We go to a car dealership to buy a car because we wouldn’t think of making that large an investment without test driving first. We date because we wouldn’t think of marrying before we get to know the person we hope to spend many years with. Any long term investment, whether time, money, or relationships is worth evaluating first. That same common sense approach also applies to companies hiring new, part-time or permanent employees. Potential candidates make the same mistake, frequently passing up a great job that is offered temp to perm because they are looking to be hired permanently right away. The benefits on both ends are substantial and there are many reasons, not only to companies, but everyone out there looking for a job, should consider these alternative options to offering or accepting a permanent position.
Benefits to the employer:
Try before you buy:
Let’s face it. It happens in the best of companies. A candidate interviews in spectacular fashion and their resume looks like they are kin to Einstein, but when they actually try to do the job, it turns out they were just great interviewers. By using an agency and hiring on a temp or temp to perm basis, a business gets a prescreened applicant, who in the very least, has a better potential for filling a permanent need than someone the company is interviewing cold. In many situations, such as healthcare workers, it’s crucial to have the candidates prescreened for drug testing, licensing and background checks prior to an interview.
When a company hires on a permanent basis up front - what you see is what you get. The new hire may be able to do the job, but their personality may grate on anyone who ventures within fifty feet of them. At that point, you’re pretty much stuck. Using an agency lets the company “off the hook” with the candidate that is truly not a good fit and avoids the paperwork and the usual three time warning system needed to replace them. When using an agency, a call is made to the staffing agency and the candidate is replaced at no cost to the company.
In this tough economy, tomorrow is promised to no one. In short, using an agency insures that if your company should have to downsize, your “numbers” are not affected. In addition, a huge cost savings on the administrative end for the costs associated with processing payrolls and benefits.
Insurance is another area where companies benefit by using an agency. The agency often offers health benefits to it’s candidates because, until the candidate is hired by the company permanently, they are employees of the staffing agency.
Benefits to the employee:
Flexibility:
A temp to perm position is the perfect way to go if you are just entering or re-entering the job market. It allows you some flexibility in case the job isn’t a good fit or if you find the commute is too long or the work not what you expected. Temping through an agency is a great way to try out different jobs within your scope of career goals. For instance, you may be a pharmacist who starts out temping in a retail position, then discover that you would much rather be in a hospital, research or long term care setting. If you are qualified, those options are open to you to try before making a final decision on the right career path. Using an agency that has their pulse on your job market and the contacts you need, is key to success in finding the right position. It eliminates combing the papers or being one of countless thousands applying for the same job online. In addition, staffing agencies generally offer a higher rate of pay to start.
Just as the company saves money on the insurance side, so does the candidate. Staffing firms that do a lot of temp to perm hiring often can also take the pressure off finding and paying for your own health insurance while looking for the a position that’s the right fit. Most staffing firms offer health insurance if you are working on a full time, long term basis, because while you’re temping, you’re their long term employee until you are hired by the potential company.
So, using an agency is just good sound business. Whether you’re a client looking to fill a part-time, full-time, long-term or permanent need, a staffing agency can be your best bet in finding the right candidate. If you're a candidate it's the best "try before you buy" offer in town!
Are you a pharmacist, pharmacy tech, allied health worker or nurse looking to make a change or just entering the job market? Give us a call! Toll free 866-352-3337 or visit us on the web at www.pharmaceuticalstrategies.com and take a look at our current job offerings.
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Friday, January 29, 2010
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
RESPECT - It’s Give and Take in the Workplace!
