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Check out additional participant discussion on Case Study 1: Talent Recruitment.
This page includes previous original posts and follow-up responses that are no longer active on the main case study page. Lots of great thoughts and discussion here!
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26 Comments
Shannon Pukl · October 3, 2021 at 11:21 am
Brooklyn has a lot to consider for this potential job opportunity! Brooklyn could reach out to the hiring managers for the PIC position within her organization and express her interest in the open role. I am curious if Brooklyn has any management experience directly supervising employees or if her roles has only been as supportive staff pharmacist.
If she hasn’t had previous manager experience, she could ask for this opportunity to be a stretch assignment for her so she has the ability to gain supervisory experience. In the meantime, Brooklyn should began interview preparation starting with reviewing and updating her resume and making some notes on potential interview questions. Which additional tactics would you recommend?
As part of her interview preparation and her competitive advantage knowing the need for another staff pharmacist, Brooklyn should craft a comprehensive recruiting plan. Implementing tactics to effectively recruit talented team members would show her qualifications beyond her clinical skills.
Josh Pukl · October 3, 2021 at 8:47 pm
Great thoughts, Shannon! I would agree that she needs to form a comprehensive recruiting plan and avoid just “Post and Hope” to fill the vacant role. In these critical situations, it may be wise to partner with a neighboring facility to partner and secure coverage if they’re within the same health system and are permitted to do so.
I also strongly agree that this is a great stretch assignment and even for Brooklyn it allows her to “test the waters” of being a manager of people before she dives in to a professional MBA or MHA program. Great suggestions!
Amy Woods · October 13, 2021 at 6:57 pm
I love the idea of a stretch assignment here! This can be a great way to empower Brooklyn and let her showcase her skills through an expanded responsibility in a controlled environment as outlined in the onboarding and training development section! Stretch assignments are definitely going to be something I will consider offering more frequently in my own practice!
Lisa · August 17, 2022 at 5:05 pm
I agree with Shannon that Brooklyn needs to highlight her experience of being a leader, even if this would be her first manger title. Brooklyn can give specific examples of how she had handled difficult situations with other co-workers or member of her team. She can elaborate on her preferred communication and motivating techniques. Also, what she has done in the past to grow and develop other individuals.
Josh Pukl · October 3, 2021 at 8:44 pm
Brooklyn should take the opportunity to volunteer herself as the PIC for the pharmacy practice during the P&T meeting. This is a fantastic way to show and tell her skills as a manager rather than just waiting to interview for the position. She should also look at strategies to hire another pharmacist including partnering with HR or Recruiters in the hospital to begin a game plan around mailers, digital advertising, and even pharmacy school career fair visits.
Brooklyn also needs to consider her own interview preparation and begin writing out several examples and practicing her interviewing skills while away from work. She can showcase a lot of her talent in the PIC role, but ultimately job promotions can be won or lost in the interview – so be sure to prepare!
Shannon Pukl · October 12, 2021 at 5:09 pm
I agree with you Josh – Brooklyn should volunteer herself for the PIC opportunity! A stretch assignment like this is a great way to gain experience for future roles. I would add networking with professional connections as a potential recruiting method for Brooklyn to explore as she is considering potential staff pharmacist recruits. A great example she can share on a future interview!
Amy Woods · October 13, 2021 at 6:54 pm
This is a great question! In regard to Brooklyn pursuing her personal career aspirations, she really sounds like someone you want to have on your team! She is hardworking and is passionate about helping patients and making a difference. Transferring that energy into a leadership role can be very exciting! While Brooklyn is already going above and beyond in many cases, I wonder if she is communicating her passion and goals with her supervisor? Often times, employees are doing great things but they may go unrecognized if the employee is not a self-advocate. Preparing for the interview will be key by updating her CV to reflect her most recent achievements and then thinking through examples where she made an impact and seeing how those can fit into the behavior and situational based interview questions. Preparation is key! Brooklyn can also use the current work situation as a means to showcase her skills and prove to the hiring committee that she has what it takes to enter into this leadership role!
Nick Bileck · December 8, 2021 at 12:36 am
Amy, I definitely agree with Brooklyn preparing for her interview! Updating her CV with her most recent accomplishments from her current job will show the hiring manager(s) what she is capable of and her potential for success in the PIC role. Practicing some interview questions with her recent experiences will also promote her current skills and what she could bring to the table for the PIC role. Displaying her current skillset can make the difference for her, and can make the managers feel confident in their decision to potentially hire her!
Danny Sharara · March 20, 2022 at 2:31 pm
Amy, I appreciate your point about the importance of self-advocacy in Brooklyn’s situation with her supervisor. A part of that advocacy could definitely involve communicating her passion and goals to her supervisor, who would ideally be invested in Brooklyn’s professional satisfaction (and retaining her). Another aspect of self-advocacy could also be to communicate needs and concerns such as the impact that working 60+ hour weeks has taken on her. They could then brainstorm potential ways to address this together in a way that takes in to account both Brooklyn’s needs as well as that of the organization.
