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CASE STUDY: A New Lease On Life!

John Re Soul Pattinson Chemist, Brookvale
John Re Soul Pattinson Chemist (the “Pharmacy”) opened on the long weekend in October 1962, at its present site in Brookvale, with one staff member plus the owner, John Re. Over the last 41 years, the Pharmacy has grown to a staff of 11, and is an integral part of the local community.

Stirrings of change began in late 2002 when Mr Re attended a Rotary meeting and the speaker struck a chord with how he was feeling “I realised that I had not thought about maximisation of assets, or succession planning for the Pharmacy” said Mr Re. He said that he had “assumed the business would carry on and run itself” and “simply took his eye off the ball”. He came to the realisation that “organised chaos” was just not good enough for a Pharmacy that had grown to this size.

The Decision to Change
Wanting to ensure that the business could get the best price should he ever decide to sell, and at age 65, John Re decided to take the advice of his mother “it’s never too late to change”. In December 2002 Mr Re employed the services of the Samperi Consulting Group (SCG) to help him through the change process. As Karina Samperi, founder and Director of SCG says about the Pharmacy, the “business was not running as efficiently as it could. The pharmaceutical side was fine, but there was no organisational structure to how the business operated, and this was affecting business performance.”

Using a series of one-on-one training sessions with Mr Re, as well as ongoing project management work, Ms Samperi determined that the business needed ‘renovating’ at a number of levels.

The first major level was to address and enhance the management and leadership skills of the principal, John Re, next was the organisation of the Pharmacy operations, including workflow, and finally staff training and motivation. A decision was made that the key goal to provide a focus for change would be for the Pharmacy to achieve Accreditation through the Quality Care Pharmacy Program (QCPP)*.

Turning the Ship Around
SCG was engaged to assist with the change process by providing the information to help Mr Re understand what, why, when, and how, to provide the resources of project management staff including the knowledge, attitude and expertise, and to provide the support through one-on-one training sessions to drive the project.

Mr Re accepted that “the buck stops with me” and that only he could make the critical business decisions for these changes to happen.

One-on-One Meetings Essential to Success
Karina Samperi provided one-on-one training sessions with Mr Re throughout the year. This ongoing interaction enabled Mr Re to be trained over time on the skills he needed to learn, as well to have support throughout the change process. “Karina really was a catalyst for change” says Mr Re. “Having her there made it objective driven and addressed staff management issues.” “It gave me the confidence to delegate fundamental management tasks and to keep the momentum going,” says Mr Re. Ms Samperi also provided an external perspective that enabled decisions to be brainstormed and then followed through to completion.

Mr Re has changed a lot over this last year. From the perspective of the staff, he is more approachable. Where in the past he expected people to read his mind, there is now better communication through the Project Manager as a “conduit”. He has reached the realisation that you can achieve goals through planning – made easier with the benefit of external assistance, and jobs that can be delegated!

Recruiting the Right Staff
SCG provided the services of two Project Managers, Liz Paterson and later Penny Reynolds to get the ship back in order and to achieve Accreditation for the Pharmacy. The recruitment of the right staff was crucial to the whole process. “We needed people who are naturally well organised, goal driven, as well as being able to fit in with the culture of the Pharmacy” says Ms Samperi.

SCG introduced a whole new way of selecting and recruiting Pharmacy staff utilising their expert knowledge, “Mr Re realised that you need professional assistance to recruit good staff” says Ms Samperi.

Janice Robinson, a pharmacist at the Pharmacy, sees the Project Management role as invaluable. The most significant change being that staff now have specifically designated jobs and that there are procedures in place to make it more efficient. The Accreditation process was “lots of work and a bit daunting to start with, but the positives far outweigh the negatives” says Ms Robinson.

The Change Process
Liz Paterson says she was “warned that the back office needed urgent attention. There were no formal office procedures, nor had there been a staff member delegated to do the work. The role for the first few weeks was to focus on clearing out old paperwork to create a suitable office environment.

In the time that Penny Reynolds has been involved, she has seen dramatic change, in staff as well as systems. “People are happier and there is a lot more dedication, because they want to be there”, and she sees Ms Samperi’s role as “an essential ‘sounding board’ to Mr Re and the staff.”

The Results
The goal was to attain Accreditation by December 2003, and this was achieved on 14 November 2003! In New South Wales, Australia there are around 1200 pharmacies who are QCPP accredited out of approximately 5000 pharmacies Australia-wide - so Accreditation is quite an achievement in itself.

As Ms Robinson says, the changes occurred on a physical and personal level including more room, additional workspace as well as improved back office efficiency. She finds she is “less tired”. All staff were involved in the Accreditation process through workbooks, on the job training and education. Now monthly meetings are in place and a lunchroom has been created. Staff morale has improved because of the physical changes, but also because they feel ‘supported’ as they have the Project Manager to go to if they have questions.

Customers as well have noticed the changes; the tidiness of the Pharmacy, the shelves kept full of stock and the spacious layout. They have also commented on the uniforms and professionalism of the Pharmacy staff.

“Now Accreditation has been achieved, there is more time to focus on growing the business and implementing the guidelines from QCPP to continue providing quality pharmaceutical service. We are now more efficient and have developed the skills and knowledge to move forward.” Mr Re believes “it can be done if you know how to do it”.

Where to From Here?
The changes have been significant. The Pharmacy, as well as Mr Re, have both literally been given a “new lease on life.” From a “business which had a lack of back office administration” it has changed to a business that now has protocols that ultimately result in improved customer service.

Looking back, Mr Re says “a lot of the work appeared pedantic, but it has produced benefits, including systems that are workable. Moving forward, we are looking at ordering systems, stock taking, point of sale material and further streamlining to maximise efficiency. Let’s keep going!” says Mr Re.

The work with SCG will continue until August 2004, with other changes to the business being made. Mr Re believes that the expert advice from SCG to drive the project has been well worth the money.

Mr Re himself believes the value of the business has increased immeasurably, and it has reminded him that you must constantly benchmark performance against industry standards, even after 41 years!

* QCPP is a quality assurance program developed by the Pharmacy Guild of Australia with the assistance of industry stakeholders. It sets standards for all retail services, business practices and professional practice standards in effect raising the standards of service provided to the public, and improving profitability.

To contact Mr John Re from John Re Soul Pattinson Chemist, call
02 9905 5593 or visit the Pharmacy at 688 Pittwater Road, Brookvale, NSW 2100

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