Technicians Aren’t Asking for a Party with Mike Johnston | CPhT Connect

0:00You are listening to the Global Network of Podcasters dedicated to the Pharmacy profession. Welcome to the Pharmacy Podcast Network. Welcome to CPHD Connect, the only weekly podcast specifically for pharmacy technicians. Join us as we dive into the hot topics, tough conversations, and industry trends affecting pharmacy technicians. In a episode, we connect you with industry leaders who want to help you expand your patient care, pharmacy practice, and professional advancement. Now, here's your host, Mike Johnson, CPHD. 47%. That's how many technicians told us last year that they're pharmacists, their manager,

1:02their employer, no one recognized pharmacy technician day at all. Now, a card, not a cake, not even a happy tech day on the way past the county. Think about who we're talking about. The people in your pharmacy who already feel the most overlooked, the ones who already believe nobody sees what they do. And then the one day on the calendar that's supposed to be theirs comes and goes, and nobody says a word. How do you think that makes that technician feel? Here's what I've learned. Your texts, they're not asking for a party. They're asking you to notice. And noticing cost you exactly one sentence. Welcome to the CPHD Connect podcast. I'm your host, Mike Johnson, founder and CEO of NPTA. Now, this is a special episode of the podcast as it's being published as part of our partnership with the pharmacy podcast network. So if you're new to the show,

2:03welcome. And today, I'm not specifically talking to technicians, talking to you, the pharmacist, the owner, the manager, the person who builds the schedule. World Pharmacy Technician Day is coming up on Tuesday, October 20th. That's two weeks from today and plenty of time to do this right. And I want to be straight with you about why it matters. You see, the technician who doesn't feel seen usually doesn't complain. She usually doesn't file agreements. She doesn't make a scene. She updates her resume. And when she leaves, you're the one covering the counter. So this isn't solely about being nice. It's about keeping the people you can't run your pharmacy without. And here's my promise for the next 15 minutes. I'm going to tell you exactly what your technicians said they want in their own words. And I promise none of it is complicated. Now, I've owned my own company since 1999.

3:09So I'll be honest with you. I've been the boss a lot longer than I ever had one. When I started, there wasn't much of a tech day to speak of recognition. Wasn't really part of the conversation. Now over the years, the day grew. The job grew faster. Today, your texts are chasing prior authorizations, working insurance rejections, managing inventory that you'd lose sleep over and calming down the patient who's been on hold for 40 minutes and would like to speak to someone about it. Now, I also know what your week looks like. Your short staffed, your fighting reimbursement that sometimes oftentimes doesn't even cover what you paid for the drugs. You're verifying, counseling, and answering the phone yourself because somebody called out. So when somebody says, recognize your texts, it can land like one more item on a list that's already too long. I get it. You're not alone in that. And that's not your fault. But here's the good news. We don't have to

4:12guess what would help. We asked. This fall, in PTA, asked our members one question. What advice would you give an employer or manager for pharmacists who wants to actually recognize you? What would make you feel seen? Honestly, I expected a wish list, bigger party, better food, maybe a nicer t-shirt. That's not what came back. When the answers came in, they fell into two buckets. A bucket one costs nothing, attention, specific, honest, regular attention. Bucket two costs something real. Pay. And for the chance to use the skills that they've worked for. And the thing most pharmacies actually do on tech day, it sits right in the middle. It's too generic to feel personal, too small to change anything. Of course, I'm talking about pizza. Now, look, I am not anti-pizza. Trust me, I don't think I have ever once in my life turned down pizza. And food did come up in the answers.

5:16Gift cards came up. It's not like anybody said don't feed us. But every time food showed up, it came last. Ella laid it out perfectly. First, she wants her hard work highlighted. The behind the scene stuff. Then, and she literally typed the words. And then certificates. A day of PTO, gift cards. Maybe a small gathering with snacks. The pizza is the and then. We've been treating it like the whole thing. One answer was just one line from a show. I want them to acknowledge that I am a human. That's where the bar is. That's where some of your texts think the bar is. And some of them are frustrated with how we handle the one day we do celebrate. Ro meet didn't hold back. She said text are the spine of the pharmacy. They do a lot of the grunt work. And then she asked why they wait all year for leadership to decide, hey, let's celebrate pharmacy tech day. Like they're doing us

6:21a favor. When recognition shows up once a year and it feels like a favor, it doesn't land as recognition. It lands as a reminder of the other 364 days. Think about that. Somewhere out there, a technician counted your patient's medications all year. And the most she's hoping for is to be treated like a person. That is not a pizza problem. That's a noticing problem. So let me say it again. Your texts are not asking for a party. They're asking you to notice. And here's what noticing looks like in their own words. First, don't cookie cutter it. Francine said it plainly. Do not cookie cutter the appreciation. Each department is different. Your front counter and your compounding lab do different work. So think them for their work. Second, be fair. Jeff stated he remembered asking for time off for an out-of-state trip. And his pharmacist made him feel guilty. Told him his

7:28absence would make an already lean staff work harder. Sometimes the request just get denied. Wilner retired after 39 years. She said a good manager is impartial, honest and trustworthy. And then she added sometimes just to thank you as enough. Third, when they hit the goal, stop and say so. Don told us about how they grew new patients. And the only thing she heard back was a new vaccine They won and the prize was more worth. Fourth, and this was the biggest one. See the work nobody sees. Loretta said what she wants is someone speaking the honest truth about her unseen achievements. Not flattery, just the truth. Sonia said most employers don't really know what a technician is even responsible for. There's a lot of responsibility between all those jobs. Ella talked about fighting for hundreds of dollars worth of medication, about saving the company thousands.

