Employee welfare and corporate shareholding in pharmacy

Oluwole Williams“Employees who believe that management is concerned about them as a whole person - not just an employee - are more productive, more satisfied, more fulfilled. Satisfied employees mean satisfied customers, which leads to profitability.” -Anne Mulcahy

Pharmacy employees are a special breed, well-versed in the art of the impossible, known to compound, dispense, verify, and package prescriptions at a run, even under considerable pressure. Day in and day out, they give their all. It is not out of place to pay attention to the needs and aspirations of such workers, who are helping the corporation succeed.

How do you motivate employees? What are their career aspirations? Where would they go for a refreshing time away from work? In what ways can we guide them to save and plan for retirement? Where could a pharmacist, pharmacy technician, or a pharmacy assistant find alternative supportive income outside of pharmacy or in retirement?

See also: Pharmacy dispensing and patient counseling

Benefits and rewards

These concerns are relevant to anyone connected with pharmacy practice. Pharmacists and pharmacy technicians must plan carefully for future financial freedom, now that robots, mail order, and long-term-care pharmacies promise to alter dispensing roles, wiping out many production-line services in retail pharmacy.

See also: Clinical detachment vs. personal touch in pharmacy

The offer of employee participation in corporate stock-purchase plans and shareholding is an economic tool that can help win long-term commitment and dedication to company interests. Many corporations, including those in the pharmaceutical sector, operate some form of corporate stock-purchase plan that encourages their staff members to invest, and in some instances bonus shares are periodically offered as either incentive or reward.

Similarly, many organizations in pharmacy have some form of retirement plan in place beyond the normal Social Security paycheck deductions. Opportunities may exist for employees to choose investments for their 401K funds, for instance, or to purchase company shares to hold for long-term appreciation.

Employers should emphasize the continuing benefits of such investment opportunities to new recruits at their orientation week; it is one way that corporations may assuage employee frustration, anxiety, and hopelessness throughout the course of their working lives.

Lessons and tutorials for employees in the art of capital and estate investments should be made freely accessible to interested employees across the corporation. Management should state clearly that these activities are free and voluntary, without any compulsion whatsoever, so that no one accuses the corporation of pressuring staff members to purchase company’s stocks.

Bonus shares also can be offered to those who are keen on investing and believe in the profitability of the organization.

Vested and empowered

Under normal circumstances, no employee would set out to ruin a corporation while holding a financial interest and investments it. An employee who holds shares in the corporation and receives some dividends is likely to be protective of the organization’s economic interests and would work favorably to protect assets and prevent loss.

Traditionally, employers offer pay raises and some cash bonuses to their employees as a means of motivation. However, beyond that, deliberate and calculated attention to employee economic interests may serve as a powerful motivator.

Employees who are clearly challenged and motivated in the art of wealth creation will be more focused and energetic at work, and their performances are likely to be enhanced by the knowledge that their employers have some concern for their interests and are working for their long-term financial well-being.

Economic tools

Many corporations offer useful savings plans, discount programs, and financial tools to staff members. Much could be gained by both employers and employees if these economic tools were attractively advertised to employees on a regular basis, beyond their first orientation. Employees who choose to invest some fraction of their earnings in stocks or other forms of wealth creation such as real estate often weather economic recession in good order and are noticeably better motivated and more level-headed in the workplace. 

Oluwole Williamspractices pharmacy in the Philadelpha, Penn. area. Contact him at pharmwillie@yahoo.co.uk.