To be a manager or nah?

[SimbaStatin]

Hi all! So I've read many (negative) comments about becoming a manager on this site. It seems the general consensus is to avoid it lol. So is there anyone that actually enjoys the role? What are the pros? Cons that may be overlooked? Thanks yall!

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[zelman]

Control freaks enjoy it.


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[PromisedNeverland]

Pros : Might be only position available,which guarantees full time job. $1 or $2 increase in wage

Cons: Additional stress from DM + have to make sure (immature ) techs get along

There's a lot of DICK managers out there unfortunately

 

[WVUPharm2007]

Nah.

 

[SELDANE]

The only reason I could see becoming the PIC is if you are currently a staff pharmacist in the said location and the DM is looking to put a known idiot in as the PIC. You're doing it simply as a defensive measure. Other than that I don't see much incentive for becoming a pharmacy manager.

 

[owlegrad]

Paging wagrxm, your input is needed! Or perhaps old-timer can weigh in.

Some really do seem to enjoy it, but I suspect they are the chosen few. On the plus side, if you are one of those few you will be set, good managers are ALWAYS in demand.

 

[ldiot]

Paging wagrxm, your input is needed! Or perhaps old-timer can weigh in.

Some really do seem to enjoy it, but I suspect they are the chosen few. On the plus side, if you are one of those few you will be set, good managers are ALWAYS in demand.

There's defiantly potential to make some real money. I've seen people sent to a problem store, take 1-2 years to bring it to the top of the district, then get sent to the next problem store. With each new store I can only assume they are getting a nice raise. It seems like there are two types of managers, those who are hard headed authoritarian types and those who just work more efficient than everyone else and get **** done. That latter of the two is friendly, jokes around, and tends to get more out of their techs while the other guy would be writing them up.

 

[mentos]

I don't know if it varies by state but from what I understand if a tech/staff rph steals from the pharmacy, the PIC is responsible. It makes absolutely no sense.

 

[BenJammin]

I don't know if it varies by state but from what I understand if a tech/staff rph steals from the pharmacy, the PIC is responsible. It makes absolutely no sense.

PIC is in charge of securing the pharmacy. Gotta have better operating procedures if your employees are stealing.

 

[ChalupaBatman86]

There's defiantly potential to make some real money. I've seen people sent to a problem store, take 1-2 years to bring it to the top of the district, then get sent to the next problem store. With each new store I can only assume they are getting a nice raise. It seems like there are two types of managers, those who are hard headed authoritarian types and those who just work more efficient than everyone else and get **** done. That latter of the two is friendly, jokes around, and tends to get more out of their techs while the other guy would be writing them up.

Not so much the case anymore, caps are much more rigid. Back in the day some PIC's were very close to Rx Sup base salary. But not where near their bonus/stock.


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[Wickett]

Hi all! So I've read many (negative) comments about becoming a manager on this site. It seems the general consensus is to avoid it lol. So is there anyone that actually enjoys the role? What are the pros? Cons that may be overlooked? Thanks yall!

If you can get full time staff hours, ID take it over manager. It isn't like a lot of careers where a manager makes a lot more money, and you have a lot more liability. You will only get a few more bucks an hour and pretty small bonuses.

The only real advantage with RxM is generally more security in your job and hours. Already, a lot of places are only guaranteeing a full 40+/wk for managers. In the future, this will prob hold true even in the bigger retail chains. I took a manager position at my grocer because the only options were manager (40hrs guaranteed at one store) or float (only 32 guaranteed and driving all over).

 

[KimChiSlap]

Yeah take the PIC, I can be your staff!

 

[wagrxm2000]

It depends on the store's condition and if you are willing to fix it. That's number one.

The gig itself is way better then staff, you'll make at least 20k more then your staff, you're in the pharmacy less especially during flu season where you're always out doing clinics (who doesn't want to be paid to just sit there and give shots for a few hours?) and you assign all the extra tasks to your techs and staff. Walgreens pretty much sends you reminders on anything you need to do so its impossible to forget anything. Also there is job security, there's going to come a time when chains stop all overlap. It simply makes sense (for my stock). Guess who is losing those hours? Why wouldn't chains want less pharmacists with benefits and less total hours?

Liability shouldn't be a concern, follow standard procedures and your chain plus your own insurance will cover you plus most people will want to go after the chain not the pharmacist for more money.

 

[PAtoPharm]

It depends on the store's condition and if you are willing to fix it. That's number one.

