HOLX GSP State Of The Union 11/2011

Hologic’s GSP division is in a position to potentially be great, but the near sighted decisions of of the division’s leadership will limit the long term success. The old adage, “success covers mistakes” is incredibly true of Hologic’s GSP division. NovaSure has been a cash cow and market leader that has covered many mistakes over the years. The truth is, the company changes women’s lives in a big way... there is an opportunity to capture and serve the GYN market like very few companies are in a position to do... but HOLX is missing the moment.

There often is more power in asking the right question vs. delivering the “right” answer. Why are so many territory managers fleeing the organization? Aren’t we in the middle of a recession? These are the people with the most direct surgeon contact, patient interaction, & best understanding of the competitive landscape. If the territory managers saw a bright future within GSP, then HOLX wouldn’t be hemorrhaging talented professionals to lateral sales opportunities. What is the average tenure of a TM in the GSP division? I wagger it is getting shorter by the month. A lot can be learned from investigating this trend.

What is the cost to HOLX when a rep leaves the territory? Talk to HR... it is a huge cost both in terms of real dollars + opportunity cost within a particular territory.

Amongst the TMs, here are the facts:

Incredible pressure to win at all costs at the end of the quarter which translates into discounted bulk orders, favors, and a stuffed sales channel. End or quarter sales “spiffs” exists for the TMs that have sat on deals... the same deals done 1 week earlier render no financial reward. It ultimately pays to sandbag every quarter. How many MSOs / PCPs get released early in the final weeks? What is AUP in the final 2 weeks vs. the beginning of the quarter? There is crazy “stuffing” taking place nationwide. Sales is about delivery results, but within a product life cycle... revenues eventually decelerate. What is an aggressive, but organic growth rate. HOLX has likely exceeded what most would consider sustainable growth.

DTC Miss: Only a few truly know right now, but the $20MM DTC campaign doesn’t appear to have worked... yet the quota increases associated with the campaign still are tossed onto the sales force's shoulders.

Micro Management: Countless consecutive quarters of stuffing has lead to sluggish revenues... the company has responded with a physician call logging requirement.

Diminishing Financial Opportunity: Sales reps are “coin operated”... they accept financial uncertainty to participate in the upside. HOLX is continuing to add products, rapidly accelerating quotas and the realized compensation is continuing to decrease. More work for less pay. TMs can control their “numerator”... but the denominator for their PTQ % is not. Last year’s heros are often this year’s goats.

Chasing A Moving Target: Every quarter the pay plan changes! The specific incentives change every quarter. What was tracked, recognized, & rewarded in one quarter is forgotten the next. Quotas aren’t released until 4-5 weeks into the quarter. Reps fly blind 1/3 of the quarter, despite being compensated on the quarter. New non revenue generating middle management positions are created and essentially abandoned (through attrition) in a matter of a year.

Concentrated control and decision making: Nearly every decision is made at the very top of the division and force fed to the rest of the company. Original thinking is not really appreciated... upper management has a “speak when spoken to” attitude. Constructive conflict doesn’t exist... an alternative view puts your job security in jeopardy. There is a culture of “chain of command” which makes the organization very linear with many, may layers of middle management.

The DSM / RBD is often the target of criticism ... they truthfully have very little autonomy. They are the messengers / babysitters. Give the managers the opportunity to be leaders.

No Trust: The TMs don’t trust HOLX. They don’t trust the Adiana data. EASE says one thing, first hand experiences and reality are telling a very different story. How can a TM authentically sell a product that they themselves wouldn’t want a fellow family member to use? They don’t trust HOLX enough to really be honest with the company. Why did the company suddenly decide to hide the country’s quota figures in the middle of 2011? Transparency breeds trust, unfortunately HOLX’s GSP division isn’t very transparent and is getting more cryptic all the time.

All in all, there is the talent already within the division to be great! There are some TMs, DSMs, RBDs that have incredible work ethics and drive with proven track records. NS + the hysteroscopy are awesome. The physicians provide HOLX reps more access than nearly any other sales forces. The recipe for greatness is mostly in place. If there are company leaders / auditors / etc reading this post ... this unhealthy cycle can be fixed. It is going to require the courage to change up the top of the GSP division. A talented professional from the outside needs to breath a new culture and vision in the division. The foundation for excellence is there... it just needs to be refined and rediscovered.

 

Wow, this message is a dead on description of the state of the union within the GYN Surgical division.

I am a former employee of Hologic and specifically this division. I was terminated from my position due to what the company called a "violation of policy". To this day, I have yet to seen this specific policy. I was "targeted" by upper management because I took the time to address issues occurring in my territory which by the way was significantly outperforming quota. I was not a bottom-feeder who got by on just quota. I was a performer and potential trip winner had I been given the chance to remain through the fiscal year. The fact of the matter is I was singled because I refused to let the status quo exist in my territory.

