Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum Training?
   
   Bronze Training – teaches basic skills in Orientation, Entry, Filling and Pick-Up. Upon graduation, a certificate of completion is emailed directly to the Associate the next day and can be handed out.
   
   Silver Training – teaches advance skills in Entry and Inventory. Upon graduation, a certificate of completion is emailed directly to the Associate the next day and can be handed out to the Technician.
   
   Gold Training – teaches through correspondence school and an in-store coach. Upon completion, formal feedback is required from the Technician and the Coach, and once received, a plaque is sent out to you to present to your Technician.
   
   Platinum Training - classroom training focused on building customer relationships, MMS and key pharmacy services initiatives. Note this level is only available to your selected Technicians.
2. Who should take these Technician programs?
   All full-time and part-time new hire Technicians should complete the Bronze level training within their first 3 months on the job and work towards completing the remaining levels as part of their overall development plan.
   
   For example:
   • Bronze and HWNG within the first 3 months
   • Silver within the first 6 months
   • Gold within the first year
3. How long should it take to complete Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum Training?
   Every Training level has a pre-assessment incorporated in the training to ensure that each Technician only has to spend time in the areas they need further development. We provide the following expected times for someone who would need to complete the entire level.
   
   Bronze Training – 4 modules, approximately 8 hours to complete
   Silver Training – 2 modules, approximately 4 hours to complete
   Gold Training – 14 units, approximately 3 days (24 hours) to complete
   Platinum Training – classroom delivery, approximately 8 hours to complete
4. How can Technicians gain access to Bronze, Silver and Gold Training and can they take them from home?
   Full program details are outlined on the In-Store Web Training section. Bronze and Silver programs are available on the web and can be accessed from home, at: http://www.shoppersdrugmart.ca/elearning The Gold program is a correspondence course, which some can be done at home, but involves on the job training with a coach at the store.
5. My Technicians took the Basic and Advance web-based training already and received certificates. Do they need to Bronze and Silver again?
   No, these programs have only been renamed as Bronze and Silver. If your Technicians are reported in our system as successfully completing the Basic and Advance web-based training, they are also recognized as having completed the re-branded programs Bronze and Silver.
6. My Technicians started Bronze and Silver but never completed. How do they get new passwords?
   On the web-based training Log-In page where you sign up to gain access to the course, Technicians can click on the underlined words Forgot your Password? A computer-generated message containing the Technician’s password will be sent to the email address identified within their profile they created when originally signing up to take the course.
7. My Technicians are college certified. What benefit do these programs have for them?
   All college programs provide wonderful technical skills training, but do not teach the Shoppers Drug Mart way of doing things, or the unique services and programs offered. Therefore it is recommended that all staff are encouraged to take Shoppers Drug Mart Technician Training.
   
   Please note that each Training level has a pre-assessment that ensures only the material that is required to be reviewed is recommended to the Technician. If the Technician passes the pre-assessment with +80%, they automatically test out and graduate that level without doing anything further.
8. Are Technicians who have completed the original APA program (2003 and prior) entitled to be exempt from Bonze, Silver and Gold?
   No, however they may qualify to receive the Bronze and Silver certificates by completing the Knowledge Questionnaires within all the learning modules. If a grade of 80% or higher is achieved, a computer generated email is sent to the Associate that contains a certificate. These certificates should be printed out and presented to the Technician.
9. My Technicians have completed Gold training, but not Silver and Bronze. What benefits are there to going back and completed the other lower levels?
   Though the Gold level does incorporate elements of the Bronze and Silver web-based training, there are other topics that could still apply. Because each training level has a pre-assessment, if the Technician is truly operating at a Gold level capacity, then they will easily pass the pre-assessment with +80% and automatically test out and graduate that level without doing anything further.
10. What are the pre-requisites to attending Platinum Training?
    Technicians who you have selected to attend Platinum training must have successfully completed Bronze, Silver and Gold training.
11. How will I know what levels my Technicians have completed?
    We encourage you to keep copies in your employee records of all your employees success in SDM training programs as well as keep in dialogue on how well they are doing in the programs they’ve enlisted to take as part of their overall development plan. Operations along with Training and Development do have detailed reports listing Technicians in your store and the various levels they’ve enrolled or graduated if the information is required.
12. How many Technicians can I send to Platinum Training?
    
    • Invite one Technician if your store volume is less than 200 scripts per day.
    • Invite two Technicians if your store volume is greater than 200 scripts per day.
    This calculation is based on the average of 200 scripts per day over a 7 day period therefore a store that has a plan to fill less than 73 000 scripts per year can send 1 and those that fill more than 73 000 scripts can send 2.
13. How do I identify who should attend Platinum Training?
    
    < 200 scripts/day - One Technician
    • The recommendation is to send one Sr. Technician who will benefit from the training and be able to further upgrade their current skill level.
    > 200 scripts/day - Two Technicians
    • The recommendation is to send one Jr. Technician and one Sr. Technician
    • The Jr. Technician can use their time to learn and gain more knowledge – the key reason a Jr. Technician is suggested is from a succession planning standpoint. It will allow you to build bench strength in your Technicians and help to ensure you have a strong backfill. The Jr. Technician you send should have all the right capabilities and qualities (i.e. great attitude, reliable, outstanding customer service, etc.) but will not necessarily have extensive on-the-job experience.
    • The Sr. Technician, who is already fully efficient in their role, can take back valuable information and train the remaining Technicians at the store. Even your Sr. Technician will upgrade their skills by attending this session.
14. How do I handle multiple requests to attend Platinum Training?
    Platinum training requests offers you a chance to have performance discussions with your Technicians outside of the annual performance review. With 4 programs available, there is something for everyone. You and your staff can discuss a plan that meets their development needs.
    
    Your decision on who to attend needs to be based on what is best for your business and best for the Technician. If all else is equal, performance, completed pre-requisites etc, then length of service should count.
    
    For those that are not able to attend this year, there will be future opportunities next year. In the meantime you can offer them input on their development areas to continue to work on for the next Platinum Training session.
15. What costs are associated with the training programs?
    The investment in training time for your employees is equivalent to the productivity that results from these efforts. The Employee is more engaged and prepared for the role and the Associate benefits from the higher level of service to their customers.
    
    Training hours have been budgeted in the Common Year Plan to support the various levels of training for Technicians. Each of the hours is an estimate only. Each employee based on their skills and background will have variations to these times as each level of training has pre-assessments built in to ensure they do not spend time on areas that do not require further development.
    
    Bronze Training – 4 modules, approximately 8 hours to complete
    Silver Training – 2 modules, approximately 4 hours to complete
    Gold Training – 14 units, approximately 3 days (24 hours) to complete
    Platinum Training – classroom delivery, approximately 8 hours to complete. SDM Corporate covers event costs such as meals and materials for the day. Where applicable, travel costs are a Store cost.
16. If my Technician has already completed Platinum, should they attend the Platinum session again
    
    No, they should not attend the session as no new material will be covered that they have not already received from past attendance.
    
    We are currently piloting a Platinum Plus Club that entails
    
    
    • Sharing of ideas and best practices in a half day session facilitated by the Pharmacy Operation Specialist
    • Designated time to follow-up on identified areas of improvement and change from the action plans created from the Platinum Training session
    • A chance to receive communication from Pharmacy Operations on how Technicians can directly support key pharmacy objectives
    • Only those who are recognized as Platinum Top Techs would be invited to participate in this club and hopefully this continues to motivate the higher level skilled Technician
    Once this pilot is complete, we hope to introduce this concept to all stores across Canada.