Workplace Relations

The Christmas season is well and truly upon us!

Pre-Christmas sales are forecast to hit $60 billion in the six weeks leading up to Christmas – a staggering figure. But, as the silly season approaches, have you considered how you will activate a retail strategy to keep more margin in your pocket this sales period?

Our guest today is the CEO and Founder of Retail Doctor Group, the Retail Doctor himself, Brian Walker.

Established in 2005, Retail Doctor Group is a leading firm working with businesses to take insights-driven strategy into award-winning implementation, helping them grow their business.

In this episode, we examine what it means to be ‘Fit for Business' and why it is an important consideration for all businesses with a retail component – which includes pharmacies.  We look at how to complement your health and wellness services, medicines advice, your focus on medication management, and safety with products that build your brand as trusted medicines experts.

The Framework for Change is a key strategic document for the Guild, but more importantly, it’s a guide for pharmacies.

In 2018, The Guild embarked on the most significant strategic research project in its history. What was then called CP2025, aimed to forge change and growth pathways for pharmacy businesses in manageable, bite-sized increments.

The Framework has an explanation of nine growth pathways, and an outline of practical actions to enable community pharmacies to achieve longer-term success by delivering health outcomes for patients and consumers.

The objective is to help community pharmacies understand and be in a position to respond to the trends impacting their businesses in a way that makes the most of the opportunities that lie ahead.

The Guild is committed to working with our members and the broader pharmacy sector on this future journey while continuing to advocate on the issues that will enable community pharmacy to build on its vital role as a trusted custodian of the National Medicines Policy.

The Guild has worked with ORIMA, and David Bruce since the Framework’s inception to monitor the progress of Pharmacies on this change journey, and has recently completed another wave of both patient and Guild member research to check how we are going.

For more information on the Framework for Change visit the Guild website. The Framework is publicly available, but Guild members can download the reports and research, via the Business & Industry Insights page.

It's Cyber Security Awareness Month and we’re taking the opportunity to provide an important refresher about the dangers lurking in the digital world and what we all need to do to protect ourselves, our businesses, and our patients.

This year’s theme was “Have you been hacked?” and to wrap up the month, we are bringing you this special deep dive episode where we look at the latest threats, what to look out for and how to know if you have been hacked.

I’m speaking with Andrew McManus from FRED IT Group, an expert in the field who deals specifically with pharmacy IT on a daily basis.  Because he’s in the field, he can provide great insight into the range of issues affecting pharmacists and how they can best position themselves to make sure they keep their systems safe.

I hope you enjoy this episode and take away some tips and directions that help you run your business better.

Unless you’ve had your head in the sand for the past two years, you will be keenly aware of the challenges around recruiting and retaining good staff.  You may, or may not, be as attuned with the actual costs involved, financial and otherwise, when staff turnover is high.

This episode is full of practical, sage advice and tips for pharmacy managers struggling with recruitment. We discuss the current state of play in the market, what you need to do to stand out as an employer of choice, salary trends, and we even try to predict what might happen next.

Joining us are Heidi Dariz and Debbie Capuano. Heidi is General Manager at Raven’s Recruitment and has amassed 20 years in recruitment in the pharmacy sector. Debbie, with 23 years experience recruiting in the field, works on the ground with pharmacists and pharmacy managers to match candidates with employers.

We’re sharing a session hosted at the Australian Pharmacy Professional conference, earlier this year.

During the session, titled “Are You The Future of Pharmacy?”, we heard from three inspirational business leaders about the stepping stones that led them to this point in their respective careers.

Our panelists were:

• Lucas Patchett is one of two founders of the Orange Sky Laundry. Orange Sky  came to life when two best mates had a crazy idea to put two washing machines and two dryers in the back of a van, and wash and dry clothes for free. Lucas and his best mate, Nick, embarked on a journey to build and grow the world’s first free mobile laundry service for people experiencing homelessness.
• Melanie Moses, a pharmacist and owner of Blooms the Chemist in Orange. Melanie is passionate about providing healthcare and services in rural areas, particularly for health outcomes for the local Indigenous community and the disadvantaged and disabled.
• Brad Butt, Managing Partner of Cooleman Court Pharmacy in the ACT and Founder of Men’s Health Downunder; a pharmacist-led men’s health clinic. Brad’s been awarded a host of awards including the category and overall winner of this year’s Guild Pharmacy of the Year award.