By Brigitte Donato for our “99 Ways to Make a Positive Difference in Your Pharmacy” blog series
There are plenty of good reasons to develop an employee manual. If you don’t have one already, consider creating one soon. I think you’ll find it can be beneficial for customer service, streamlining store operations, and managing your staff.
An employee manual should include a section on your standards for customer service. Outline how you expect staff to greet customers, offer assistance in finding items, or answer the phone. As you already know, service can make you stand out from your competition. How you treat your patients will determine whether they become a loyal customer that refers their friends and family to your store, or take their business elsewhere.
Along the same lines, having an employee manual with procedures and processes explained can help keep your store running smoothly in the event of a staff member leaving. With a detailed manual to reference, any staff member should be able to pick-up and complete the necessary tasks to keep a department properly merchandised, categories well stocked, and your store running effortlessly. This applies even when an associate takes a vacation or is out ill. It also can help new employees jump in and be productive. Giving them the manual to read before they start can ease some of their anxiety about not knowing what to do those first few days and can minimize training time.
Organizing the manual by department will make it easier to follow and allow you to be more specific about tasks that may be unique to a particular section, such as cosmetics. In addition to everything else mentioned, it should be a great reference and reminder for tasks that may not be done on a regular basis. Having the manual empowers your associates to be more self-sufficient, which can save you valuable time. A thoughtful, well-organized, and thorough staff manual will have positive effects on your associates, you, your store, and most importantly, your patients.
As a data entry assistant, Brigitte uses the process and procedures in place to enter, proof and evaluate descriptive and transcriptive information related to product attributes, back of package information, marketing language and packaging changes.