Good Ways to Motivate and Engage Employees: A Pharmacy Student's Perspective

      When you are put in a position of power, whether you properly motivate your employees or not can be the difference between having a business that is successful and one that fails.  Employees are the face of your company and if you work in a retail setting where they are engaging with patients all day, then it is beneficial to have them know that their role is very important.  An employee that isn't appreciated will soon loose the drive to complete good quality work and just try to get through the day.  Setting up a rewards system is a great idea to let employees know that their work is appreciated.  Let's say you work at a retail pharmacy and an old woman gets a lot of items from the front store before purchasing her prescription.  One of your cashiers offers to carry the bags to her car which is above expected customer service.  This type of action needs to be pointed out and rewarded because it will let your employees know that customer service is at the helm of your business and is very important to go above and beyond in this area.

       Another area where rewards should be handed out regularly is when a employee does something out of the norm in a good way for another coworker.  We want to establish a work environment where coworkers respect and appreciate themselves which will increase workflow and efficiency.  An example of rewarding coworkers is the RAPTAR (recognition, appreciation, praise, treat associates with respect) system that Rite Aid implements which allows coworkers to reward other coworkers when they go above and beyond. Another way to motivate employees is to give them additional responsibilities.  Some will appreciate the opportunity to broaden their role at the office.  I know when I am taught to do something new at my place of work, it gives me pride knowing that they selected me for the task and I want to show them that they made the right decision in trusting me with the responsibility.  The last way to motivate employees that I will mention is as simple as listening to them.  Let them voice their opinions about their work-life situations and what their recent stresses are.  Knowing that they can trust their boss to help them through hard times by actively listening will increase employees respect for their manager.



      Properly engaging with employees is also an important realm in leadership that should be discussed.  A key point to make here is that there needs to be a fine line between being friendly and being too friendly with your employees.  Listening to them and carrying on conversations during the job is good up to a point but once it gets in the way of productivity then it needs to be addressed.  Being best friends with employees will lead to complications that are not easily overcome in the work place.  It is essential to have good relations with your employees as you want to maintain a healthy work environment while also having them respect you.

      You should not only engage with an employee when they do something wrong.  Although it is key to give out constructive criticism as it will help them improve, this will result in them feeling like a subordinate compared to you.  This isn't what any employee wants and it will negatively effect their quality of work and view on their position.  When engaging with an employee about a mistake, make sure to handle it in a professional and calm manor as you don't want this to disrupt work flow.  It is crucial to address accomplishments and good deeds by employees because this will show them that their work is appreciated which will improve their quality of work.  All in all, being a good leader involves properly engaging and motivating your employees so seek opportunities to improve these leadership skills in your work place.

Who am I?

     So I thought I would start my blogging career by first illustrating who I am and what I stand for.  I am a 21 year old pharmacy student at the University of Connecticut where I plan on getting my PharmD in 2017.  I was born in New Hampshire and I got my high school diploma in my hometown of Bow. Many people say I have a "New Hampshire Accent" which I beg to differ.  My parents still live in Bow and I have an older sister who lives in Portsmouth, Maine.  I have deep family values that I hold dear and I owe a lot to my family for where I have gotten today.  I have many friends that I made in my hometown but there is one that sticks out.  I can't make a blog about who I am without mentioning my girlfriend of almost seven years.  Her name is Cassandra and she has been a very influential person in my life because she has pushed me to be better than I had ever thought possible.

Cassandra and I

Aubree (my sister) and I

My mom (far left) and dad (far right)

You might ask how I got interested in the field of pharmacy as an option for a career.  Well funny you asked that because I was just about to get to this important point in my life.  It stems back to high school where I took a plethora of science and math courses.  A funny story about this is that I was one of three students that didn't receive an award at graduation that rewarded students for taking a certain amount of arts/humanities credits.  This was solely due to the fact that I didn't have space in my schedule to fit these courses in because I was more interested in taking classes that would interest me.  My mother is the pharmacy manager at a Rite Aid close to where we live.  She has been a huge inspiration in my life and I learned that I was interested in this field by visiting her at work many times and hearing about stories on the job.  I now work at a separate Rite Aid pharmacy as an intern which has been a great experience.



Another question you might ask is how did I get interested in leadership.  Well I'll say, you are quite the inquisitive thinker my friend!  I was exposed to many leadership positions at an early age.  I was captain of many sports teams leading into high school.  Then, I was awarded with being named captain of my football team and track team during my senior year.  I enjoyed being in a leadership position because it allowed me to not only gain experience on leadership that I couldn't get anywhere else, but it also allowed me to better my teammates which gave me a feeling of fulfillment.  I carried this interest in leadership into college where I have been captain of intramural teams and voted into leadership positions in the clubs that I am a part of.



Well that's a quick summation of my life so far.  I'll be blogging about leadership and how it pertains to pharmacy in the near future.  Thanks for stopping by San Diego!