The person who posted this message is dead-on in their analysis of the GSP division. I LOVED my career at Hologic. I envisioned spending a long time at Hologic until my career was cut from underneath my feet. I despise the leadership within the GSP division. The DSM's are powerless and mine was the best mentor I had ever had in my career.

As this individual points, Leadership at Hologic needs to change for the company to remain successful. The Novasure product was a revolutionary product for the GYN doctors. I have seen the level of cult following that exists with any product like Novasure has today. That support will diminish very quickly if the company doesn't fix the problems with Adiana immediately.

The leadership in the HOLX GSP division should take a page from US Surgical and their subsequent rise and fall with Autosuture. There will ALWAYS be competition and when it comes it will come swift and fast. The GSP division needs change or they will continue to lose people.

If there are outsiders reading this post, or even the board at HOLX take action. The senior management results the last 2 years speak for themselves. $20mil in spending was a waste, someone needs to pay for the waste and that should the leadership.

We ask physicians to change all the time, it is time for HOLX to change. Maybe then I would buy my stock back.

 

Thanks, Michael.

 

Hologic is a great company. Wish they would have never bought Cytyc. Unfortunately, Cytyc is trickling into other areas of Hologic and bringing the Top-Down management mentality. Hologic Imaging, Sentinelle, IBS and Bone jobs are excellent and will continue to be so for the next several years, unless Peter S becomes Cytyc light...then all of the great reps will move on to bigger & better things.

 

So are you saying dont join this company???
It seems like they have some great products with Novasure, Myosure and Adiana (now that the lawsuit with ESSURE/Conceptus is over.
Why do the change the comp program from quarter to quarter?
How DO they retain good talent?
Starting salary for this company?

thanks

 

Hahaha this was good for a laugh

 

Probably one of the better threads I've read about a company on cafe Pharma except for the few sarcastic comments that slipped in there like "good for a laugh". Sometimes you can find realistic assesments on CafePharma about companies and sometimes these threads are littered with vague sarcasim and negativity.

I've been selling OR medical devices for many years but have hit a wall where I am at currently and am looking at Hologic. Seems like the products and the talent are in place with Hologic but there are a few cultural things to work out. I've yet to find the perfect company and the perfect job so I'd rate most of what was said here as a positive reflection of Hologic. Keep the honest info coming but check the unexplained sarcasm at the door; it is truly useless and does nothing for the readers. If you have a legitamate negative point to raise do so in a professional way that provides the readers with insight instead of aimless venom. I appreciate the honesty of the previous posts and this has helped me in my assesment of the opportunity. Keep in mind folks if you've been in the game for a while "lateral" is not neccesarily a bad thing. You can't "move up" in these jobs forever unless you're talking about going into management. Healthcare is changing and $150-$200K is nothing to sneeze at these days.

 

Steve Williamson, please go back to hiking up quotas and stay off CafePharma.

 

I am the on who wrote right before you and I don't even know who that Steve guy is. I don't even work for Hologic. Just getting sick of all the crap that people write on these boards. People come on here for real info not sarcasm and BS. Keep it real.

 

Anyway, back to the topic at hand. I read some posts back from 2008 and there was a lot of complaining. What has happened in the last 4-5 years since then? Has anything gotten better? What direction will the new products take if they get any? Cash flow? What is this company's plan for growth and will it be a good place to be for the next 3-5 years?

 

Managers need to stop trolling these boards, pretending to be outsiders trying to get in. Anyone with "many years" in medical devices would certainly not be looking to get in here. This is probably a good stepping stone on the path to a solid opportunity down the road, provided you can put up with all the BS this division spews. Get in, perform, then GTFO. If you have extensive experience in kissing ass and sucking dick, you will do well here. Hell, you will probably get promoted to management.

 

I am not a manager. There is no way to convince you of that because you don't know me and therefore my word means nothing but... I am not a current employee of the company. I'm just a rep with several years of medical device sales experience looking at a position with the surgical division of Hologic in my market because (mainly I'm looking at opportunities because I'm not making what I should be with my current job). If I create an anonymous email would you be willing to talk to me on the side? I am intruiged by your comments and though I have some friends at the company I'd like to speak with you about the good and the bad. Confirm and I will post the email address for you to contact me at and we can talk non-publicly.

 

So did you end up taking a position here, how happy are you with your decision now?

 

I've progressed through the first and second interviews so far. I really like the manager. The current territory I'd be taking over is well below % to plan but has been empty for a little while so that's probably to be expected. I'm hopefully coming back for a third interview and then a field ride. The previous posts were from me and the person who replied seemed to think I was a manager but I certainly am not. I have 6+ years of surgical sales experience and I am looking very hard at this opportunity. The money is definetely right it's just a question of if you would actually make what they are telling you since it's running below plan. But, of course that's what reps are for, right? To get it back above plan. I have some present and former contacts at the company so I can get the information I need from them but I just wanted to see what people on here said. So no, have not taken the job yet. Still in the interview process.

 

Did you get the job? Was the opening in KY?