Respect in the workplace is key to any successful operation, but is particularly crucial in pharmacy and allied health positions. Anytime you deal with the health and well being of others, a stress level emerges and is ever present, lurking in the back of your head like a phantom. If I make a mistake, who will suffer? If I become distracted, will I still be able to stay on track with what I was doing? In a normal job, these questions would be bothersome but not potentially dangerous. Not so in the pharmacy or allied health fields. A mistake in a prescription could be lethal, a mistake in how a therapist manipulates a leg, an arm or a spine could result in a large setback of the patients’ recovery. The results of a nurse delivering the wrong meds to a patient could be devastating. So, it’s particularly imperative no additional stress be present and that mutual respect is code in these workplaces. There is a great article from Ezine Articles called 5 Things You Can Do to Advocate Mutual Respect in the Workplace or at Home. The article brings out some valid points. The very word “mutual” in the title indicates a back and forth dance of not stepping on someone else’s mental toes. The article suggests using the five tips of Time, Patience, Listening, Laughing and Honesty. Using these five items should be used as the foundation to having and maintaining respect in the workplace. Take the time to get to know a person, you may see things from their point of view. Be patient, don’t just go through the motions, be sincere in your feelings. Even if you don’t agree, listen to what your employer, employee or colleague is saying and ask questions - you may change your perspective. In some cases, laughter truly is the best medicine. Find a common bond to talk and laugh about with a co-worker you are having a hard time getting along with. Lastly, you have to honest in your approach and work at it daily.
Because everyone views respect in a different way, it’s not always easy to find the right rhythm that is tune with your co-workers. Unfortunately, like family, you can’t always pick your co-workers, but when it comes to respect in the workplace, a little goes a very long way. Deborah Norville’s new book *The Power of Respect, brings some pertinent issues regarding workplace respect to the surface, “Employers who don’t show respect risk losing their best workers….Showing respect can make family members feel closer to us…employees and colleagues work harder for us…” It’s true, the more valued an employee feels, the harder they will work and the stronger the bond between company and employee becomes. In a pharmacy or allied health workplace, where long hours and hard work are the norm, specific words of encouragement from a superior about something that an employee excels at, a pat on the back or offer to lend a hand from a colleague lightens the load and makes for a much happier atmosphere for employers, employees and their patients.
To read the entire article Ezine Articles, “5 Things You Can Do to Advocate Mutual Respect in the Workplace or at Home.
*The Power of Respect: Benefit from the Most Forgotten Element of Success, Deborah Norville, Thomas Nelson Press
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Because everyone views respect in a different way, it’s not always easy to find the right rhythm that is tune with your co-workers. Unfortunately, like family, you can’t always pick your co-workers, but when it comes to respect in the workplace, a little goes a very long way. Deborah Norville’s new book *The Power of Respect, brings some pertinent issues regarding workplace respect to the surface, “Employers who don’t show respect risk losing their best workers….Showing respect can make family members feel closer to us…employees and colleagues work harder for us…” It’s true, the more valued an employee feels, the harder they will work and the stronger the bond between company and employee becomes. In a pharmacy or allied health workplace, where long hours and hard work are the norm, specific words of encouragement from a superior about something that an employee excels at, a pat on the back or offer to lend a hand from a colleague lightens the load and makes for a much happier atmosphere for employers, employees and their patients.
To read the entire article Ezine Articles, “5 Things You Can Do to Advocate Mutual Respect in the Workplace or at Home.
*The Power of Respect: Benefit from the Most Forgotten Element of Success, Deborah Norville, Thomas Nelson Press
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Wednesday, January 6, 2010
How Big A Problem is Brandjacking to Big Pharma?
According to MarkMonitor, a global leader in enterprise branding protection, “Brandjacking is the criminal act of hijacking strong brands for profit.”
In the not too distant past, Brandjacking was a word known only to an elite few marketing executives - today it’s one of the leading buzzwords in Big Pharma. “Of the 2,930 online pharmacies found by MarkMonitor, only four are certified by the United States to sell prescription drugs,” (George Koroneos, PharmExec.com, Pharma-Targeted Brandjacking on the Rise.) These are very disturbing numbers when you think about the amount of people throughout the world now turning to Web based pharmacies.
British Columbia 2006 - a middle aged woman, Marcia Bergeron, buys the sleeping pill Ambien from an online pharmacy. In 2007, according to a local coroners report, Ms. Bergeron formally becomes the first person to die from Web purchased contaminated drugs. Ms. Bergeron died from ingesting a generic form of the sleeping pill Ambien she had purchased from an Eastern European online pharmacy. She died from heart arrhythmia - her liver polluted with fatal doses of metal such as aluminum and arsenic.
