Ok...I know alot of people are probably going to fire back at me with their heavy artillery, but if we are really honest with ourselves, (Denial ain't just a river in Egypt) most of us fit in one of these categories... Dumb: This one is mostly reserved for the young and clueless, who have little or know clinical expertise, and really should not be selling anything to physicians, the most educated segment of the population. There may also some older folks that are just clueless, and think this is a good job still. (Mostly minorities..."Look Ma!! I made in America and have a company car and wear a suit to work...What a country!!!) Desperate: Mostly older folks, who have so little confidence in their skillset (and for many with good reason--no one will hire pharma reps in other industries) that they stay at Merck despite the job being a joke, the constant, transparent lies of management, and the over riding need for a paycheck... Lazy: Well, this is the category I fall into...Granted, I came to this company way back when, and worked my ass off for a lot of years...They treated us pretty fairly and I was proud to work for Merck...Well, things changed, Merck adapted a "scorched earth" policy towards their reps, and decided that fear and lies the preferred culture here...Any reasonably intelligent person at that point becomes rather demotivated, and adapts a 15 X 15 approach or some similar strategy of working as little as possible to still collect the check... There probably could be a 4th legitimate category of those who don't mind being "put in a box" the way Merck does, and just are happy plodding along doing mindless busywork...Personally, that drove me nuts... Which one are you...And btw, FU MERCK!!!
Honestly, there's a lot of truth here., although the fourth box could just be those biding their time because they expect the layoff and don't want to miss the free separation pay.
I would rename the third group as, "Disillusioned". You knew of the Old Merck and am tired of the craps these days. It is not going to change and so you adopt the 15x15 strategy since Merck is pretty much hopeless.
You raise a good point here...that would have been a legit category probably, but the reason many of us old timers stayed so long to get ourselves into such trouble (ie. unemployable in our 50s) is that we sort of took (what we thought) was the easy way out... Granted, this did use to be an actual career before management's greed turned the job in to a total joke... Looking back on it all, I regret all the time I wasted at Merck and in Pharma...Guess I got a bit lazy so put me in category 3... FU MERCK!!
of course you are lazy, because you are too smart and white to be dumb or desperate, right? what a fucking jack ass ...... not just a jackass, a fucking arrogant wonder bread jackass....
looks like someone struck a nerve and got their knickers in a bunch.... yes, I am too smart and white to be dumb or desperate...that is why I bailed on pathetic Schmerck, Sharp & Dumb...a toxic company if there ever was one.... you obviously have a hard time admitting to yourself that you still are a friggin' lame-ass drug rep in Big Pharma...
We should be honest with ourselves. Whoever left at Merck now are not necessarily the brightest or the dumb ones have been pushed out already. They told you that during the first round of layoff a few years ago. You mean our esteemed leaders discovered another group of lazy asses again and again? Haha! Some of us are smart enough, or courageous enough to take a chance and left. Some are stuck with Merck for various reasons. Financially stuck. Too old to move on. Too afraid to move on. We know we are paid way above average for a job that is diminishing in value these days. We went from being peers of customers (20-30 years ago) to an nuisance and a caterer. The toxic environment has turned us into cannibals and mean spirited too.
Forced rankings and the highly subjective promotion process for the S3 position has also contributed to the mean spirited cannibalization atmosphere here too.
and you know what should be really telling - as usual the topic of forced ranking came up at the meeting - Mark T and the HR guy said some thing to the effect of "we know its only meant to be used as a differentiation system for a short time period - and they know it contributes to a dysfunctional culture (there is actually alot of data to support this) - but we can't change it right now." so folks, if that didn't tell you that at very high levels they don't give a shit about the culture, they are talking out both sides of their mouths - they want as many people to leave as possible - they know that one of the primary drivers of our hypercompetitive environment is forced ranking - yet they are not going to change it. So there is your message - very clearly, shut up and do your job. why do they bother to survey us? the double talk and bullshit and speaking out both sides of your mouth is really amazing. I don't think they get that we get it. they must really think they are smart.
They think they are smart and they really don't care if you are happy working at Merck or not...(As you said, they want as many people to quit as possible...) Who wants to work in such a toxic environment...Get out and start your own business or go back to school... FU MERCK!!
Wow you must be a millionaire once or twice over!! Bet a lot of us wish we had the funds to be a student again....swell to have someone else pay the mortgage and all our other bills...but then we have that nasty extra 100 grand student loan later....Wow and you say "start a business" is good too... another brilliant idea....Gee,.that requires us to take out business loans (hmmm...second mortage the house)....then spend a few years building an income from nothing.....hey, can you pay our mortgages and bills until that business is humming...and throw in some living expense money? Oh, I forgot we'll need insurances too....health, car, business all those annoying big costs every month just like the ugly mortgage and property taxes....can you give us a hand with those? Gotta love all you Einsteins.....you are chock full of brilliant solutions for all of us dumb reps everywhere....
LOL the can't change it right now?? Really, we change everything else over and over again but we can't make a change that corrects a sever dysfunction in this company? WTF
gimme gimme gimme - take a risk stop looking for a handout no one said it was going to be easy - is what you do now "easy" (not in terms of psychological cost)
Excuse me while I time travel back to 2006 to get that book 'The Secret' and have it work its magic! I'll bring back a few extra copies for anyone else who needs to throw caution to the wind and change their life for the best. Wish me luck!
Typical response from someone who either has zero knowledge or simply chooses to act recklessly.....Anyone who starts a business without a second source of income (wife, husband, partner, windfall lottery win, family) is a little nuts at best.... You must have the knowledge and have sufficient resources.......Take a business course, learn how to create a business plan and start a business. Do research on types of businesses, financials and start up needs and drawbacks.... Speak to someone with the business and financial knowledge to help guide you. See what work is the best choice... Considering most small business fail....dont make a mistake...it has nothing to do with gimme gimme....Risk is serious. You need to know if you are better off looking for another employer vs owning a business....BIG DIFFERENCE....could be best choice or a disaster...splat