Hiring the Right Pharmacy Team

A quality team of employees working in a pharmacy is an important factor in providing the best medical care to patients and ensuring the pharmacy is able to run effectively. However, hiring the right people can be a stressful process for many pharmacy owners and managers because there are many different details about the candidates’ work ethic and character to consider.

Hiring each team member is an investment for the future that should provide a return on the resources used to find, interview and train the new employee. It is important to create a clear job description, screen candidates based on skills and background, and use interviews to assess personality and suitability for each role.

Key qualities to look for in pharmacy staff

Before starting the hiring process, it is essential that pharmacy owners or managers take the time to think about what qualities they are looking for in new team members. New people should have the skills required to perform the daily tasks of the position in the pharmacy, as well as the right personality to cooperate with other members of the team.

It may be useful for pharmacy owners or managers to consider qualities such as:

• Communication
• Teamwork
• Knowledge
• Experience
• Skills

State the job description

A key step in the hiring each member of the pharmacy team is to create a suitable job description, which will help to attract the right people to the position. This should be used as a tool to demonstrate the benefits of the role and how the right person will grow and develop as a result of working in the pharmacy.

Clearly state what the position will involve and the skills that are needed to fulfill the role. It is important to describe requirements of the position and what qualities will be sought out in successful candidates. This will assist in appealing to suitable candidates and may deter people who do not have the relevant skills or experience, which will make the rest of the hiring process easier.

Assess skills and background

When potential candidates send in an application for a position in the pharmacy team, it is important to glean as much information as possible to help narrow down the list of people to the most suitable candidates. This is very valuable to maximize the efficiency of the interview process.

The resume and cover letter are able to provide the initial information about the relevant skills and background of each person. However, it is useful to dig deeper to gain a better understanding of the candidates. For example, a simple screen of social media profiles may provide insight on attitudes to current employment, employees and lifestyle.

Interview candidates

The interview process should be reserved for the few most suitable candidates and designed to help in the selection of the person who is the best fit for the pharmacy team. There are a number of ways of doing this.

For example, the Winslow Assessment is a 20-minute test that is a useful tool to evaluate the attitude, emotional intelligence, team player potential, and adaptability to workplace challenges of each candidate.

Of course, this is not the only test utilized – the most important thing is to find a technique that works for each pharmacy in narrowing down the people who will work best in their team.

References

1. https://www.pharmacyowners.com/blog/how-to-hire-the-best-and-brightest-pharmacy-employees
2. https://www.pbahealth.com/5-tips-to-hire-an-outstanding-pharmacy-team/
3. https://career.ucsf.edu/sites/career.ucsf.edu/files/PDF/PharmacyEmploymentInterviewing.pdf
4. https://www.pbahealth.com/the-hiring-process-6-tips-for-finding-your-next-pharmacy-employee/

Further Reading

• All Pharmacy Content
• Ethics in Pharmacy
• Types of Pharmacy
• Online Pharmacy
• Community Pharmacy

Written by

Yolanda Smith

Yolanda graduated with a Bachelor of Pharmacy at the University of South Australia and has experience working in both Australia and Italy. She is passionate about how medicine, diet and lifestyle affect our health and enjoys helping people understand this. In her spare time she loves to explore the world and learn about new cultures and languages.