There is little doubt the economy has led people to the Web as an alternative to paying for otherwise expensive medications. However, much caution should be used before purchasing any medication online. “Though her death [Marcia Bergeron] it seems, was an unusual case. The appalling quality of the drugs that killed her wasn’t.” (Andy Greenberg, Brandjacking Big Pharma, Forbes.com) Not realizing the risks, consumers continue to purchase online drugs from fraudulent companies whose main interest seems to be money and not the safety of the consumer. Unfortunately, most consumers assume that all online medications are made under the same strict guidelines the FDA imposes on U.S. drug manufacturers. The truth is, a more than comfortable amount of online pharmacies manufacture or import drugs from countries that operate far outside the boundaries of U.S. standards. These fraudulent companies blatantly highjack brand names and logos from legitimate companies in an attempt to easily fool the public and market them right along with the lawful online companies. Sadly, we have no way of knowing who they are.
There are some guidelines the consumer should consider before purchasing medication online. First, they should check the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy® (NABP) website www.nabp.net/ip.asp for the latest in approved drug websites and all the news connected with online drug safety. Also, one of the best pipelines for solid advice regarding drugs is the neighborhood pharmacist. Pharmacists form a relationship with their patients and if properly utilized, the information they possess can and does save lives.
Another great article on Brandjacking is in Pharmaceutical Processing’s January 2009, e-newsletter titled Big Pharma Facing Brandjacking Battle., Frederick Felman, Chief Marketing Officer, MarkMonitor
Visit Pharmaceutical Strategies website for all your pharmacy and allied health placement needs. We Make Pharmacy Work!
In the not too distant past, Brandjacking was a word known only to an elite few marketing executives - today it’s one of the leading buzzwords in Big Pharma. “Of the 2,930 online pharmacies found by MarkMonitor, only four are certified by the United States to sell prescription drugs,” (George Koroneos, PharmExec.com, Pharma-Targeted Brandjacking on the Rise.) These are very disturbing numbers when you think about the amount of people throughout the world now turning to Web based pharmacies.
British Columbia 2006 - a middle aged woman, Marcia Bergeron, buys the sleeping pill Ambien from an online pharmacy. In 2007, according to a local coroners report, Ms. Bergeron formally becomes the first person to die from Web purchased contaminated drugs. Ms. Bergeron died from ingesting a generic form of the sleeping pill Ambien she had purchased from an Eastern European online pharmacy. She died from heart arrhythmia - her liver polluted with fatal doses of metal such as aluminum and arsenic.
There is little doubt the economy has led people to the Web as an alternative to paying for otherwise expensive medications. However, much caution should be used before purchasing any medication online. “Though her death [Marcia Bergeron] it seems, was an unusual case. The appalling quality of the drugs that killed her wasn’t.” (Andy Greenberg, Brandjacking Big Pharma, Forbes.com) Not realizing the risks, consumers continue to purchase online drugs from fraudulent companies whose main interest seems to be money and not the safety of the consumer. Unfortunately, most consumers assume that all online medications are made under the same strict guidelines the FDA imposes on U.S. drug manufacturers. The truth is, a more than comfortable amount of online pharmacies manufacture or import drugs from countries that operate far outside the boundaries of U.S. standards. These fraudulent companies blatantly highjack brand names and logos from legitimate companies in an attempt to easily fool the public and market them right along with the lawful online companies. Sadly, we have no way of knowing who they are.
There are some guidelines the consumer should consider before purchasing medication online. First, they should check the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy® (NABP) website www.nabp.net/ip.asp for the latest in approved drug websites and all the news connected with online drug safety. Also, one of the best pipelines for solid advice regarding drugs is the neighborhood pharmacist. Pharmacists form a relationship with their patients and if properly utilized, the information they possess can and does save lives.
Another great article on Brandjacking is in Pharmaceutical Processing’s January 2009, e-newsletter titled Big Pharma Facing Brandjacking Battle., Frederick Felman, Chief Marketing Officer, MarkMonitor
Visit Pharmaceutical Strategies website for all your pharmacy and allied health placement needs. We Make Pharmacy Work!
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