RIP Novo

I thought we "modernized" our approach 2 years ago?

 

well, as a customer facing employee, I hope my people manager gives me the good news that I’m placed in exciting new BU that will maximize my efforts.

 

...and help you win the Must Win Battles™

 

This all started with the hiring of the DCA group, we had no business bringing them all on especially with over 3/4 of them being lousy! Plus they get promoted without having to prove themselves. Now we are paying for it as Novo is big pharma. The days of Caring about the patient and employees are gone, it’s all about the money!

 

Shut the hell up you lazy, old and overpaid sample dropper. This has nothing to do with the DCAs. If anything, Novo needs to get rid of some of the so called “executive” and “senior” level reps and their 100k+ salaries. These are the ones who become so complacent in this job and bitch when asked to change or deal with change.

 

The hiring of the DCA’s is just one of the many horrible decisions the executives in charge have made in the last five years. This once great company is but a shell of itself. Sad.

 

I have to say in defense of the DCAs, the ones that I work with have been the best as they are hard working, seek to meet the needs of the customer vs their own agendas, and are the best collaborators with their DEs, etc. so quit your whining already about the DCAs. They work their butts off and are not getting the super high salaries. They don’t take anything given to them for granted in this company and they certainly don’t feel entitled. They earned their right to be here and I would chose them over many others.

 

I kick myself every time I come on CP! Mainly because most of the posts act like aholes and there is not any good gossip. Lol!
So that being said...... Correct this reorganization is not about the DCA’s! That was a failed brain child of Andy. And it has nothing to do with good new reps vs old bad reps! Please stop acting like our political system - dems vs rep! I can’t stand it. But that’s what you all sound like. I’m better and we are the only ones that contribute to the bottom line. Blah blah blah. STOP! Every time this happens people get on here and voice their Dumbass opinions about DCA’s, educators, old reps vs young reps. WTF! REALITY check! We are all in this together. We SIGNED UP for this! Like it or not we are at will employees. Sure we wish this industry treated us better but in my 18 years experience I can say this.... wish in one hand and shit in the other and see which fills up fastest!

So what I’m saying folks is this. This is Pharma. No matter who signs your checks. The industry is changing and so shall we. Anyone doing this long enough has known this day was coming. Not happy? Leave. Its our choice. Companies are and will always make decisions to improve their bottom line. And that’s just not pharma either! My cousin - not pharma at all - waited 9 months to see if he was going to lose his marketing job due to a reorganization. It happens all the time! Do we like it? Well hell to the NO! But it is the nature of this beast.

Read the writing on the wall. Our pipeline for diabetes has arrived. We are living the future. They told us at the beginning of the year we had to grow the hell out of Tresiba. We are fighting for future coverage on insurance. Once other glargine molecules drive the price down we aren’t going to grow anymore. Insulin will become a commodity. There’s a bio similar lispro coming soon as well. And Teva is challenging Victoza parent. Unfortunately Tresiba came 3 years too late in the US and we are paying the price.

The only thing left in our diabetes pipeline is oral sema (we scrapped oral insulin). Keep your eye out on the progress of that. If it doesn’t come to be - leave quickly.

In summary, stop being aholes on CP because we are all feeling the pain, stop blaming other DE, DCA, your mama etc. Most of this is industry driven. Please stop believing any company or industry “values” your work. That just isn’t reality anywhere. Take a deep breath - ride it out - look for better opportunities while you can and be prepared for the “big” downsizing that will eventually happen if oral sema doesn’t come. We can ride it out for a couple years with weekly sema but it won’t last long.

Sorry for the long post. I’m a DCS in the same boat as everyone else. For the most part - the people I’ve met with Novo are really great people and I’ve enjoyed working here. I’m stressed and fearful about the future. I personally value everyone I work with and I sincerely wish the best for all my Novo colleagues.

 

10/10 Would read again!

