Strategies on how to correct otherwise good techs who are very sensitive to criticism.

[justjoe]

---

Members don't see this ad.

"That's how we always did it and it's never been a problem!"

I'm just started as a PIC at a chain pharmacy. We have three very good pharmacy techs who are accurate, friendly, and show up to work on time. However, the old PIC just ignored a lot what the corporate office wanted, but corporate couldn't get rid of him because the pharmacy is in a difficult location to staff. The techs don't bother to put the warning labels on the bottles and they don't print out the patient information sheets and med guides unless the patient asks.

These seem like minor issues to address, but they were trained by the old PIC who said not to bother with those things, and they are VERY loyal to the old PIC (who has moved to a different city). They got very upset when I made a few minor changes to the pharmacy. For example, they were filing Rxs incorrectly. They were filling all controlled rxs together and just leaving noncontrolled separate. I fixed it on my first day and go the cold shoulder from them for a while.

Any strategies on correcting pharmacy techs?

Thanks!

 

[pencilandpen]

old habbits die hard, it will take a while for them to warm up to you. In my experience show them you work hard, and also really appreciate their work. When giving feedback first tell them the things they are doing great at, then mention the things you want them to change. If they are good techs, they will come around.
Also how exactly are you gonna file again? The way they file sounds about right... dont rock the boat too much, if it aint broke, dont fix it.
Dont the warnings print out automatically on the prescription label? you still got to put them on manually?? that is too much effort

 

[zelman]

Complement sandwich them and see if they are more receptive. Then, if necessary, start using your store’s disciplinary process. Lay heavily into the early verbal warnings and let them know you don’t want repeat offenses to lead to the later write up process because of how valuable they are. Ask them how you can help them to get from the job they’re doing to the job you need done. Make sure they know you are available to answer questions because them understanding the correct process is so important to you. And on that last note, never tell somewhat what to do unless you can also tell them why.

 

[Wickett]

Go at it slow/don't feel the need to change everything to your exact liking right away (exceptions are non compliance of state board regulations and things blatantly against corporate policy, of course).

When I took over my current store, the two main techs had been there for years and they were very set in their ways. I was friendly and explained my reasoning for changing things, but I was firm in how I wanted things done.

One got with the program and the other tech fought me tooth and nail and eventually quit after multiple write ups. You want things to be pleasant, but you're not there to be bffs. It's your license on the line, not theirs.

 

[SoylentGreen]

Based on past experience I prefer people I hired and trained who will listen to me over "good" veteran techs who undermine me. Lay down the law, they can get with the program or GTFO.

 

[Sine Cura]

I like how "accurate," "friendly," and "show up to work on time" are considered remarkable traits when it's part of the job description and minimum competency.

 

[mentos]

Bring snacks.

 

[Sabril]

I like how "accurate," "friendly," and "show up to work on time" are considered remarkable traits when it's part of the job description and minimum competency.

That's a lot for minimum competency. Mine is just having opposable thumbs. Used to be knowing the alphabet also but that was too much.

 

[owlegrad]

Honestly techs should know that when PICs change in a chain setting so does SOP. It always happens, different PICs have different priorities. They should be used to that. So it is really a matter of how well you can "lay down the law".

I am curious though, how did you change the filing system? Filing control and non-controls separately sounds correct to me?

 

[WorthlessOxygen]

Filing control and non-controls separately sounds correct to me?

Not sure about wherever OP is but my state requires CII scripts to be filed separately from CIII-V

 

[lord999]

But also, keep accentuating the positive along with the other good advice above. "The reason why we want to send the patient information is that we don't know if this patient has a caretaker or has a kid. We're not here 24/7, so we want them to have this stuff on hand if they forget..." This is not a preference SOP change, it's a patient safety one, and that's why we all want that. Say something similar about the warning labels.

