ARE THERE ANY SENIOR REPS AT AZ?

[Anonymous]

No single person in the history of this company has done more damage to the sales force, leadership quality and morale than Tilton. And it isn't even a close contest which is saying a lot considering the number of frauds and incompetents working here.

Amen!!! This has been going on for how many years now? Many states have voiced what is "going on in their world." Michigan is one of the states vying for "leader of the pack." Get rid of the knowledgable (and the salary that goes with it...not to mention the pension) and keep all those who are best at the "company line." Tell them what to do and say...and it is a "done deal."

 

[Anonymous]

No single person in the history of this company has done more damage to the sales force, leadership quality and morale than Tilton. And it isn't even a close contest which is saying a lot considering the number of frauds and incompetents working here.

My experience and observation as a manager was that they not only discriminated against senior talent they discriminated against talent period in favor of youth or sycophants. Results are a ruined company and industry.

 

[Anonymous]

There is a rumor that there was a rare sighting of an existing AstraZeneca senior rep having coffee with a Sasquatch at a Starbucks in the Seattle area.

 

[Anonymous]

"So, max out your 401 k, get your house paid off, save as much as you can and hope to survive long enough to reach the point where you are a senior rep who can take a package and retire comfortably."


Sound advice. That is what I am doing. I am employed with MedImmune and we do not get a pension so consider your self fortunate at AZ. That is one of the few benefits AZ will not offer to MedImmune. We have the same health benefits.

The Gaithersburg area is so expensive and I doubt if I would ever find an equivalent job in this area.

 

[Anonymous]

You have to wonder why AZ never really utilized their senior reps in a more constructive fashion. They are treated no differently that a brand new hire at meetings and training. We are really the only industry that does this.

 

[Anonymous]

Retired AZ PSS here. Self identified last December. One of the best decisions I ever made.
Level 4 PSS. AZ valued PSS expertise less and less in the last few years. Inept DSM made the decision easy. My advice: max out 401-k, pay down debt, but mostly if you can get out of this place with another decent job, DO IT !! It is so liberating to be totally away from AZ.

 

[Anonymous]

Totally agree,! 55 and got let go with 10 years service, lifetime health benefits! Soooo happy I'm gone. Expanding my own business and doing great! Thanks for liberating me. And thanks for the severance and benefits,best wishes to the remaining.

 

[Anonymous]

Retired AZ PSS here. Self identified last December. One of the best decisions I ever made.
Level 4 PSS. AZ valued PSS expertise less and less in the last few years. Inept DSM made the decision easy. My advice: max out 401-k, pay down debt, but mostly if you can get out of this place with another decent job, DO IT !! It is so liberating to be totally away from AZ.

Yes it is indeed liberating once out. It does take a bit of time to decompensate and deprogram from AZ, especially after you have been there for years. It is great to be off the drugs to cope with it all too. In retrospect you really see how crazy a place it is. Best of luck to those remaining.

 

[Anonymous]

From a senior, now retired, ex-sales exec, originally with Stuart/ICI/Zeneca and unfortunately, and finally, AZ.

The changes started when the industry was first required to hire females. These new reps were clearly as good as the males were when fully trained and weathered. But a strange thing happened, and the industry took notice. The females tended to change companies very quickly and needed constant replacement. Newbies (females) were hired as replacements after a year or two, but not at higher salaries as in the past. The industry had discovered the "glass ceiling" as a means of keeping all future salaries down. The stature of the reps was overall changed, particularly as seniority began to disappear.

Within some years other major changes took place. Television and print media was discovered by big pharma, and the TV evening news prospered greatly, but the salesforces had to pay for the media promotions. Therefore, things really began to change. Bonus's were lowered, pressure was applied to the reps.... higher call averages, individuality became passe as the computer took over and the parameters determining sales values became predominant over personal skills and individual value to the company. People became numbers, even more so as the sales forces became immense in numbers, became less skilled in salesmanship, and generally robotic in nature.

