Many studies have examined quality of work life for pharmacists. However, fewer studies have done the same for technicians. Previous Tips have described the necessity of including technicians in the rising tide of ships that is pharmacy practice. The last few Tips have examined organizational behavior, including the well-being of employees. This Tip puts them all together.
Desselle examined the quality of work life of pharmacy technicians; however in doing so, what was unique about this study was that it was conducted from an organizational behavior framework.1 The study employed a qualitative approach to get richer information that could not have been gleaned from a numeric survey. The organizational behavior approach taken contextualizes the contributions of constituents within an organization, and in turn how their behaviors might affect each other and the organization as a whole. The results produced four primary themes: career impetus, job responsibilities, quality of work life, and equitable partnership. Career impetus was characterized by technicians entering the field primarily to help others, with a surprising number of them recruited directly by pharmacists. Job responsibilities suggested that technicians were ready to accept greater scopes of duties. Quality of work life found technicians to be highly stressed, particularly for the low salaries they earn, even while they reported relatively high levels of commitment. Equitable partnership suggested that technicians are ready to give to the pharmacy in a reciprocal relationship provided that the employer demonstrates some commitment toward them. Rate of pay serves as both an extrinsic and intrinsic motivator. Extrinsically, higher earnings mean more financial security. Intrinsically, higher earnings connote greater value and contribution made by the employee.
Pharmacy managers can effectively recruit good technicians, themselves. They can help technicians feel as though they are part of a winning dyadic exchange with the organization and have sometime to aim for in their careers, preferably with a career laddering mechanism, but even in the absence of one. After all, technicians are people, too!2
Additional information about Technicians and Organizational Structure and Behavior in Pharmacy Management: Essentials for All Practice Settings, 5e. If you or your institution subscribes to AccessPharmacy, use or create your MyAccess Profile to sign-in to Pharmacy Management: Essentials for All Practice Settings, 5e. If your institution does not provide access, ask your medical librarian about subscribing.
1Desselle SP. An in-depth examination of pharmacy technician quality of worklife through an organizational behavior framework. Res Social Adm Pharm. 2016;12(5):722-732.
2Adams AJ, Desselle SP, Austin Z, Fenn T. Technicians are people, too: Let’s consider their personal outcomes along with other pharmacy outcomes. Ann Phamacother. 2019;53(5):545-547.
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Do yiu think technicians are underpaid and under appreciated? What can we do about that as pharmacists?