 

[Amphetamine Salts]

Complement sandwich them and see if they are more receptive. Then, if necessary, start using your store’s disciplinary process. Lay heavily into the early verbal warnings and let them know you don’t want repeat offenses to lead to the later write up process because of how valuable they are. Ask them how you can help them to get from the job they’re doing to the job you need done. Make sure they know you are available to answer questions because them understanding the correct process is so important to you. And on that last note, never tell somewhat what to do unless you can also tell them why.

i highly recommend not doing this

if you go the hard ass route which is by the book disciplinary process, you risk pissing off and getting otherwise good techs to hate you. for example, you may give them a verbal warning, that should be enough. it's very easy to abuse disciplinary power. when you start writing up people you will affect the person you're writing up on multiple levels. lowering their morale, affecting them mentally, their work performance, etc. people don't think about this. the worst is the PIC that blindly writes up people like an ignorant dumb jack ass. that's a good way to get everyone to say f**k you behind your back and it will be hard to keep people working with you because you're so frigid. that's how my RXM is, she's a neurotic fool. you don't want to be like that, people will hate you, people will quit, and you will struggle to have anyone want to stay around you. and if they do stay, know that deep down they actually resent you. do you want to be that piece of sh** stain on someone's life?

 

[Sine Cura]

Sounds like the PIC is about to get what she wanted, so she succeeded

 

[CetiAlphaFive]

"That's how we always did it and it's never been a problem!"

I'm just started as a PIC at a chain pharmacy. We have three very good pharmacy techs who are accurate, friendly, and show up to work on time. However, the old PIC just ignored a lot what the corporate office wanted, but corporate couldn't get rid of him because the pharmacy is in a difficult location to staff. The techs don't bother to put the warning labels on the bottles and they don't print out the patient information sheets and med guides unless the patient asks.

These seem like minor issues to address, but they were trained by the old PIC who said not to bother with those things, and they are VERY loyal to the old PIC (who has moved to a different city). They got very upset when I made a few minor changes to the pharmacy. For example, they were filing Rxs incorrectly. They were filling all controlled rxs together and just leaving noncontrolled separate. I fixed it on my first day and go the cold shoulder from them for a while.
Any strategies on correcting pharmacy techs?

Thanks!

Should be pretty easy. They're leveraging their emotional responses to dictate your behavior.

Make it clear that the rules have changed

I'd normally act super cool all the time and, if warranted, ****in' Mr. Hyde their asses once or twice to establish the hierarchy.

The next day I'd show up and Dr Jekkyl is back, showing them that I have established dominance and control of the political dynamic of the pharmacy.

God help them if they try passive aggressive bull**** or play the quiet game the day after an ass chewing.
A little public shaming and immediate, direct confrontation of this would fix it immediately.
"You may be upset at what happened yesterday, but if you think you're going to disrupt the workflow with passive aggressive behavior you can go home right now. We discussed how to improve going forward, so there's no reason to take that learning opportunity personally."

Technicians are not skilled tacticians. At best they might be good manipulators.



Easy to handle.

 

[zelman]

i highly recommend not doing this

if you go the hard ass route which is by the book disciplinary process, you risk pissing off and getting otherwise good techs to hate you. for example, you may give them a verbal warning, that should be enough. it's very easy to abuse disciplinary power. when you start writing up people you will affect the person you're writing up on multiple levels. lowering their morale, affecting them mentally, their work performance, etc. people don't think about this. the worst is the PIC that blindly writes up people like an ignorant dumb jack ass. that's a good way to get everyone to say f**k you behind your back and it will be hard to keep people working with you because you're so frigid. that's how my RXM is, she's a neurotic fool. you don't want to be like that, people will hate you, people will quit, and you will struggle to have anyone want to stay around you. and if they do stay, know that deep down they actually resent you. do you want to be that piece of sh** stain on someone's life?

So, what’s the right answer? Buy them a sheet cake with “Misbranding is Bad” on it?

 

[Amphetamine Salts]

Should be pretty easy. They're leveraging their emotional responses to dictate your behavior.

Make it clear that the rules have changed

I'd normally act super cool all the time and, if warranted, ****in' Mr. Hyde their asses once or twice to establish the hierarchy.

The next day I'd show up and Dr Jekkyl is back, showing them that I have established dominance and control of the political dynamic of the pharmacy.

God help them if they try passive aggressive bull**** or play the quiet game the day after an ass chewing.
A little public shaming and immediate, direct confrontation of this would fix it immediately.
"You may be upset at what happened yesterday, but if you think you're going to disrupt the workflow with passive aggressive behavior you can go home right now. We discussed how to improve going forward, so there's no reason to take that learning opportunity personally."

Technicians are not skilled tacticians. At best they might be good manipulators.