Nick Bileck · December 8, 2021 at 12:27 am
In regards to Brooklyn hiring more help for the pharmacy, she can start putting together a process for hiring and interviewing, which could include interviewers, timetables. resume/CV reviews, etc. She can incorporate some questions that reflect the values of the company and offer opportunities for candidates to display their potential for fitting in with its mission and vision. She could ask some of her co-workers for their interest in performing peer interviews or co-interviewing with her. She could also ask for some feedback on the questions she produces to see if they make sense and align with the company values.
For pursuing her personal career aspirations, she should reach out to the hiring managers and let them know of her interest in the open PIC position. She can see if there are any current projects that are going on that she could be involved with and use that as evidence of the quality of product she can produce. She could potentially get involved with the P&T committee and educate herself about it and its process so she is more prepared for her own interview.
Samantha Hanna · December 16, 2021 at 3:07 pm
I like the idea of asking coworkers to perform peer interviews, I think that’s really key when choosing a new hire – especially during a time when the pharmacy is struggling and needs someone to come in and hit the ground running. Nobody knows the staffing situation and who would be a good fit like the potential coworkers.
Reaching out to inquire about projects to get involved with is also a great intermediary step! It would solidify her investment in the department and give her examples of scenarios to reflect on during her interview.
Samantha Hanna · December 16, 2021 at 3:04 pm
If I were Brooklyn I would definitely volunteer for this PIC opportunity. She should begin looking over the job description and molding her CV to reflect why she would be a great fit for the position and work on thinking through answers to interview scenario questions.
As for her fear of hiring a new staff pharmacist in that role, I think that is a healthy response to brand new challenge, but she should see it as an opportunity to grow! She could reflect back on her own interview and the strengths/weaknesses of her own interviewer to form her own interviewing style. She certainly already knows what they are looking for in a candidate and could even go as far as reaching out to potential hires to gauge interest in the community.
Ruth Juul · January 25, 2022 at 6:00 pm
Great perspective Samantha! You’re right about fear being a healthy response to a new challenge and Brooklyn should view it as a opportunity to grow. Staying positive, having goals, and then a plan for that goal is so important in all aspects of life. Best way to alleviate some of that fear is to plan!
Kamal Althobaiti · May 12, 2022 at 1:32 pm
Samantha, I like the idea that Brooklyn may form her own interviewing style. She can use her own experience upon applying and this will give her more confidence when hiring a new staff. Another thing Brooklyn may do to overcome her fear of hiring is by networking.
Shannon Pukl · December 22, 2021 at 5:19 pm
Great suggestions Samantha! I agree that the fear of taking on a new challenge is a healthy response. Thinking about her own strengths and weaknesses, what else could Brooklyn do to increase her comfort level with leading the interview process? Also, how else could she generate interest in the staff pharmacist position at her location?
Ruth Juul · January 25, 2022 at 5:51 pm
If I were Brooklyn I would start by taking a deep breath! Sounds like I have a lot of things happening all at once and a clear mind would give me a good starting point to plan. My first goal would be to suggest to the P&T committee that I take on the PIC role. Not only will this be a start to having a bigger impact in healthcare but it can also be a stretch assignment for myself, with the ultimate goal of interviewing for the director role. Hoping all things go well in that department and I am moved into the PIC position I would then begin to look at resources for hiring potential. Not leaving anything to chance I would seek out multiple ways to drum up candidates, both externally and internally. While creating a plan for interviewing I can brush up on my own skills and update my CV. Regardless of what I want for my future and what my company is looking for, being prepared is key.
Danny Sharara · March 20, 2022 at 1:46 pm
Brooklyn has a lot to consider. On the one hand, the opportunity to become the PIC and thus assume a leadership role is aligned with her long-term career aspirations and this is important for her. On the other hand, Brooklyn has been working 60+ hour weeks and is approaching burn-out. A balanced way of approaching this situation might be for Brooklyn to pursue this opportunity while also strengthening self-care practices and asking for support and guidance from her current supervisor (before he leaves) as well as from other individuals with relevant experience. Brooklyn could ask for support with the interviewing process from HR or other experienced leaders and may also consider a peer interviewing process, which has the added benefit of being collaborative. Regarding Brooklyn’s anxiety about interviewing; I would first seek support that would normalize these feelings and then dedicate time to working on my CV and then doing mock-interviews with trusted peers.
Healthcare Leadership Certificate · March 21, 2022 at 5:31 pm
Great callout Danny about the sustainability of a 60-hour work week and potential for burnout. What additional recommendations would you suggest Brooklyn make if she assumes the PIC position? What should her priorities be to improve operations and better balance the workload and hours?
Melissa DeMarco · August 2, 2022 at 11:54 pm
Danny, I just did a CE this year on burnout and couldn’t agree with you more, as I have experienced it myself working in retail. Brooklyn needs to put in the work for self-care just like she is putting it in for the pharmacy and make it a priority, so that she can perform her best. Although we don’t have the information, hopefully there are other team members whom she can delegate some tasks and help with the workload.
