Supervisor request

[owlegrad]

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Any tips or success stories anyone can share on how to get requests approved at work? I had a request recently for something that I thought would be an easy approval and it ended up requiring a lot of back and forth between myself, HR, my boss, and my boss' boss.

I can give some details if y'all want but the specifics aren't really interesting and I am just curious what strategies or techniques people use in these situations?

 

[WorthlessOxygen]

This feels like a question that requires context

 

[owlegrad]

This feels like a question that requires context

Fair enough, I don't want to weigh the question down with too many specifics but maybe I was a little too sparce. So my company has a pretty cool policy with an annual budget for CME-related expenses, up to $2000/yr per pharmacist. It includes conferences so this year I decided to use it for that. The paperwork is a pain but given the amount of money, it seemed well worth the effort. We also get to use a separate pool of PTO hours for conference days. Well, I had a surprising amount of pushback on that part. I really don't want to bore the story by spelling out the exact SOP or why I felt like my request met the requirements or what the issues were with getting it approved (plus I did get my request in the end so I don't want to seem ungrateful as well) but I am just curious if we have anyone here maybe has a book they recommend or just advice in general for conflict resolution? I have read some of the classics, like How To Win Friends and Influence People, but am always up for improving my interpersonal skills. Frankly, I don't think we really discuss that aspect of being a professional (or even just an employee) enough.

If not outright advice, perhaps people can share success or failure stories for getting requests approved or denied at work?

 

[CetiAlphaFive]

Sounds like your boss either misunderstood policy and bc doubled down or simply bluffed and lost.
What more is there?

In the future i would simply lead with the request and then back it up with documentation preemptively

 

[WorthlessOxygen]

I second the policy suggestion. As far as conflic resolution, I haven't read or really specifically thought about it. I generally just try to be the kind of employee I would want to work with/for. Besides developing professional relationships, just being someone who others like and want to help goes far in getting people to see things from your point of view.

 

[RxPreceptor]

Oh man sounds like one of those marketing like ploys for company self smugness (pat yourself on the back by saying something nice you do for your workers)…when in reality, just executing said benefit is fruitless. Just fo sho

 

[PharmDBro2017]

That is a nice perk and you may be overanalyzing it. These things often take a coordinated effort between leadership. Put yourself in their shoes.

As a supervisor
1) I need to find coverage for your shifts while you're gone. How is my current staffing, are we already short, etc.

2) The rest of the staff may think you're getting special treatment. How do I make this fair for all; what if 5-10+ people want to do this suddenly? Now I have many coverage gaps and have to do a rotating annual schedule for travel CME

3) Have you demonstrated you're the type of employee who is doing this for the right reasons and will bring added value to the team from what you learned? Then I have to consider the C and D level employees that just want free time off and a paid vacay. I have to let them off if they ask too.

Just a few thoughts that instantly came to my mind.

 

[owlegrad]

That is a nice perk and you may be overanalyzing it. These things often take a coordinated effort between leadership. Put yourself in their shoes.

As a supervisor
1) I need to find coverage for your shifts while you're gone. How is my current staffing, are we already short, etc.

2) The rest of the staff may think you're getting special treatment. How do I make this fair for all; what if 5-10+ people want to do this suddenly? Now I have many coverage gaps and have to do a rotating annual schedule for travel CME

3) Have you demonstrated you're the type of employee who is doing this for the right reasons and will bring added value to the team from what you learned? Then I have to consider the C and D level employees that just want free time off and a paid vacay. I have to let them off if they ask too.

Just a few thoughts that instantly came to my mind.

That is already quite a sore point at work currently. It’s so hard for use to use our PTO. I am not sympathetic to this at all. It’s part of their job. Hire more PRN staff in that case. Or god forbid staff a pharmacy yourself.

As for “then everyone will want to do it”…uh, yeah it is a benefit. Everyone should do it. That’s like saying if they offer healthcare everyone might sign up. If you don’t want to offer the benefit to everyone then don’t offer it. There’s nothing in the policy that says C and D tier employees can’t use it nor do I see how you could possibly fairly decide who “should” get to use it.

You are probably right about me over analyzing it though. I do tend to do that. From my bosses perspective, she was probably just following policy and wasn’t being difficult about it at all.

 

[lord999]

Will PM you later, but I tend to prefer having people read the pragmatic side of the communication matters. I force my undergraduate students to read Drama Triangle (because hospital pharmacy has this as an essential "feature" that you have to interrupt when it gets out of hand as a manager) and sections of Get Anyone To Do Anything to understand how sociopathic management attempts to manipulate you and how often it succeeds (and it's disturbingly effective most of the time on the sheep).

1. Games People Play - Eric Berne (basic Malevolent Management)
2. Moral Mazes - Robert Jackall (more or less required reading for VACO and Pentagon staff)
3. Drama Triangle - Karpman (this is an article, basically, this pattern is to be avoided or immediately broken up)
4. Get Anyone to Do Anything - David Lieberman (Sociopathy 101)
5. Immersion, A Writer's Guide To Going Deep (Read this not as a undercover journalist instruction manual, but as a manual for Infiltration)

 

[RxPreceptor]

Have you spoken to any coworkers who have successfully used this employee benefit?

 

[PharmDBro2017]

That is already quite a sore point at work currently. It’s so hard for use to use our PTO. I am not sympathetic to this at all. It’s part of their job. Hire more PRN staff in that case. Or god forbid staff a pharmacy yourself.

As for “then everyone will want to do it”…uh, yeah it is a benefit. Everyone should do it. That’s like saying if they offer healthcare everyone might sign up. If you don’t want to offer the benefit to everyone then don’t offer it. There’s nothing in the policy that says C and D tier employees can’t use it nor do I see how you could possibly fairly decide who “should” get to use it.

You are probably right about me over analyzing it though. I do tend to do that. From my bosses perspective, she was probably just following policy and wasn’t being difficult about it at all.

Not disagreeing with anything you said; I just mean it creates some work for them, therefore there is a process to follow, it takes time, then future prep for others requesting the same.

What health system do you work for? Added staffing for mine isn't doable, hiring freeze for all departments.

 

[owlegrad]

Not disagreeing with anything you said; I just mean it creates some work for them, therefore there is a process to follow, it takes time, then future prep for others requesting the same.

What health system do you work for? Added staffing for mine isn't doable, hiring freeze for all departments.

True Health

 

[owlegrad]

Have you spoken to any coworkers who have successfully used this employee benefit?

Yeah, it was actually one of our providers who was telling me about their experience. Their supervisor just signs off on the form and it is very quick/easy, at least according to them. I am one of two pharmacists to ever use it and the other pharmacist is our chief pharmacy officer.