Involving your staff in committees and meetings

Committees serve as an ideal forum for members of an organizaton to exchange views and information. If managed effectively, they can be utilized to generate ideas and to provide sound recommendations to the pharmacy manager. This article describes a personnel management program in which all levels of pharmacy personnel are provided with several opportunities to actively participate and contribute to the establishment and attainment of departmental objectives. The involvement of the staff in serving on committees and attending meetings is outlined. Various intradepartmental and interdepartmental committees as well as continuing education conferences are described. The comprehensive program permits each member of the pharmacist staff to spend approximately 5-10% of their time participating in the three above-mentioned activities. This personnel management approach has had a positive effect on the role of the entire staff and has enabled all levels of employees to get involved and contribute to departmental services and hospital issues. Most importantly, it has successfully provided a stimulus to the staff to pursue avenues of professional specialization.