Thanks a LOT! No, Really!

As Thanksgiving approaches, managers should be thinking about how they’re going to show their pharmacy team members how much they appreciate them.

Workers who know that their manager appreciates them, and is grateful for all their skills and hard work, are happier and more engaged employees.

Take a look below for some great ways you could show team members how much you notice and value their contributions.

• If your pharmacy is in a retail location, you know that things will get very busy as early as mid-November and crazy the day after Thanksgiving. Shoppers will be out en masse, and could decide it’s time to get more over-the-counter medications during the holidays. This is also a time to get prescriptions filled (after all, they are “there anyway”). So, it could be a great idea to take your staff to lunch before the holiday crowd, both as a way of saying thank you and as a way to have some fun before the onslaught.
• If you work in a hospital setting, consider bringing in some temporary pharmacists and pharmacy technicians to cover for your team members while you take them to a holiday luncheon. For extra fun, have everyone bring a white elephant gift and have a gift exchange. Reward all of your team members with small gifts such as movie passes, coffee gifts certificates, etc.
• If you feel you shouldn’t leave the premises, order in. Have pizza delivered or have a buffet lunch set up that team members can enjoy throughout the afternoon, when on break.
• Depending on your budget, consider holding a holiday dinner at a nice restaurant or hotel for team members and their significant others. At the podium, make sure you highlight an important contribution or accomplishment of each member of your pharmacy team. Praising them in front of colleagues and especially in front of a spouse or family member is a wonderful way to show your appreciation.
• Handwrite notes of thanks to each employee just before Thanksgiving (or on Thanksgiving for those who work that day). In each note mention something specific about the employee’s work over the year. Don’t be surprised to hear how employees tend to keep those cards and read them every now and then.

Sure, employees receive fair wages for their work. But money isn’t the only motivator when it comes to being productive and engaged on the job. Appreciation and gratitude from managers are a big part of employee satisfaction.  Making a point to demonstrate how much you value your employees’ work is a wonderful thing to do during the Thanksgiving holiday.

Looking for more pharmacy employees to be thankful for? Then contact the recruiters at Rx relief®!  And, if you need some temporary pharmacists and pharm techs to serve customers and patients during your holiday team luncheon, we’d love to help supply them!