Pharmacy Management: What is Quiet Quitting?

First Financial Bank
As a pharmacy owner, you can’t afford to lose employees or tolerate ones who are quiet quitting. Be willing to make changes that can help prevent quiet quitting while improving your business practices.

As a pharmacy owner, you have your hands full with all the tasks that make a profitable and successful business. Effective pharmacy management entails keeping track of inventory, documenting finances, managing stock, budgeting, hiring, and retaining good staff.

Staffing is a particular concern in the pharmacy business, with the turnover of employees affecting your financial bottom line and customer service. Pharmacy Staffing reports: “Employee turnover costs can be estimated to be, at a minimum, almost 100% of the employee’s base salary.” They continue to estimate that for a highly educated employee like a pharmacist, the cost can rise by up to 300%.
The reasons are clear—the cost of advertising, hiring, training, onboarding, and the residual impact of losing other employees, or a reduction in productivity for those remaining.

Your pharmacy technicians are also important, and staffing shortages of pharmacy techs are occurring across the country. Quiet quitting is another negative phenomenon that may affect your pharmacy business. By attending to quiet quitting, you can improve your management practices.

What is Quiet Quitting?

The idea behind quiet quitting is that employees are unhappy or otherwise dissatisfied with their job, so they do the bare minimum to get by without actually quitting or getting fired. So how do you know if an employee fits this description? The pharmacy business is a people business, and your employee’s behavior and attitude toward customers can give you the first clues. Here are some quiet quitting behaviors to look for:

  • Lack of Effort. Employees are people with lives and stressors you may not know about. A lack of drive or work engagement could be temporary due to a family or health problem. If you notice a consistent lack of effort on the job, this is a problem.
  • Negativity. Negative statements about work to other employees or a bad attitude are unhealthy and damaging to the work milieu.
  • Poor Customer Service. Some evidence suggests that quiet quitting is more of an issue for Gen Z and Millennial employees, but it is not confined to any particular age group. Pharmacy customer service is at the heart of what you do and how you retain customers.
  • Lack of Engagement. Lack of involvement can mean less interaction with other staff and company initiatives.

How Does Quiet Quitting Affect Your Pharmacy Business?

Simply put, quiet quitting affects your bottom line and the financial health and stability of your business. Consumers have more options for their prescription drugs than ever before—primarily online pharmacies such as Divvy Dose, Amazon Pharmacy, and costplusdrugs.com.

The advantage you have as a community or independent pharmacy competing with online companies or other retail pharmacies in your area is the face-to-face interaction your customers have with you and pharmacy techs. Even one negative interaction can drive a customer to another business. You can’t afford disgruntled and uninvolved employees.

Employee Engagement Strategies for Pharmacies

If you suspect that quiet quitting is affecting your business, look at the problem as an opportunity to improve and grow. Evaluate your pharmacy business through the lens of your most important asset—your employees. Pharmacy technician turnover is high in retail pharmacies, and quiet quitting can be a precursor to someone leaving your employ altogether. Simply hiring another employee while failing to address the underlying problems will repeat the cycle. Understanding the reasons pharmacy staff are dissatisfied will help you focus your efforts. Those reasons typically? Low pay, workplace stress, and a high workload due to increased hours. Some suggestions on how to prevent and deal with quiet quitting in the pharmacy industry:

  • The Onboarding Process Should be Robust. Your employee training process needs to entail specific goals and appropriate training for the job.
  • Adequate Pay. Paying more per hour to keep employees happy may likely save you money in the long run. Hiring and training new employees are expensive, and unhappy employees also affect your bottom line.
  • Offer Flexible Work Hours. One of the characteristics of quiet quitting is the desire for a healthier work/life balance. Acknowledge this by offering a flexible schedule to employees who need it.
  • Make Staff Development Opportunities Available. Additional staff training is motivating and energizing. One of the causes of staff burnout is boredom. You might consider asking one of your pharmacy technicians to mentor incoming employees.
  • Provide Timely and Relevant Feedback. If you want something different from an employee, tell them. Don’t wait for the situation to worsen. Productive and positive feedback will be appreciated.
  • Show Appreciation. Appreciation is one of the most underutilized and valuable tools you can use to keep employees engaged. Verbal recognition, bonuses, and other forms of acknowledgment should be a consistent part of your management duties.
  • Customer Service Training. Your front-line pharmacy staff interacts with hundreds of customers, and they aren’t always pleasant. A comprehensive customer service training protocol will have a positive and beneficial impact on everyone. Don’t assume that your employees know how to deal with customers – especially those who might be challenging. Show them how it’s done.
  • Ask Your Employees for Feedback. You can’t see or know everything, and your employees are the eyes and ears of problems – and solutions. Take their feedback seriously by making appropriate changes to processes that can improve your pharmacy business.

Pharmacy Management and Quiet Quitting

Your awareness of the potential problem of quiet quitting in your pharmacy business will be a wake-up call. Take a proactive and positive approach to addressing the issue and watch your business benefit.

Need other ideas for how to reduce stress for employees? Check out this article. Want to discuss your plans to grow your business? Let’s talk.

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