10 Best Practices for Onboarding Pharmacy Staff

As pharmacy leaders, providing thoughtful support during onboarding sets up new hires for continued success. This newsletter outlines the top onboarding best practices that empower new pharmacy hires through clear communication and structured knowledge-building. Together, we can build cohesive pharmacy teams ready to meet any challenge.

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1. Set Clear Expectations Upfront

Providing clarity upfront establishes trust around job responsibilities and expected timelines. When professionals understand day-to-day duties, workplace culture, and performance expectations from day one, it creates transparency and helps them visualize success.

Share job descriptions, policies, and typical learning curves so they know how training will build over a standard timeline until they’re expected to work independently. Establish 30, 60, and 90-day goals across operations, therapeutic knowledge, and team integration to drive purpose and progress.

2. Conduct Thorough Compliance Training

Robust compliance training helps new hires avoid legal issues. Review pertinent regulations and discuss implications around issues like HIPAA and controlled substances. Administer compliance assessments to identify knowledge gaps and verify understanding. Then, have your new hires shadow staff during high-risk activities to link these regulations to real-world applications.

3. Shadow Existing Staff

Observation connects training to execution. New hires should shadow existing staff across various responsibilities to develop rapport while linking concepts to reality. Consider scheduling during busy times like Mondays or flu season so they gain best practices for increased volume and complexity. Encourage new hires to ask questions of existing staff in real-time.

4. Create Go-To Resources

Internal resources like knowledge bases help new hires find answers to common questions. Catalog common FAQs anticipating future needs. Compile key pharmacy contacts with detailed summaries so new hires know who to efficiently route questions to. Generate a library of SOPs linked to systems and responsibilities for on-the-job support.

5. Schedule Regular Check-Ins

Ongoing conversations ensure that your new hire’s growth remains on track. Establish 30, 60, and 90-day touchpoints to discuss achieved milestones and to reinforce development areas. Review progress on original goals, adjusting timelines if pace differs from projections. Discuss additional training needs as responsibilities expand.

6. Verify Core Competencies

Establish ongoing assessments tied to key responsibilities to evaluate the strengths and gaps of new hires. Schedule live workflow observations including consultations and fulfillment, and check protocol comprehension around documentation, restrictions, and substitutions.

7. Prioritize Safety Procedures

Safety protocols minimize risk and increase patient care. For example, verify adherence to infection control through hand hygiene, PPE use, and more. Instill safe medication handling through proper labeling, transporting, and disposal.

8. Foster Positive Relationships

Mentorship and team connectivity help integrate new hires into your pharmacy culture. Introduce new hires to leadership and staff they’ll interact with to establish positive relationships. Assign peer buddies as go-to contacts for advice, and maintain an open door policy that encourages questions and feedback to help new hires come up to speed quickly.

9. Collect Onboarding Feedback

New hire feedback improves future onboarding. Survey new hires at the end of the 90-day onboarding period to spot areas of improvement. Hold focus groups for recent hires to openly discuss areas for better preparation. Analyze metrics like retention rates and employee job satisfaction to quantify the success of your onboarding practices.

10. Facilitate Continuous Education

Ongoing learning sustains excellence amid the evolving healthcare environment. Encourage new hires to pursue additional training through industry resources like certification programs and seminars. Discuss continuing education expectations with your team.

Build a culture where both established pharmacy professionals and new hires gain collective knowledge through collaboration. Because pharmacy practice changes constantly, nurturing an environment for professional growth keeps teams and approaches up to date for quality and innovation.

Bottom Line

The best practices above create an environment for new pharmacy hires to contribute safely from day one. As pharmacy leaders, it’s our responsibility to give new team members the tools they need to excel at their jobs. By dedicating focus to onboarding excellence, pharmacies become environments where both new and established professionals can thrive.