Management or Bust: What kind of life do you want to have?

Back in the old days, a rep could make it to 55 or 62 and have a nice retirement.

I know I am stating the obvious here, but Merck is winner take all now, and the winners
are all managers...

They will have great lives, with crazy high pay, benefits, perks galore, and nice vacations...

Reps will do ok while they are young, (and preferably hot) and then things will begin to unravel
for them as their shelf life starts to expire, and Merck wants to dump them off of the potential pension roles...

Get into management people...It is your only hope...really...

 

Easier said than done!
Better get a Godfather or Godmother pitching for you...

In the old days...experienced trumped all.

 

I thought it was the worst job in the company! I preferred being a rep as it allowed me to interact more with my customers. When I became a manager, I spent more time watching and evaluating most of the time as I didn't want to step on the reps toes. They know the customer, not me. Dumbest job on the planet. Nothing more than a glorified gofer for the DCO.

 

"make it to 55 or 62 and have a nice retirement."
....you forgot to add provided they have a mega dose of years under their belt and are at a salary band that generates the bucks...

That, makes for the whopping difference.

 

To this very day ...My ex and I still almost cry from laughing so hard when we reminisce about a snobby ass red headed rep that I use to work with over ten years ago that went to Notre Dame as a premed student turned drug rep as she would describe my former DM looking like a fat black baked potato stuffed into pantyhose when this DM would wear her suits about three sizes too small. This snobby chick from Ohio spoke with a strange fake Midwestern-London England accent and although this DM would literally kiss her ass to a fault... This girl showed nothing but racist total disdain for this DM who worshiped and wanted to be her. It was almost pathetic and if this woman wasn't such a cold hearted narcissist I would almost feel sorry for her, but no her poor character took care of that issue.

 

Yes... Unfortunately there are big potatos in with some nuts as well.

 

The merits of success are very evident to we who have persevered and made it to the top of the ladder. We can order the masses, make large bonuses, accumulate options, live life to the fullest and best of all not having to associate with the lowly detritus.

 

"Order the masses"... Are you the president of the United States? You're on the wrong forum.
Either that or you're sufferung from some delusion of grandeur . Don't you think you have it a bit backwards...the lowly detritus wants nothing to do with you and ordering them around will make look insecure when they ignore you and report you for harassment.

 

Turn me in for harassment, make me laugh and quake. I will know who you are and guarantee your firing. Amoebic ooze you are nothing more. Slime!

 

You're a serious dork.

 

you clearly are misinformed. talk to one of the honest managers. they basically live on the road, i make more than my manager (I am male and been with mother for a long time) and i get to go home to my family every night. managers have to enforce rules they had no input on and some of them they may not even agree with so they get shit from above and shit from below when they have to actually manage people. i have seen reps treat them like shit for no reason other than they don't agree with them and half the time the managers dont agree with the direction they are given but they have to tow the line. just like us if they push back too much they get red lined. much of the salesforce is angry at how things are and they take it out on the manger they are always negative and complaining and most of the stuff managers cant do squat about becuase it comes from above already baked and no one asked them for any input. i have a reasonable manager but i can see the toll the work has on them, they listen to people complain all the time they get shit from everywhere and if you think they are all highly paid you are dead wrong. in some groups reps make more and people management is not easy.

 

you are an outlier….an unusual case…

you miss one huge point in your post…A CTL can get rid of your ass anytime…they can start with the typical harassment methods of constant field visits, criticism that you can no longer do anything right, etc…

you can't do anything about your CTL…they gotcha partner…(Oh yeah…and good luck trying to go to the Ombudsman.)

 

All the talk about canning. You ALL will be terminated next year the company is going totally contract. Hopefully you are first.

 

Post 12..true, you can be managed out but that sometimes doesn't help the CTL out. He then has an opening that needs to be covered, either by new hire, or having another rep do double duty. If the rep who was let go had good rapport with his/her customers, the business slides. Then the Ctl goes for his review and yes, grades high for managing his District, but gets dinged hard for not making the numbers. When I was a manager, my goal was to keep people happy and productive, not increase turnover. You can't believe the heat put upon you when you're not making your numbers! Also, in regards to salary, when I was promoted to DM, I had 3 reps on my team that made more than me. It's not about position, its about how good a person is in his assignment.

 

What you say may be true but its not typical...
Its rare to find a CTL who makes less than reps....unless the rep fits some "fast track" profile.
Most reps do not make big bucks or have a big tier bonus...they make livable wage but not the ctl rhinestone level.

 

I was a CTL for nearly 8 years before leaving. My last team had 30% of reps making a higher salary. Another 20% made just about the same salary. The CTL job is thankless, baby sitting that has no purpose any longer. They should eliminate one level of management (CTL or Director) and expand span of control to 30+ reps and make field visits once every three months, at most. Only down side is 30 year end reviews!

 

No mention of bonus????? Big difference with CTLs and reps...
Look at the 5K then 10K bonus difference in bonus between early, mid and high end titled reps..now that's basic bs.

Agree with the big group management....with more virtual meetings, skype and on-line meetings it can be done...

Hire people with the experience and it's possible..

More frequent field rides for least experienced reps or where field issues need to be resolved...

Hire professionals and babysitting should not be needed. But hey, isn't the trend babes in swaddling clothes! CTL job, in check!

 

The separation of the elite from the sycophants is proceeding and the final outcome announced before New Years. The additional accumulated assets will heighten my worth and lower yours. Go Contract!

 

ahh yes…"they should" you say…those magic two words…THEY SHOULD…

well, good luck on that ever happening at Merck…the management is so corrupt, things that "they should" do to make the company more efficient, profitable, and improve the work environment do not get done…

it is all about the managers lining their pockets, or in the case of CTLs, staying in their bathrobes all day, and keeping the gravy train rolling…

the CTL job is thankless you say?? The CTL is the single GREATEST job in America for the amount the get paid, vs. the work they ACTUALLY do…

your suggestions for improvements make sense, but they will just never happen at Merck.

 

Wow...you sound really bitter. I can tell by your comments you were never a manager. Maybe you wanted to be but weren't selected. It's a lot of work and the pay isn't as high as you think. You would know this if you were truly a manager.