8:34A. Their pharmacy technicians Mike Johnston year, founder of NPTA and BPS. For over 25 years, I've helped thousands of techs grow their careers. And now I want to help you. I've built a free online community where you get instant access to my top on-demand trainings, including the career catalyst framework, know your worth, leveraging LinkedIn and more. So if you're ready to take the next step, join the community now at rxmike.com and start moving your career forward. You know what that looks like. The prior off, somebody chased for three days. The rejection that didn't die at the counter. The patient who went home with their medication because your tech refused to let it go. And Jessica said, what would make her feel seen is if her manager actually told me, sometimes, that I'm doing a great job, just sometimes. Every one of those

9:37is one sentence. I saw you fight that claim. You hit the number and I noticed, take the trip. We'll figure it out. None of that cost you a dime. It cost you attention. That's all. Now let's talk about bucket two because I'd be lying to you if I said this was all about kind words. Some of the answers were short. Really short. One tech in Connecticut wrote a single word money. Period. That was the whole answer. Zaren was similar by stating, a raise would be nice. She'll be suggested a small bonus or maybe a paid weekend getaway for the employee and a spouse. And Jessica came back to it also. She's the only full-time tech where she works and she wants her pay to reflect that compared to the part timer. In her words, a tech that works their buttoff should be compensated accordingly. Now here's what I hear and all of that. They're not asking you to hand out money just for showing up. They're asking for pay that tracks what they carry, the credential,

10:42the training, the extra hours, the responsibility, and recognition that costs something doesn't have to mean a big raise on day one. It can be a pay step when she earns a new certification. It could be a spot bonus when she saves the store real money. It could be a paid day off that nobody makes her feel guilty for taking. The point is this. When a tech earns something new and her paycheck never notices, she does. Now to be fair, if you own an independent pharmacy, you might be listening to this and thinking, Mike, I'd love to give my staff raises. I'm literally trying to keep the lights on. Reimbursments keep getting squeezed. Pizza is what the budget allows and honestly some of my techs really do love the party. All of that can be true. Margians at independent pharmacies are beyond then. Not every owner can hand out a raise in October and I'm not going to pretend otherwise.

11:46But look at what your techs asked for first. Attention, fairness, being noticed. The number one ask was free. In the part that isn't free, the pay we just talked about deserves a better comparison than the pizza budget. Ask anyone who's had to replace a technician lately what it cost and overtime and training hours in the prescriptions that went out late while you were short staff. In my experience, keeping that tech is almost always cheaper than replacing them. So I'm not asking you to announce a raise on the 20th. I'm asking you to start a conversation and it gets worse because there's a cost we almost never talk about. Ellen is retired now and she opened her answer with this. I can say this now that I'm retired. She completed advanced sterile compounding training. She got no recognition for it. She wasn't even allowed to use the sterile room even though in

12:47her words there were plenty of opportunities there and no bump in pay. But then she wrote this. I was proud of me. The only person who recognized that accomplishment was her and she could only say it out loud after she retired. So here's what keeps me up at night. How many technicians are on your schedule right now thinking the exact same thing but not saying it out loud? Look at it from the business side too. Somebody invested in that training. She invested in it and it sat on the shelf. That's a morale problem, a retention problem, and a skill you paid for and never used. Susan spent time in management herself. She started with day one proper training with real people supporting the new hire. Her line was simple modules do not teach alone. She also said letting staff grow. Learn something new. Take on more responsibility. Keeps them engaged. We also feel seen and then she

13:48said the part every owner should hear an engaged staff drives production. When a tech learned something new and you let her use it, that's recognition. Probably the loudest kind there is. So what do you do? You got two weeks. Here are three things. Number one, today, grab a sticky note for every technician on your schedule. Write down one specific thing each of them did this month. Not great attitude. Something real. The claim she fought. The patient she calmed down. The inventory mess that she fixed. Number two, this week. Ask each of them the same question that we asked. What would make you feel seen here and then stop talking and listen? Number three, Tuesday, October 20th. I want you to say what you wrote on those sticky notes. Out loud in front of the entire team. Then put a date on the calendar for a real conversation

14:50with each tech about pay, about growth, and about any skills that they're ready to use. And yes, order the pizza. Just let it be the and then. And then keep going on the 21st. Because here's what your techs told us over and over. One day isn't the problem. It's the other 364. So make it a habit. One specific sentence to one tech every week. Say something the same day she hits a milestone, especially before you hit the next quota. Say something when she finishes a training and give her a chance to use it within the month. We're talking four sentences a month. That's the whole system. Now if you've never done any of this before, you're not behind you're two weeks early. And we put together some free resources to help you plan it. You can get those resources at rxtechday.org. That's rxtechday.org. And hey, if you're interested in help making this

15:53a year round thing, not just one, Tuesday and October, we invite you to learn more about our new program called rxteambuilder at cpht.org forward slash employers. It takes one sentence to show a technician that you notice them. Say it on the 20th. Say it again on the 21st. But thank you for tuning in to today's episode. We hope you found it both informative and inspiring. For links, show notes and resources from today's episode, visit cphtconnect.com. And hey, we'd love to hear from you. So send us your feedback, questions, stories or show ideas to podcast at cphtconnect.com. We appreciate your support and look forward to having you join us again next week as we chat with other amazing pharmacy professionals and hear all about their career journey. Thanks for listening. Thank you for listening to this week's episode of cphtconnect. Be sure to subscribe and review the show on your favorite podcast platform. For additional resources, show notes or to connect

16:55with this week's guest, go to cphtconnect.com.