The gig itself is way better then staff, you'll make at least 20k more then your staff, you're in the pharmacy less especially during flu season where you're always out doing clinics (who doesn't want to be paid to just sit there and give shots for a few hours?) and you assign all the extra tasks to your techs and staff. Walgreens pretty much sends you reminders on anything you need to do so its impossible to forget anything. Also there is job security, there's going to come a time when chains stop all overlap. It simply makes sense (for my stock). Guess who is losing those hours? Why wouldn't chains want less pharmacists with benefits and less total hours?

Liability shouldn't be a concern, follow standard procedures and your chain plus your own insurance will cover you plus most people will want to go after the chain not the pharmacist for more money.

So even more cuts are in store for staff pharmacist hours/salaries/benefits in the future?

 

[wagrxm2000]

So even more cuts are in store for staff pharmacist hours/salaries/benefits in the future?

That was simply a guess. It's much easier to give less hours then cut pay.

 

[SimbaStatin]

That was simply a guess. It's much easier to give less hours then cut pay.

It depends on the store's condition and if you are willing to fix it. That's number one.

The gig itself is way better then staff, you'll make at least 20k more then your staff, you're in the pharmacy less especially during flu season where you're always out doing clinics (who doesn't want to be paid to just sit there and give shots for a few hours?) and you assign all the extra tasks to your techs and staff. Walgreens pretty much sends you reminders on anything you need to do so its impossible to forget anything. Also there is job security, there's going to come a time when chains stop all overlap. It simply makes sense (for my stock). Guess who is losing those hours? Why wouldn't chains want less pharmacists with benefits and less total hours?

Liability shouldn't be a concern, follow standard procedures and your chain plus your own insurance will cover you plus most people will want to go after the chain not the pharmacist for more money.

Thanks for the info. I do have my own liability insurance and one of the first questions will be regarding the condition of store. What other questions are reasonable?

 

[ldiot]

Thanks for the info. I do have my own liability insurance and one of the first questions will be regarding the condition of store. What other questions are reasonable?

If you float right out of school you may have the chance to get a feel for each store and their staff before having to look at a manager offer. That being said I'd probably ask about the current staffing situation in terms of techs, prescription volume, current business metrics and the "areas of opportunity" identified by the supervisor; stuff like that. It sounds better than asking point blank if the techs suck, just throw in a few corporate buzzwords.

 

[wagrxm2000]

Thanks for the info. I do have my own liability insurance and one of the first questions will be regarding the condition of store. What other questions are reasonable?

Is this Walgreens?

If you currently float, have you worked a shift there?

 

[mentos]

So even more cuts are in store for staff pharmacist hours/salaries/benefits in the future?

Cuts are constant. My store already lost 1 Rph hour/week for next year. Used to have 3 Rphs at once. Now there's only 2 at a time for a couple hours on busy weekdays. Only 1 Rph on weekends.

 

[Sine Cura]

Whatever CVS is doing, others will mimic. My old store was at 86 RPH hours (4 hours of total RPH overlap) with 2500-2800 sold a week. I heard it was doing more scripts with same # of hours in 2016.

 

[wagrxm2000]

Whatever CVS is doing, others will mimic. My old store was at 86 RPH hours (4 hours of total RPH overlap) with 2500-2800 sold a week. I heard it was doing more scripts with same # of hours in 2016.

There's a big difference between cvs and Walgreens. From what I've seen, the pharmacy and up front have pretty much no communication at cvs while Walgreens wants a team effort where multiple employees can come back and help if needed.

 

[gwarm01]

How about being DoP for a hospital? Anyone have experience with that?

 

[Wickett]

How about being DoP for a hospital? Anyone have experience with that?

I don't personally, but have a good friend that became a DoP this past year at a medium sized hospital. From what she's said, it's almost all purely administrative (discussing formulary, overseeing ops, lots of meetings with other dept heads, etc.). The pay is good/can get into upper 100s, but many work well above 40 a week. If you like the idea of office/paperwork over pure pharmacy tasks, it's something to consider. For younger folks though, many want to see residency training and/or a masters in administration.

 

[BidingMyTime]

How about being DoP for a hospital? Anyone have experience with that?

DOP is even worse. Not only are you dealing with all the politics & legalities of the pharmacy, you are dealing with the politics of upper management, and the politics of nursing. All 3 groups will have conflicting goals, and you will have the impossible task of trying to keep all 3 groups happy....as well as keeping everything legal in the pharmacy (not as easy as it sounds, when nursing wants you to break the law and/or JCAHO regulations, and management will always take nursings side over yours.)