 

Thank you for the last post. Everyone is stressed right now. Whether they told us 6 months ago or told us today we are let go, we would still be stressed. Any change isn’t easy but it is business. We are not the VPs and don’t have all the answers. Who are we to judge what the company does or doesn’t do. At least they are trying to be transparent and trying to change things for the business. That is what businesses need to do. It is not personal. No matter how nice or gentle they will be, we will take it personal but reality is, it is a business. Novo Nordisk has been very good to me and the majority of us for many years and we should be grateful. Seriously. It is a job and it is our livelihood and we need to care for ourselves and our families. We have to take care of ourselves right now and do whatever we can to stay healthy, productive and have a purpose. Good luck everyone.

 

Well said my friend!! I hope and pray for the best for ALL of us Novo Employees.

 

"Companies will always make decisions to improve their bottom lines"

It's all about the $$$. Always has been, always will be. Profits/money is the only reason any business has ever existed. If a company doesn't make money, it simply ceases to exist and goes out of business. That happens all the time and has happened thousands of times.

All of what I wrote above sucks, but it's the cold hard truth. Another cold hard truth is the ROI of Rep's just isn't what it once was. While I've no idea how to calculate the ROI of Rep's, Novo management is faced with doing something about a lower ROI with regards to Reps. Very sad, but very true.

I wish no NNI employee any ill will. I hope and pray only good things will happen for all. I hate the cold hard reality as much as anyone else, but it is what it is. God Bless and good luck next week.

 

The grumbling is not about what our rights are as employees or what life after pharma will look like but rather the fact that execman continues to get away with AWFUL decisions that the majority of reps can see are awful. The DCA experiment was just one of them - and I have nothing against the DCAs. You can throw in the E expansion, the AE expansion, both DCS-4 expansions, the HS redesign, etc. The company's last justified expansion was probably the N overlay..who wants to bet we eventually go back to 2 plus an overlay (in the High potential areas).

People are also angry about the rapidly fading culture and the lack of development opportunities because "people managers" bring in their good ol' boys from previous Big Pharma companies. You have fewer and fewer "Novo people" in charge and that goes right to the highest levels.

The layoff is what it is but people are angry that all of this was entirely preventable if execman had just come down from their ivory towers a few times.

 

Oh ok! I agree the DCAs cost the company way too much money, that was already teetering on disaster! If anyone they should blame is the hiring managers of the DCA group for doing such a shit job in hiring!! Yes This was Andy’s BS and he should of been held accountable way earlier but instead they toyed with spineless leaders that lacked the nuts to get rid of him! We are ultimately here’s because or numerous bad decisions and Yes the DCAs are one of them! I haven’t met one good DCA yet! They all have one thing in common they are all full of themselves!

We need to go back to Novo of old! Hire only prior pharma experience and promote based off numbers not freebies from each position cause we feel bad. (DCAs)

 

Big question is which groups will be targeted. Could be low performing dcs or ocs one of the 6 people left in biopharm or even most of the last remaining de force in Pharma.

 

Are the DE's even part of "staying home" that day? Another messed up decision, however educated they are, the DE's are just so clueless running around giving pen demos!! When will management wake up to this huge waste of resources??

 

Have you ever wondered, as I have, why Wall Street so loudly cheers when a company downsizes?

It's because taking cost out of a business goes straight to the bottom line and can make earnings per share go up. As a result of that, the company's share price usually goes up. Wall St loves "earnings growth".

Speaking of growth, at one time there was some one who endlessly posted here about Novo's X amount of quarters of "double digit growth". There are many types of "growth" and while Novo talks about various different types of growth in their quarterly earnings announcements, there is only one type of growth that really matters, and that's earning per share growth. That's all Wall Street cares about - profit and future earnings growth.

Right now, Novo's earning per share is growing, but not nearly at the rate investors want to see. So Novo has decided to take cost out of the business by laying people off. It's nothing personal, just a business decision. Problem is, it's personal if you happen to be a person that is chosen to be laid off.

I truly do hate all of what I wrote above. Unfortunately it's the reality of the current situation. Good luck to all.

 

Yes, all DE's have been instructed by their DEM's to remain at home next Thursday.