DRIVING EMPLOYEES The Concept of Employee Engagement
Kathy Hanna of Lowry Grace Consulting gives an overview on how best to engage with your Pharmacy staff.
• What about incentive programmes? Do you offer your staff the opportunity to deliver against targets that you have set them that will help drive your business forward?
• What do your staff do well that encourages your customers to keep coming back to your store? Why does Mrs Smith from down the road return weekly/monthly for her repeat prescription? Why does she come to your store and not the competition? Let’s face it, there is plenty of competition out there so what is it about your Pharmacy, the service you provide and ultimately what your staff deliver that sets you apart?
• Are you brand aware? Have you grasped the concept that your USP (unique selling point) is actually not just your pharmacy but you, your employees and the services that you deliver to your customers?
the term first appeared in an academic journal. Prior to that the focus was on employee satisfaction which then moved to commitment, when it was realised that satisfaction had little or no connection with performance and was more about the employee than the organisation.
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But then things started to change. Increased global competition and the shift from a manufacturing economy to a service one meant employers needed to be more flexible, leaner and competitive.
Traditional industries closed or were severely cut back and employees learned the hard way that there were no jobs for life, that to progress in their careers they too needed to be more flexible and move to where the opportunities were.
The old contract of a job for life with a nice fat pension at the end of it was broken. People were free to move from job to job, selling their skills and at the same time acquiring new ones courtesy of the new employer. Commitment didn’t come into it, or if it did it was more short term.
Although it benefited the employee, employers soon realised that they
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mployee engagement may seem a relatively recent concept but it actually goes back to 1990 when
were losing people they didn’t want to lose. It was costing them money and affecting their ability to compete effectively.
So employee engagement was born. Research showed how employee attitudes and behaviour could improve customer retention and consequently sales performance.
This clear link between engagement and performance, supported by extensive research, helped establish engagement’s importance to business performance and bottom line results.
The fact that the UK had become a service-based economy made the research even more relevant and increased the focus on employees and their interaction with customers. For service-based businesses, the old mantra that ‘staff are your greatest asset’ became ‘staff are your only asset.’ This led to greater incentives to invest in staff as the returns were seen as greater employee commitment, motivation, productivity and ultimately profit.
It’s important to remember that engagement does not mean employee happiness. Someone might be happy at work, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they are working hard or productively on behalf of your pharmacy.
Employee engagement doesn’t mean employee satisfaction. A satisfied employee might show up for her daily 9-to-5 without complaint but that same “satisfied” employee might not go the extra effort on her own. Satisfied isn’t enough.
For you as a pharmacy owner, employee engagement means employees actually care about their work and your pharmacy.
What does this mean for you and what can engaging with your staff more effectively do for your business?
Here are just a few examples: • Increase profits • Create a more open, effective workplace
• Deliver enhanced customer service • Create a happier more productive workforce
• Be an Employer that others will want to come and work for
So how do you do it? Ask yourself the following: • How do you communicate with your staff and in turn how do they communicate with you?
• Do you provide regular one to ones/appraisals etc or do you try and find the time once a year to sit down with them for a more formal review?
• Employee Engagement is also about enabling your employees to take responsibility for their role in your business. Do they understand the key things that are crucial for your success and ultimately their job security?
• How effective are they at cross selling? How effective are they at identifying a customer for a potential MUR? How creative are they at merchandising? Do you work with them to offer seasonal promotions?
• Have you taken the time to identify their key strengths and used these to help develop them as individuals which will of course benefit your business?
• How valued do you believe your staff feel?
In a creative, positive and productive working environment it is common for employees to feel happy, valued and driven to achieve more for their employer.
In this current economic climate and in an ever changing Pharmaceutical industry it is vitally important that you as an employer focus on what you and your employees do well that will keep your customers returning again and again.
What sets you apart and essentially what do you need to change or improve upon to cement your position as a first class Pharmacy delivery and exceeding for your staff and customers for years to come? n
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