Employees everywhere are struggling with unprecedented stress during these tough times.
Right now, times are tough. Dealing with social issues, the pandemic, and family trials are causing staff to be more stressed than ever before. There is no more important role as a leader than to support your employees’ well-being. Excelling here is good for them and good for your pharmacy.
It’s not so much mandatory as it’s the nice and right thing to do, and it will show your staff how much you care about them and their physical and mental health
Why Your Support Matters
Employees genuinely want to do a good job. When they feel taken care of and supported by their boss (even if they are stressed) they are more likely to take better care of your pharmacy and patients and be a better employee overall. They know you have their back and feel good about the working relationship, so it comes back ten-fold to their investment in your business.
Also, many pharmacy owners realize that attracting and hiring staff is extremely hard, so why not go the extra mile to take care of the ones you have when they really need you. Let’s face it, good employees will stick around longer if they know how much you care, and feel supported at work.
How To Help Your Employees
You can show support for your employees’ physical and mental health by doing a few, or all, of the recommendations below.
Check out these ideas on how to show support for employees going through tough times – share the tips and information with your entire staff to help them, too. Believe me, it will go a long way!
Share Tips On Improving Sleep
Get better sleep. Study after study shows how critical sleep is to mood, anxiety, hormones, memory, immune response, and so much more. If your employees complain about not being able to sleep or not being able to “wind down” at night, share some of these simple tips.
- Turn off electronics 1 hour before bedtime (or use a blue light filter)
- Don’t watch the news or other stress-inducing situations before bed
- Take nighttime supplements if needed, to fall and stay asleep, like PharmaCanna’s CBDream (Melatonin & CBD, one of my favorites). Not only does melatonin help you fall asleep if you’re not producing enough of it on your own, but it also can help calm down other parts of your body too, like your gut.
- Prepare kids’ school stuff the night before will help make mornings easier
- Create a consistent routine of going to bed and waking at similar times each day.
Create A Morning Routine
Establish an effective morning routine. This can be extremely helpful for employees who always seem to have “something come up” in the morning, or who are always running 5 minutes behind. Creating a new and improved morning routine can make the whole day go a lot smoother, regardless of what’s going on around you. Completing some simple tasks, the night before can make mornings a breeze.
- Layout your (and kids) clothes
- Decide what’s for breakfast
- Get some citrus scents into the air with a candle or essential oils
- Get plenty of water
Free Supplements
Do you give employees supplements free of charge? If you’re not already giving out freebies, you should definitely consider it. I absolutely love this idea and used it a lot in my pharmacies. The cost of the supplements was very small in comparison to having high-performing employees perform at their best. Here are some examples you may consider.
- Sublingual B12 helped provide them with an energy boost when they really need it
- Cough and cold medicine
- Immune support items such as zinc or vitamin C
- CBD
- Probiotics
- Coffee – ok it’s not a supplement but it sort of is!!!
Free supplements don’t cost pharmacy owners very much, and the return on investment is priceless for how thankful employees are they have niceties like this at their disposal. You don’t need to offer every supplement to every employee for free but creating a free-to-use “store” that employees are encouraged to use as much as they want will provide a huge boost for your employees.
Positive Mindset
Encouraging positivity in your pharmacy can go a long way, and it doesn’t take much to do. For example, it could be positive signs hanging around the store, a daily inspirational text to the team, or, if you’ve been blessed with the gift of joke-telling, crack a silly joke or two during the day to get some genuine smiles and share a good laugh.
Customers can feel it if the staff is positive or negative and believe me, they aren’t looking forward to visiting a dreary pharmacy!
Other Ways To Show Support
- Workload. Encourage them to speak up if the workload seems overwhelming or too much to handle. Stressed-out employees can make more mistakes which can be costly to business owners, so tune in to their daily schedule and work output.
- Moral support. Give your employees a safe and comfortable place to talk, show empathy but don’t “pry” (you’re their boss, not their best friend). Be prepared to have intimate conversations and to be available if they need to talk to you.
- Listen to them. When someone is going through a tough time, you can learn a lot about them by really listening, “active listening”. With so many things going on in the pharmacy, it’s easy to get distracted so do your best to focus only on them when you’re talking.
- Show appreciation. Let them know you’re proud of their accomplishments and hard work at the pharmacy. A small act of appreciation goes a long way when you’re feeling down. (Hello handwritten thank you card!!)
- Counseling services. If your health insurance provides counseling services, remind your employee of these benefits (they may have forgotten).
- Provide basic necessities. Don’t skimp out on hand sanitizer and wipes, make sure there’s plenty around. Keep a handful of your favorite cough drops around, put a bottle of hand lotion in the bathrooms (and women’s products), and place a bowl full of vitamin C drops in the breakroom.
Also, take a few minutes to think about what you are willing to give, if needed, to the employee who’s going through a tough time. For example, a temporary change in schedule or extra time off. Write down all options you can think of and consider the different ways you can make things work for you and the team. Try to have these ideas thought through prior to any conversations with the employee.
Do Your Best
Don’t strive for perfection, because things will change with each situation and person, just do your best. Staff members stay with employers for a long time when working in a supportive environment, and when they work for a boss who genuinely cares, like you!
To learn more tips and strategies to help your pharmacy grow and become more successful, be sure to join DiversifyRx’s private Facebook Group
