Size matters in pharmacy: more people, more problems (Part 2 of 2)

On solving long-term problems well

After over a decade of managing smaller and larger pharmacies, I have developed a few tools curated into a succession planning kit, a guide to developing the right pharmacy team for your specific needs.

It is a compilation of fillable PDFs like the Depth Chart template, the Pharmacy Staff Step Ladder, the Hiring Internally worksheet & the Finding Your As worksheet. Using the kit will save you time and frustration in developing the perfect succession plan for your specific pharmacy.

Building on last week’s concept of having a deep staff, pharmacy leaders strive to surgically design a team that lasts. What makes up this mix and how to get there is often up to the mercy of the time those candidates are available and what the community has to offer.

So what can you do?

Be ready. Use this 3 steps process to design the ideal team, starting by analyzing what you currently have on board.

Step 1: List the staff in order from highest responsibility to lowest, while noting their anticipated time left in your pharmacy (eg, retirements, other outside opportunities, pursuing school) and also listing any potential gaps (eg, leaves). This represents your overall depth and provides a clear picture of what you currently have and how long it will last (a depth chart, shown below).

Step 2: Build a step ladder that represents the varying degrees of knowledge required in your pharmacy. Plot the names from depth chart onto this step ladder.

Step 3: Use the ‘Hiring Internally Triangle’ to identify next steps for each staff member and start coaching. To gauge their current readiness, use the ‘Finding Your As’ worksheet to assess their current knowledge/skill plotted against interest/motivation.

A succession plan is more than fluff. It puts what is repetitively swirling in your head onto paper. Either write it down to get it out of your head or accept that it will haunt you tonight.