The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 268 No 7191 p439-447
30 March 2002

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Employment issues summary

How to recruit and retain the right people in community pharmacy

One of the top issues in community pharmacy, for independents and large multiples, is recruitment. This is not surprising, especially at a time of acute manpower shortages of pharmacists and of skilled support staff. It is also at a time when organisations are waking up to the fact that people really are their most valuable resource. We probably know that any real advantage that we may have over our competitors lies as much in our people as in the products and services we offer. Finding good people and holding on to them is going to be one of our greatest challenges in the years ahead.

Within community pharmacy, responsibility for recruitment varies from the independent proprietor to area managers of multiple groups to dedicated human resources departments of the large phar-macy organisations. Within the independent and smaller pharmacy groups, recruitment will often be carried out by individuals, usually pharmacists, with limited experience or training in recruitment and selection skills. Yet, it is here, in these smaller businesses, that getting recruitment right is at its most crucial.

In this article I will discuss some of the key principles of effective recruitment that any business should consider, but especially businesses without the support of a human resources department. I will then look at a case study based on a Day Lewis pharmacy that demonstrates some of these principles in practice.

Getting it right or wrong is a bottom line issue

Recruitment is an expensive business. It is not just the advertisements and agency fees, or the time people put into interviewing, induction and training. A good investment is when people settle in quickly and are productive over many years. But if you choose the wrong person, you end up investing resources time and time again. The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) asked 10,000 organisations to work out what it cost them every time someone leaves. The average cost of payroll and personnel time, recruitment, interview time, training, "unproductive" time, loss in customer service and satisfaction came out at £3,456 for each person. And with current skills shortages, the cost is going up all the time.

And what about the impact of poor recruitment decisions on your existing people? Bringing in the wrong person can cause havoc, disrupting the balance of a good team or a small business, and lowering morale and productivity.

Even if you find the right person to fill a gap, have they got the skills you will need as your business or organisation grows? Could they adapt their skills or work with a different team if you have to reorganise or will you have to go through the whole process again?

Recruitment: a key to success

Successful businesses and organisations look beyond the cost of getting it wrong to the benefits of getting it right. They are not complacent about recruitment; they understand that their success depends on having the right number of people with the right skills and abilities, so they build recruitment into their longer-term strategy. The trouble with recruitment is that it is often unplanned. Organisations just respond as needs arise. But if recruitment is going to help you achieve your aims and objectives, it needs a planned and long-term approach. You need to identify what skills will help you improve performance now, and you need to plan what skills you will need in one, two or five years' time and how you can bring them in.

Effective recruitment is not just about getting the right people; it is about improving your chances of keeping them (see "Key principles of recruitment and retention", p439.) When you take care to match people and their skills to a role, and one that offers opportunities for development, they tend to be more satisfied and productive. And if they are happy, they are more likely to stay. You cannot predict the swings in the market, or what the rapidly changing pharmacy environment will be, but you can make sure you have the people and skills to be well prepared.

Keeping good people

Once you have recruited the right person, the key to creating value for the business is ensuring that they stay with you. All the effort invested is lost if they leave within a few months. The first few days and weeks are most important and can shape attitudes towards the job and the company. Starting a new job can be highly stressful, and the anxiety is intensified if the newcomer arrives having no idea of what is expected of them. Producing a "welcome pack" is often useful, and could include a cheery welcome letter from "the boss", and starting instructions. This will help introduce the new recruit to the company even before their first day. It is important the first day at work is fully prepared and managed. No one the new staff member meets on the first day should be surprised to see them, and existing staff should be clear as to why they are there, and what their job is.

The quality of the induction will largely determine how quickly a new staff member will settle in, how quickly they will contribute effectively in their new role, and whether on not we are able to retain them in the long term. Beyond the introduction and induction training stage, incentives such as flexible working arrangements, performance-related bonuses, and the social aspects of work all have an important role in motivating and retaining staff, but the key to keeping good people lies in the business being proactive in helping staff realise their own potential for growth and development.

Within pharmacy we are all aware of the continuing professional development that is available for pharmacists, and the different resources available to support this, but it is important for us to extend this to every other position within our pharmacies. All pharmacy assistants and dispensing technicians should have a similar development plan — one that links their performance appraisals with their training and development needs. If pharmacists are going to develop their professional roles fully, they will require the full support of skilled pharmacy staff.

Summary

Recruiting and retaining the right people is important. It is as important in the independent pharmacy as it is in the large multiple groups — maybe even more so. Getting it wrong is expensive, is disruptive, and is damaging to the business. Getting it right, on the other hand, is one of the keys to business success.

Effective recruitment involves building recruitment into your business plans, and ensuring that every recruitment decision in linked to achieving your business objectives. It requires that your recruitment processes are carefully planned and managed, from the setting of clear job descriptions, to the introduction and induction stage, to managing ongoing development of your new staff member.

Following these basic guidelines can help you change recruitment from being a frustrating activity to one that offers real opportunities for development and success.

Mr Gracias is a community pharmacist and former superintendent pharmacist of Day Lewis. He now works part-time as part of the Day Lewis professional services team