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

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You are listening to the global network of podcasters dedicated to the pharmacy profession. Welcome to the Pharmacy Podcast Network.

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Welcome to CPhT 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 each 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 Johnston, CPhT.

Mike Johnston (0:56)

That's how many technicians told us last year that they're pharmacists, they're manager, they're employer. No one recognized Pharmacy Technician Day at all. Not a card, not a cake, not even a happy tech day on the way past the counter. 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 techs, they're not asking for a party. They're asking you to notice.

And noticing costs you exactly one sentence. Welcome to the CPhT Connect Podcast. I'm your host, Mike Johnston, 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, welcome. Now, today, I'm not specifically talking to technicians. I'm 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 a grievance.

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 So 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. Over the years, the day grew. The job grew faster. Today, your techs 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. You're short-staffed. You're 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 guess what would help. We asked. This fall, NPTA asked our members one question. What advice would you give an employer or manager or pharmacist 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.

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. Gift 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 scenes 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 Michelle. I want them to acknowledge that I am a human. That's where the bar is. That's where some of your techs think the bar is.