As time passed marketing over-powered sales and the heart and soul of the indusrtry virtually collapsed with many of the big name companies merging or failing (including AZ); pharma became the land of "me-toos" and shrinking sales forces. The senior reps were leaving out of disgust or frustration, and the kids found that they had really no where to go, especially as the economy began to falter.

I'm not being specific to AZ, because you all know the management and HR problems that have now existed for well over ten years, with still no blue sky in the forecast. Whether AZ will even eventually survive is definitely in question.
Will the industry survive? Probably, but not as you know it. It will get much more technical with time, and sales will be much more attuned to groups, hospitals, and research....and probably eliminating mass sales and marketing as we know it now. Only the best will survive, and it could get really ugly out there in the next ten or so years.

I wish you all the best for the future, but I'm happy as hell to be out of there. It's an ugly picture!

 

[Anonymous]

The only senior people tend to be at home office. If they were once in the field they were smart enough to try for an office job. Very few remain in the field. Most are driven out by younger DSM's who prey on them like sharks on seals. They hold no value to AZ because they are costly to the bottom line. AZ cares nothing about selling but they do care for metrics. This keeps the shareholders satisfied. This is no place to make a career at most it is a gamble that most of us will lose.

 

[Anonymous]

As to the question about senior reps, the amazingly low number of senior reps illustrates how AZ feels about them. I wonder if we even have 20 nationwide with over 25 years of service.

 

[Anonymous]

My question is why do all the senior reps feel like they shouldn't have to role play a bit at meetings? I have two senior reps on my team that both have 20 plus years of Pharma experiance and they are always ready to volunteer and show what good looks like and my manager loves these two and loves the leadership they bring. I am sorry to hear that other managers aren't the same. But as a senior rep you should be ready to step up at a moments notice and lead. You shouldn't be insulted that they want you to role play but look at it as a compliment because they trust you to do it right. Just my thoughts.

 

[Anonymous]

My question is why do all the senior reps feel like they shouldn\'t have to role play a bit at meetings? I have two senior reps on my team that both have 20 plus years of Pharma experiance and they are always ready to volunteer and show what good looks like and my manager loves these two and loves the leadership they bring. I am sorry to hear that other managers aren\'t the same. But as a senior rep you should be ready to step up at a moments notice and lead. You shouldn\'t be insulted that they want you to role play but look at it as a compliment because they trust you to do it right. Just my thoughts.

Not sure it was senior reps saying they did not want to role play, or other reps saying that senior reps should not need to as often as they have performed for years. Anyway, you bring up a good point. Other than that role play while a necessary function, is not the end all be all, and as most reps with any amount of time will tell you, not exactly real world. A lot of managers realize this too, but with marketing emphasis and measurements these days, you have to follow the playbooks.

 

[Anonymous]

My question is why do all the senior reps feel like they shouldn't have to role play a bit at meetings? I have two senior reps on my team that both have 20 plus years of Pharma experiance and they are always ready to volunteer and show what good looks like and my manager loves these two and loves the leadership they bring. I am sorry to hear that other managers aren't the same. But as a senior rep you should be ready to step up at a moments notice and lead. You shouldn't be insulted that they want you to role play but look at it as a compliment because they trust you to do it right. Just my thoughts.

and therein lies the problem. They should "volunteer and show what good looks like". Why? Why in the hell would another rep want to help their competitor rep in their district or region? We COMPETE against each. We are RANKED against each other. My success, in part, on their POOR PERFORMANCE! I don't want to tell anyone in my district, region, or nation what works in my territory! In re role playing, play acting is not leadership! Showing them something that might only take place .001% of the time is useless!

AZ is incapable of anything but the same old shit. The company is in the toilet, and all this idiot thinks about is role playing.

 

[Anonymous]

and therein lies the problem. They should "volunteer and show what good looks like". Why? Why in the hell would another rep want to help their competitor rep in their district or region? We COMPETE against each. We are RANKED against each other. My success, in part, on their POOR PERFORMANCE! I don't want to tell anyone in my district, region, or nation what works in my territory! In re role playing, play acting is not leadership! Showing them something that might only take place .001% of the time is useless!

