Problem with DMs at Novartis

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Anonymous

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Novartis has an F'ed up way in which they promote their people to managers. These people usually possess no real management skills, cannot coach or better their people, and most have no business making business decisions.
For instance, a rep in one of those territories that always does well no matter if a freakin monkey with a suit walks around it always won Pres Club was promoted to manager. Granted he went thru the development process(I commend); however, this guy is a backwoods- redneck with an IQ of about 37. Not to mention his lack of a moral compass.
There are some really good managers out there, however, as more of these types of morons are promoted and manage others the more the company suffers. Most of our customers are highly intellectual individuals it's embarrassing to bring "management" around them.
 


















This issue is not specific to DM role exclusively. I do believe that our company has many quality DM's, and Representatives alike. Sometimes.....we hire the wrong people for a variety of reasons.
1) Poor decision by Director
2) Lack of talent in the market
3) When it comes to DM role, Novartis tends to promote Mostly from within. This is not a bad thing, however, they do need to keep looking to the outside if not the right fit.

The Management Training at Novartis is very good, and not easy to get through. It is also very highly regarded outside of Novartis. That said, there are still some who go through it that are not a good fit for Management. It's not perfect, but it is reality.
 




































If you have no idea what DMs do you should probably never go into a leadership role. Let's see - I ride with reps during the work days, I talk to my reps constantly on their issues, I am on every conference call known to man, any issue or initiative that comes down I am responsible for rolling out to my reps, I write FCRs (very time consuming). I write and deliver reviews, I input ratings and merit increases, I participate and promote my reps in calibration sessions, I have one on one meetings with my RD, I write and present business plans to VPs, I analyize data and work with my reps on call plans and territory business plans, I participate in territory POD meetings, I work with POD leaders on managing territories as a whole, I distribute and manage budgets, I oversee programs and lunch and learns, I execute brand programs, I participate in manager meetings, management training classes and brand meetings, I am appointed to special projects in the OU, I plan and I run DPMs, I work with reps in MDP and others to be leveled, I spend countless hours on email responding to OU, brand, region and district issues, I come off of vacation when big issues come up such as the recent Tekturna stuff, I am ultimately responsible for anything my reps say or do. I work much more than 40 hours a week, but still seem to balance work and famy most of the time. I love what I do and I hope to stay at Novartis. I am sure there is more, but hopefully that answers your question.
 






Thanks for the insight! People like to throw stones - probably their manager is not helpful or is disengaged worrying about themselves. It sounds like you are one of the good ones - thanks!
 






It is a thankless job, most that do it are doing it for the wrong reasons. The good ones are genuinely there to help their reps and the reps will work like crazy for them. The ones that are just into prestige and power are terrible to work for.
 






Anonymous said:
Novartis has an F'ed up way in which they promote their people to managers. These people usually possess no real management skills, cannot coach or better their people, and most have no business making business decisions.
For instance, a rep in one of those territories that always does well no matter if a freakin monkey with a suit walks around it always won Pres Club was promoted to manager. Granted he went thru the development process(I commend); however, this guy is a backwoods- redneck with an IQ of about 37. Not to mention his lack of a moral compass.
There are some really good managers out there, however, as more of these types of morons are promoted and manage others the more the company suffers. Most of our customers are highly intellectual individuals it's embarrassing to bring "management" around them.
Click to expand...

Make sure to complete your evaluations when selected for DM coaching skills reviews!

Great opportunity to tell the truth!

http://www.integrityservices.com
 






Anonymous said:
If you have no idea what DMs do you should probably never go into a leadership role. Let's see - I ride with reps during the work days, I talk to my reps constantly on their issues, I am on every conference call known to man, any issue or initiative that comes down I am responsible for rolling out to my reps, I write FCRs (very time consuming). I write and deliver reviews, I input ratings and merit increases, I participate and promote my reps in calibration sessions, I have one on one meetings with my RD, I write and present business plans to VPs, I analyize data and work with my reps on call plans and territory business plans, I participate in territory POD meetings, I work with POD leaders on managing territories as a whole, I distribute and manage budgets, I oversee programs and lunch and learns, I execute brand programs, I participate in manager meetings, management training classes and brand meetings, I am appointed to special projects in the OU, I plan and I run DPMs, I work with reps in MDP and others to be leveled, I spend countless hours on email responding to OU, brand, region and district issues, I come off of vacation when big issues come up such as the recent Tekturna stuff, I am ultimately responsible for anything my reps say or do. I work much more than 40 hours a week, but still seem to balance work and famy most of the time. I love what I do and I hope to stay at Novartis. I am sure there is more, but hopefully that answers your question.
Click to expand...

Younsurf and respond on cp.
 






Just as of late. With everything going on it gives me good insight as to what people are saying and doing. To be honest, I have had to be in my office a lot on conference calls with info I have already been trained on. I don't respond often, but I work really hard and what I do is important to me. I guess I had a need to say it.
 






