting hours except buy the techs donuts every Friday 🙂

 

[SHC1984]

Why did any of the good techs leave? Unless the pharmacist or store manager is awful to them I don't understand why they would just leave for no reason.

 

[owlegrad]

Why did any of the good techs leave? Unless the pharmacist or store manager is awful to them I don't understand why they would just leave for no reason.

Stress level or money or both. Entry level jobs tend to have high turnover anyway. They were probably offered more money elsewhere.

 

[bob1234]

Why did any of the good techs leave? Unless the pharmacist or store manager is awful to them I don't understand why they would just leave for no reason.

When the starting wage for flipping burgers at In&Out Burger is higher than starting wage for pharmacy technicians in the retail setting, your techs will move on when they find a better job or something that pays more.

 

[SHC1984]

Stress level or money or both. Entry level jobs tend to have high turnover anyway. They were probably offered more money elsewhere.

When the starting wage for flipping burgers at In&Out Burger is higher than starting wage for pharmacy technicians in the retail setting, your techs will move on when they find a better job or something that pays more.

Good points. Thanks.

Reading these threads make me so scared of becoming a pharmacist!

Any advice at all?

 

[xiphoid2010]

Leave this store as soon as you can. You cannot win at a store with this volume. I managed a store filling 4000 per week with increasing volume. The chains do not pay techs enough to deal with that kind of stress. You will constantly be replacing them. They will eventually hang you for the bad numbers. Ask to be transferred or leave the company.

Unfortunately this is happening everywhere, I'm feeling it. The company that bought us is totally different. First the DON was complaining about the unreasonable nursing hours per patient day coming down from the corporate, then I'm pressured to do more with less. Trying to get support to meet increased workloads or to comply with latest standards are getting push-backs on everytime! With my CEO's support, we choose to fight back in a few key areas, but am worried that we are creating enemies at high places who will hold grudge and waiting for the slightest trip up down the road. After a few months of this, everyone is demoralized, quality of care are going down, I feel guilty. I miss being a resident with a tunnel vision of just doing what's best for the patient. 🙁

 

[smercer]

Good points. Thanks.

Reading these threads make me so scared of becoming a pharmacist!

Any advice at all?

Quit and start looking for a Sugar Daddy...

Quit and take up one of the 15 profs you always list as being better than pharmacy...

Or...

Realize that being a pharmacist is about more than making 6 figures a year. Yes, you will have to work hard and, yes, it may be somewhere crappy. However, there will always be jobs.

What maybe a few hundred people post on this board with any regularity? So, out of the few hundred thousand pharmacists in the US, some are disgruntled. I kind of take this board to be like the review section for a product. There will always be someone who gives it a 5 star just because and someone who gives it a 1 because they happened to have gotten a defective one. Of course there is plenty of good and useful information to be found, but not every post is 100% true of the normal situation. Also people who are perfectly happy are less inclined to spend time posting about their happiness and those who are disgruntled tend to spend more time making sure others know.

 

[StallionRx]

What maybe a few hundred people post on this board with any regularity? So, out of the few hundred thousand pharmacists in the US, some are disgruntled. I kind of take this board to be like the review section for a product. There will always be someone who gives it a 5 star just because and someone who gives it a 1 because they happened to have gotten a defective one. Of course there is plenty of good and useful information to be found, but not every post is 100% true of the normal situation. Also people who are perfectly happy are less inclined to spend time posting about their happiness and those who are disgruntled tend to spend more time making sure others know.

Good post.👍

 

[Sparda29]

I've found turnover to be a lot higher in retail pharmacy than hospital pharmacy for techs. Most of the techs at my hospital have been here for years, I'm guessing because its unionized and they pay the techs well here (like above $25/hour).

 

[Hello2000]

Quit and start looking for a Sugar Daddy...

Quit and take up one of the 15 profs you always list as being better than pharmacy...

Or...

Realize that being a pharmacist is about more than making 6 figures a year. Yes, you will have to work hard and, yes, it may be somewhere crappy. However, there will always be jobs.

What maybe a few hundred people post on this board with any regularity? So, out of the few hundred thousand pharmacists in the US, some are disgruntled. I kind of take this board to be like the review section for a product. There will always be someone who gives it a 5 star just because and someone who gives it a 1 because they happened to have gotten a defective one. Of course there is plenty of good and useful information to be found, but not every post is 100% true of the normal situation. Also people who are perfectly happy are less inclined to spend time posting about their happiness and those who are disgruntled tend to spend more time making sure others know.

ROFL, when you qualify and find out what it's really like you can always get a job as a comedian when you don't find pharmacy work. Most hilarious post I've seen in a long while. Thanks for cheering up my day. 🙂
:

 

[SHC1984]

Quit and start looking for a Sugar Daddy...

Quit and take up one of the 15 profs you always list as being better than pharmacy...

Or...

Realize that being a pharmacist is about more than making 6 figures a year. Yes, you will have to work hard and, yes, it may be somewhere crappy. However, there will always be jobs.

What maybe a few hundred people post on this board with any regularity? So, out of the few hundred thousand pharmacists in the US, some are disgruntled. I kind of take this board to be like the review section for a product. There will always be someone who gives it a 5 star just because and someone who gives it a 1 because they happened to have gotten a defective one. Of course there is plenty of good and useful information to be found, but not every post is 100% true of the normal situation. Also people who are perfectly happy are less inclined to spend time posting about their happiness and those who are disgruntled tend to spend more time making sure others know.

1) I don't like to hook up with old nasty men. Find me a younger one and it's a deal!

2) If Victoria Secret will hire me as their next supermodel I am there for sure!

3) Got 2 offers so far...if I can't find something I can really tolerate and NOT hate I will look into something else.

4) Money is near the most important thing in life (next to looks). Sorry it's the truth.

Thank you! 🙂