Kamal Althobaiti · May 11, 2022 at 1:38 pm
I would definitely think twice about the PIC position if I were Brooklyn. This is an opportunity that might come but once. Brooklyn may go for the decision and move forward and bring that up in the meeting. However, she needs to learn more practical approaches to interview processes, especially for leadership positions. If she is up for this, she also needs to learn more about the recruiting and hiring process to sound more prepared for the next tasks. Brooklyn seems ambitious, and this is her shot, and she can pursue her graduate studies as she grows at work. Here is a ‘to-do list’ I would consider if I were her.
1-CV must be updated.
2- Interview practicing and preparation.
3- Learning recruiting methods.
Last, people like Brooklyn, I believe, are already prepared and an opportunity is all they need.
Heather Lindell · May 18, 2022 at 7:35 pm
Hi Kamal,
To-do lists are great. I do not know how I would survive without them. I learned early on in my career keeping the CV updated is important. It can become a daunting task and one can forget a lot of activities they have done if the CV is not perpetually updated. This is a useful tip you mentioned.
Heather Lindell · May 18, 2022 at 7:26 pm
Brooklyn has a great opportunity for professional development. She had the question “but what about hiring a new staff pharmacist?” This is a great question she asked herself and hopefully it stimulated self-directed learning. Maybe it would even lead her to this leadership certificate to learn about how to approach this scenario. She obviously wants more since she is picking up extra shifts. Instead of doing more of the same (clinical pharmacy), engaging a stretch assignment (PIC) would scratch her itch to grow. The extra shifts of more of the same might exhaust her and burn her out. We don’t want that! Sounds like she does not have much time for self-care and wellness. She also pondered “And even if I’m the new PIC, I would still need to interview for the director role. Where would I even start?” Again, engaging self-directed learning and professional development in this area is key. She can begin by assessing her knowledge, skills, and abilities. If the job has been posted, she can review the post to determine the requirements for the job and where she fits. Although, if comparing oneself to the job description too critically that could lead to imposter syndrome and stop professional growth. Therefore, I would have to say to get a baseline comparison and have a trusted peer give you feedback. After assessing KSAs move on to creating an elevator pitch. She can also practice answering interview questions using the STAR (situation, task, action, result) method. She can practice with a friend, in the mirror, and record herself. For addressing the current work situation to fulfill the needs of the pharmacy she needs to continue to do her job to the best of her ability keeping in mind the mission of the organization. I would guess patient safety is within the values of the organization, therefore I would advise her to minimize the double shifts. She needs rest since this “has begun to be fairly exhausting for her.”
Healthcare Leadership Certificate · May 19, 2022 at 3:14 pm
Great thoughts Heather! I like your mention of imposter syndrome and seeking feedback from others. She could even consider reaching out to the pharmacy director prior to him leaving for feedback on her strengths and opportunities relevant to the next role.
Melissa · August 2, 2022 at 11:31 pm
Brooklyn has a lot going on and it seems like it is definitely too much for one person already, both mentally and professionally. Sooner than later, working 60 hours a week is going to lead to a decrease in quality in work. One thing I wonder about the situation, does Brooklyn have any other pharmacists working with her? If so, are they helping with the increased workload at all? Brooklyn should have a sit down with her current director and ask any questions she may have about the position and what he thinks are her areas of strength and opportunity. She may realize through the conversation that this is indeed the step she wants to go in or that she wants to stay where she is and pursue her studies first, as she has aspirations to move up, but is unsure if now is the right time. She can’t feel confident in her decision without having gathered information. If she decides to stay in her current position, she can always offer to help the new director and get hands on experience in interviewing and develop her leadership skills. If she decides to pursue the PIC, she would need to update her resume, being sure to include information she gathered from her meeting with the director (she may realize that she already has some of the skills required for the position). No matter which path she chooses, she needs to prioritize her workload, being sure that she adds time for a mental break.
Healthcare Leadership Certificate · August 3, 2022 at 4:11 pm
Great points Melissa! Seeking to understand more about the position and gaining clarity on her strengths and opportunities through a conversation with the current director would help provide confidence in whichever direction she decides.
Good questions inquiring about her peers! How could Brooklyn approach the other pharmacists who may or may not being helping with the additional workload?
Lisa · August 17, 2022 at 4:56 pm
Brooklyn is in the right position to expand her professional career. She has the skills and knowledge of what is needed at her institution. Although she lacks experience in a manger role, now is the time to step into the PIC position. She shows a strong desire to lead and impact patient care through delegation and role modeling. I would suggest that Brooklyn explain her clear plan to the P&T committee.
First, she can describe her goal setting for the department, then how each goal will be prioritized.
The hiring of a new pharmacist takes precedence over other objectives. Brooklyn needs to reach out to her personal network and the networks of other executives at her institution to find candidates. She can also open the position internally to other pharmacist already employed at her institution. Finally, she can use external platforms if needed.
Brooklyn can also seek out a mentor from a pharmacist association or another executive at her institution to help with her transition. In the future, I would encourage Brooklyn to obtain her MHA or MBA if she would eventually like to move up to a director role.
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