Every pharmacy manager involved in hiring pharmacy technicians should be on a first name basis with their Human Resources (HR) or Talent Acquisition partner. This partnership should be viewed as an important strategic relationship in the effort to recruit pharmacy technicians.
Regularly scheduled meetings (weekly or biweekly) will go a long way in creating and maintaining open lines of communication between hiring managers and the HR team. Open discussion of candidates and recruitment status among the HR team and all managers will also reduce email burden and ensure all parties are on the same page. Agenda items for such meetings may include:
- Candidate status (pre- and post-interview)
- Background check/reference results
- Decision to hire or decline to offer a candidate
- Anticipated openings coming in the near future
- Recruitment efforts and other strategic conversations
- Attendance at career fairs, hiring events, etc.
Do you have a Pharmacy Technician Training Program within your organization? Or are you in the process of developing one? Your HR team should be involved in the program’s marketing and recruitment efforts; ideally leading this effort if resources are available. An internal pharmacy technician training program is a strategic pipeline for pharmacy technician candidates. It is strongly recommended that pharmacy leadership reach out to HR leaders early in the development of the program to gain buy-in and commitment of resources to support program enrollment.
If your organization does not have a program, but one exists in your area, make sure that your HR team is heavily engaged with this program, whether it be a community college, technical school, or other health-system. You and your HR team should be regularly attending career fairs and hiring events at the school. New positions in your department should be forwarded to the program leadership to disseminate to students. Even hospital-based programs, which are often created to fill internal hiring needs, may not be able to hire all of their graduates into positions. Ensuring your HR team connects with these students early and often during their training will pay off when it comes time for them to search for positions post-graduation.
Lastly, ironing out the requirements for national and state credentials will be important in preventing onboarding delays. All HR professionals involved in sourcing, recruitment, and onboarding of pharmacy technicians need to be well-versed in the requirements to practice as a pharmacy technician in your state. At a minimum, the HR team should be aware of:
- State requirements for licensure, certification, and/or registration
- Your organization’s requirements (if any) beyond the minimum expected by the state
- The state board of pharmacy’s application process, including timeline and fees
- For example, can candidates be hired and begin working without state registration? Or must they obtain registration prior to day one?
- The hospital pharmacy’s license number, or any other information the applicant might need in order to complete their state application
- Any resources the department provides to support pharmacy technicians in maintaining their credentials (e.g. sponsored CE subscriptions)