Easy to handle.

another poor way to handle the situation. you "ass chew" someone and they take it personally. the better method is to attempt to get on their "side" and make them WANT to listen to you, please you, suck you off, etc. far far more effective if done properly. the lazy method is to come in all hard ass and try to "ass chew people", thinking that full on, direct force will quickly correct the problem. the best change is the one that comes about from the user themselves, there are better ways to handle this

So, what’s the right answer? Buy them a sheet cake with “Misbranding is Bad” on it?

tell them the reality, let them see what is happening. give them opportunities to correct themselves. remind them. if they keep breaking rules then mention you may have to write them up and escalate. don't be inconsiderate about it. if you see hope in them then work with them. if you come across as a non caring piece of **** then you will get treated in a similar fashion. aka being fought tooth and nail by techs OR having techs submit to you but deep down they think you're a f**king scum and would rather see you burn

 

[zelman]

tell them the reality, let them see what is happening. give them opportunities to correct themselves. remind them. if they keep breaking rules then mention you may have to write them up and escalate. don't be inconsiderate about it. if you see hope in them then work with them. if you come across as a non caring piece of **** then you will get treated in a similar fashion. aka being fought tooth and nail by techs OR having techs submit to you but deep down they think you're a f**king scum and would rather see you burn

I don’t see how this isn’t the same as what I said.

 

[Sine Cura]

It's typically the ****ty workers that get butthurt and either quit or get fired eventually. You can have a formal discussion about their job performance and expectations after going over the same basic things over and over and over and over and they will start deploying crocodile tears and open door/file an ethics complaint to freeze any disciplinary action. These people are scum. Yeah this is a ****ty capitalist system and retail pharmacy super ****ty but we have to work together and are paid to do so FFS

Some people don't like being shown up in front of others so you are better off with one on one conversations so don't light people up in front of others but they still need to complete basic tasks correctly.

 

[WVUPharm2007]

I generally don't take this crap. I've literally met two techs in my lifetime I would consider irreplaceable. 99% of them aren't special. Who cares if they leave, hire new ones. They are under new management. Shape up or ship out.

Of course, I work nights. Thank God I don't actually have to deal with other humans.

 

[CetiAlphaFive]

another poor way to handle the situation. you "ass chew" someone and they take it personally. the better method is to attempt to get on their "side" and make them WANT to listen to you, please you, suck you off, etc. far far more effective if done properly. the lazy method is to come in all hard ass and try to "ass chew people", thinking that full on, direct force will quickly correct the problem. the best change is the one that comes about from the user themselves, there are better ways to handle this

tell them the reality, let them see what is happening. give them opportunities to correct themselves. remind them. if they keep breaking rules then mention you may have to write them up and escalate. don't be inconsiderate about it. if you see hope in them then work with them. if you come across as a non caring piece of **** then you will get treated in a similar fashion. aka being fought tooth and nail by techs OR having techs submit to you but deep down they think you're a f**king scum and would rather see you burn

Of course it won't work if you're weak-willed and cannot command respect.

Thanks for your opinion, person that is getting fired from their first RPh job because people don't want to work with you.

 

[Wickett]

another poor way to handle the situation. you "ass chew" someone and they take it personally. the better method is to attempt to get on their "side" and make them WANT to listen to you, please you, suck you off, etc. far far more effective if done properly. the lazy method is to come in all hard ass and try to "ass chew people", thinking that full on, direct force will quickly correct the problem. the best change is the one that comes about from the user themselves, there are better ways to handle this

tell them the reality, let them see what is happening. give them opportunities to correct themselves. remind them. if they keep breaking rules then mention you may have to write them up and escalate. don't be inconsiderate about it. if you see hope in them then work with them. if you come across as a non caring piece of **** then you will get treated in a similar fashion. aka being fought tooth and nail by techs OR having techs submit to you but deep down they think you're a f**king scum and would rather see you burn

I agree that ideally, corrective behavior comes from the employees themselves. It's better to win them over and want them to do right by you. Unfortunately, we don't live in a utopia where everyone can be won over. Some people are simply lazy and too egotistical to be told how something needs to be done. When I started as PIC, I tried just to win people over and the bad apples simply took advantage of this and did whatever they wanted. You need to be able to deploy both soft skills and disciplinary action when needed to effectively run a pharmacy. You may be a great pharmacist, but your recent posts on here make you sound like you fall into the egotistical, bad apple category where harsh discipline was necessary to get you to shape up or ship out. Customers, techs and pharmacists all seemed to be rubbed the wrong way by your demeanor.