AZ is incapable of anything but the same old shit. The company is in the toilet, and all this idiot thinks about is role playing.

You're right. The greatest athletes never practice after they are established as pros. The greatest teachers never do lesson plans. The greatest musicians only perform and don't rehearse. We stand corrected.

 

[Anonymous]

You're right. The greatest athletes never practice after they are established as pros. The greatest teachers never do lesson plans. The greatest musicians only perform and don't rehearse. We stand corrected.

You're missing the point. AstraZeneca wants reps to compete, yet at the level of emphasis of ranking teamwork suffers as a result. This includes role play because you are being rated and ranked here too. Be honest, no one really wants their counterparts to win because their win means your loss. This is true whether you are at the rep, district, or regional level of management for that matter. AZ believes this drives people for success, but it is a set up for failure? No one wants anyone to exceed, at the sake of their own fortune. This is what supporters of forced rank fail to recognize and that was the posters point.

 

[Anonymous]

You're right. The greatest athletes never practice after they are established as pros. The greatest teachers never do lesson plans. The greatest musicians only perform and don't rehearse. We stand corrected.

The inevitable post about athletes etc. practicing etc., etc. It was only a matter of time before it was posted. First, they "practice" for what will actually take place during a game, not for something that may only occur very, very rarely. Second, our spiel is so heavily scripted that it leaves almost no room whatsoever to have an actual conversation. This gives us really only "one play" that the company wants in the playbook. Thirdly, the 30 second time element makes it completely impossible to get out what AZ wants out. Fourth our "game day" is every day, not once a week, so our practice meshes with the game. It wasn't long ago that senior reps "played doctor" and gave feedback that wasn't threatening.

No, the extreme emphasis AZ places on role playing, to the detriment of all else, is one of the many, many reasons AZ is where it is today. Spend time on increasing disease state knowledge. Bring in medical thought leaders to teach us how they treat whatever. Use senior reps to ride with less experienced reps more often. A DM creates an artificial situation that only increases tension in the office (look at how many offices have banned managers!), so revamp the role to be less time in a rep's car.

Finally, as another post has stated, why would I want to help another rep increase their sales when it only hurts my ranking if their fake numbers are better than mine? The worse they do, the better I should look.

 

[Anonymous]

I disagree with the idea of not wanting to help others. I offer help whenever asked about my success and share proactively as well. I want my whole team/company to do well. Why you ask because if we all drive share move Buisness that helps prove we bring value and I hope the delays the layoffs, till it's possible to get more drugs in this company. I don't want to see anyone lose a job. Plus I believe in myself enough that no matter how much I help my team out I am still the best on my team so it doesnt matter how much I help them. I will alway get the results I need.

 

[Anonymous]

I disagree with the idea of not wanting to help others. I offer help whenever asked about my success and share proactively as well. I want my whole team/company to do well. Why you ask because if we all drive share move Buisness that helps prove we bring value and I hope the delays the layoffs, till it\'s possible to get more drugs in this company. I don\'t want to see anyone lose a job. Plus I believe in myself enough that no matter how much I help my team out I am still the best on my team so it doesnt matter how much I help them. I will alway get the results I need.

Reality check. You missed the point again that a previous poster made. Whether the company does well or does poorly, you are still thrown into the rankings sweepstakes. Not everyone will be seen as providing value. Some will still be at the top, middle, and bottom. People are still going to lose their jobs - it is an integral part of forced rank. Good times or bad, those perceived at the bottom better hold onto their butt cheeks or pucker up to kiss their managers butt harder. Frankly, whether or not YOU believe you are the best is immaterial. What your manager and their manager believe is what matters. \"You ALWAYS get the results you need\" huh? Stick around kiddo.

 

[Anonymous]

How about I know where I rank on my team because I have the stones to ask my manager where I rank out on my team and if you don't know ask them. So I do understand the point about rankings. If you don't like rankings get out of sales all together. You will always be ranked in any sales organization, doesn't matter if its Pharma, medical device, software etc.. There will always be rankings. So sack up.