DM's are just doing what they are told to do, more or less. The game is musical chairs and they are just trying to stay in the game. The DM's or FLM's have no real power of authority.
 






Anonymous said:
Novartis has an F'ed up way in which they promote their people to managers. These people usually possess no real management skills, cannot coach or better their people, and most have no business making business decisions.
For instance, a rep in one of those territories that always does well no matter if a freakin monkey with a suit walks around it always won Pres Club was promoted to manager. Granted he went thru the development process(I commend); however, this guy is a backwoods- redneck with an IQ of about 37. Not to mention his lack of a moral compass.
There are some really good managers out there, however, as more of these types of morons are promoted and manage others the more the company suffers. Most of our customers are highly intellectual individuals it's embarrassing to bring "management" around them.
Click to expand...

What are managers?
 






Anonymous said:
If you have no idea what DMs do you should probably never go into a leadership role. Let's see - I ride with reps during the work days, I talk to my reps constantly on their issues, I am on every conference call known to man, any issue or initiative that comes down I am responsible for rolling out to my reps, I write FCRs (very time consuming). I write and deliver reviews, I input ratings and merit increases, I participate and promote my reps in calibration sessions, I have one on one meetings with my RD, I write and present business plans to VPs, I analyize data and work with my reps on call plans and territory business plans, I participate in territory POD meetings, I work with POD leaders on managing territories as a whole, I distribute and manage budgets, I oversee programs and lunch and learns, I execute brand programs, I participate in manager meetings, management training classes and brand meetings, I am appointed to special projects in the OU, I plan and I run DPMs, I work with reps in MDP and others to be leveled, I spend countless hours on email responding to OU, brand, region and district issues, I come off of vacation when big issues come up such as the recent Tekturna stuff, I am ultimately responsible for anything my reps say or do. I work much more than 40 hours a week, but still seem to balance work and famy most of the time. I love what I do and I hope to stay at Novartis. I am sure there is more, but hopefully that answers your question.
Click to expand...

I work for another pharma company but I need to respond to this. The DM who wrote this sounds like a good guy just trying to do his job the best he can. Yes, it all sounds like a lot of activity, no doubt. The problem I have with the role is exactly what does all this activity accomplish?
1-Ride withs are kind of fake. Not real days for a rep. FCs are part of that.
2-On every conference call? Why? How does this help the selling process and the customer?
3-Analyze data? We know who we should call on. Don't need the DM for this.
4-One on one meetings with RD? How does this help with sales really?
5-POD meetings? More waste and overkill.
6-Distribute and manage budgets. OK, this is important but probably could be done by some sort of administrator.
7-All the other assortment of meetings? Again, how is this helping with salesand the customer? Often they seem to result in some sort of bogus initiatives that tend to annoy customers and get in the way of sales.

Yes, the DM needs to do all this because it is his job. I would too if I was a DM. What I am saying is do we really need all this activity? I say the role needs to be re-defined. Hell, maybe the role of the rep needs to be re-defined.

My 2 cents. Flame away DMs.
 






Anonymous said:
This issue is not specific to DM role exclusively. I do believe that our company has many quality DM's, and Representatives alike. Sometimes.....we hire the wrong people for a variety of reasons.
1) Poor decision by Director
2) Lack of talent in the market
3) When it comes to DM role, Novartis tends to promote Mostly from within. This is not a bad thing, however, they do need to keep looking to the outside if not the right fit.

The Management Training at Novartis is very good, and not easy to get through. It is also very highly regarded outside of Novartis. That said, there are still some who go through it that are not a good fit for Management. It's not perfect, but it is reality.
Click to expand...

Is Dickhead Decker still running the management development show over there? I was there about 7 years ago and that idiot was running the show. That should tell you the quality of the program.
 






Anonymous said:
I work for another pharma company but I need to respond to this. The DM who wrote this sounds like a good guy just trying to do his job the best he can. Yes, it all sounds like a lot of activity, no doubt. The problem I have with the role is exactly what does all this activity accomplish?
1-Ride withs are kind of fake. Not real days for a rep. FCs are part of that.
2-On every conference call? Why? How does this help the selling process and the customer?
3-Analyze data? We know who we should call on. Don't need the DM for this.
4-One on one meetings with RD? How does this help with sales really?
5-POD meetings? More waste and overkill.
6-Distribute and manage budgets. OK, this is important but probably could be done by some sort of administrator.
7-All the other assortment of meetings? Again, how is this helping with salesand the customer? Often they seem to result in some sort of bogus initiatives that tend to annoy customers and get in the way of sales.

Yes, the DM needs to do all this because it is his job. I would too if I was a DM. What I am saying is do we really need all this activity? I say the role needs to be re-defined. Hell, maybe the role of the rep needs to be re-defined.

My 2 cents. Flame away DMs.
Click to expand...

Bingo ! time/money wasting job justifying position . To top it off all the fines , lawsuits etc originated from the DM/FLM/Whatever the fuck they call this joke of a position these days.
Can't wait till these dunces take their overpriced resumes to recruiters !!
 






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