I just heard that Mike Thompson, managing director of Biomet UK, was blown out yesterday. Bit of a douche from what I heard and managed to lose all his best sales guys to the competition earlier this year. Where do Biomet find these clowns?
Anyone know what happened to Mike Thompson? What kind of shape is the Bioment UK Sales division in right now for anyone looking to join? Looking for balanced opinions please.
I would think a good position for someone who desires a challenge. I can't think of a reason why someone would not want the job unless they have a better one.
He spent too much time being a sales manager and too little time being a managing director. He pissed away millions by creating a very generous and easily achievable sales bonus in FY 11/12 then immediately lost all his best salesmen because they knew that under his scheme a decent bonus for FY 12/13 would be virtually impossible. He used to ring a bell on his desk when someone was speaking to him if he didn't want to hear what they were saying. Anyone he did this to was obliged to stop and he frequently used to humiliate employees in front of others with this tactic. Grade A fuckwit.
He's still 'between jobs'. His credibility is shot so I think he'll have a hard time finding a decent new position for him and his bell.
I worked for Mike's organisation for a short time and found him to be a good leader, Seeing these comments, it's hard not to wonder if this is the same person.
To the post above , REALLY ??? . Having worked for Biomet UK for 7+ years before he arrived, I can honestly say I have never seen a company culture change so quickly when they hired that weapons grade cock rocket. I did the sensible thing and buggered of to a better company!! I hear he is now at Ortho Solutions, so unlucky to the boys that jumped from Biomet and went to work for Rupert !!
Wasn't he canned from Depuy too? What a come down. Can't say I have heard of his new company but I can't imagine the clown will be there for much longer either. Having worked with him, I find him a clueless, arrogant individual who has managed to move from one disaster to another by bullying his staff. It's amazing how many there are like him in this industry!
I currently work with Mike who is highly respected in the company and is driving business forward internationally. I can only imagine the negative feedback posted on this forum coming from a type of manager/BDM who contributes nothing to a company. He doesn't suffer fools and respects and supports successful people.
I worked for Mike for many years and he was one of the very best managers I ever worked for in my entire selling career. If I ever returned to devices (since retired) I would not hesitate to work for him again. He was also one of the best salesman I ever had the privilege to learn from. He really did teach me to sell orthopaedic devices effectively and successfully. When he rose to higher leadership positions I again found him fair and decent to work for. Granted, he did develop a more authoritarian manner but hey, he was THE BOSS and you had to do what he directed - that goes with the territory! If you found yourself on the wrong side of him then I'm sure it was because you weren't doing your job properly. When I had problems Mike was most understanding and supportive. The orthopaedic industry needs more people like Mike - who rose through the ranks to higher leadership positions was never a 'career chaser' like we've seen with many in the business these days who don't give a monkeys for the business and are just looking for their next step up the career ladder. Mike got to be where he was because he knew orthopaedics inside out and through hard work, application and merit was successful and got results. Cheers to you Mike!
It has been some years, but as the first posts are pretty reputation-killing I still want to add my very different impression of Mike: I experienced him from a country perspective at DePuy, when he was Head of J&J's European Spine Division. I found him to be much more dedicated to customers and business performance than most senior managers I have seen before and after. Very demanding with his team, but fair and with high quality standards. I know that it was him leaving DePuy for getting an incompetent boss and a company turning highly political, not DePuy kicking him out. I hope he did not change his no-nonesense style in a corporate management environment that increasingly lacks substance.