 

[JustFillIt]

"That's how we always did it and it's never been a problem!"

I'm just started as a PIC at a chain pharmacy. We have three very good pharmacy techs who are accurate, friendly, and show up to work on time. However, the old PIC just ignored a lot what the corporate office wanted, but corporate couldn't get rid of him because the pharmacy is in a difficult location to staff. The techs don't bother to put the warning labels on the bottles and they don't print out the patient information sheets and med guides unless the patient asks.

These seem like minor issues to address, but they were trained by the old PIC who said not to bother with those things, and they are VERY loyal to the old PIC (who has moved to a different city). They got very upset when I made a few minor changes to the pharmacy. For example, they were filing Rxs incorrectly. They were filling all controlled rxs together and just leaving noncontrolled separate. I fixed it on my first day and go the cold shoulder from them for a while.

Any strategies on correcting pharmacy techs?

Thanks!

I always found that when I encounter the “this is how it’s always been done” hoeses***... the best way to approach this is to document deficiencies, and fire one of them. Then the rest get to decide if they want to get fired or not.

Then - you would be surprised how fast they warm up to you. You will be the best thing since sliced bread. Every idea you have suddenly becomes a great idea and they will say “I wish we would have thought about this before”

In other words - fire someone

 

[CetiAlphaFive]

"That's how we always did it and it's never been a problem!"

I'm just started as a PIC at a chain pharmacy. We have three very good pharmacy techs who are accurate, friendly, and show up to work on time. However, the old PIC just ignored a lot what the corporate office wanted, but corporate couldn't get rid of him because the pharmacy is in a difficult location to staff. The techs don't bother to put the warning labels on the bottles and they don't print out the patient information sheets and med guides unless the patient asks.

These seem like minor issues to address, but they were trained by the old PIC who said not to bother with those things, and they are VERY loyal to the old PIC (who has moved to a different city). They got very upset when I made a few minor changes to the pharmacy. For example, they were filing Rxs incorrectly. They were filling all controlled rxs together and just leaving noncontrolled separate. I fixed it on my first day and go the cold shoulder from them for a while.

Any strategies on correcting pharmacy techs?

Thanks!

Also, I forgot to mention:
It sounds like the old PIC had a spine and wasn't afraid to stand up to the District Manager.

Are you a new grad?

 

[BidingMyTime]

What's the old adage, you catch more flies with honey?

OK, you know they are loyal to the PIC. So whatever changes you make, you need to make certain that you aren't making the old PIC look bad.

Like, on the first day when you realized they weren't filing legally, you were probably shocked and let them know it (probably at least hinted that you couldn't believe the old PIC wasn't following the law), but from the techs point of view, they see you as this new guy who is telling them something different, yet they have no reason to believe you are telling them the truth, and not the old PIC.

The best way to handle such a situation is something like "I see Mr. Old PIC didn't have time to set up the new legally required filing system before he left. I'll go head and get it set up now, since the law now requires that we have to file CII and CIII-IV-V separately." Yeah, the law ain't new, but by acting like it is, you are still fixing the problem without making the old PIC look like an idiot.

With the mandated guides....I would probably frame it as, "yeah, in the past nobody cared about the guides, but now I'm told that is one of the first things the state inspector's look for. I know it's a pain, but we have to keep the state inspector's happy, so we can keep the pharmacy open and hopefully all get raises." Again, you aren't cutting down the way the old PIC did things, you are providing a rationale for why things have to change, and also providing empathy for the techs at this new "burden" they have to do.

I know it's not easy to talk this kind of smooze, I can't do it, why is why I wouldn't make a good manager. But if you want to be a good manager it has to be done.

Unfortunately, since you got off on the wrong foot with your techs, you will have to smooze twice as hard to win them over to your side. So whatever needs to change, 1) think about how you can present it without making the old PIC look like an idiot (say stuff like, "Man, I love how Mr. Old PIC had this set up, it's a shame we have to change it because of the law/corporate mandate. 2) show lots of empathy towards the techs about the change (like "I really hate having to change this, but we'll all help each other to get used to this new change.) 3) provide rationales that the techs will appreciate for why the change has to be made (ie, "I don't want to lose my job as a pharmacy manager" won't motivate your techs, you need to point out how the change will ultimate make their jobs easier, or how it will increase the customer base and lead to job security or raises, something like that.)

Good luck!