Big Ben

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anonymous said:
Can someone please post Bens feedback?!
Click to expand...

Just imagine everything you've felt is wrong with the NBU throughout the past couple years and putting all of it into a very long, thought out, professional, factual, well written email... then imagine sending it out to the entire company! This guy gets the Michael Yasick award for his service above and beyond to every Shire rep that has been here long enough to know what an amazing company it was to work for and for reminding us. Hopefully leadership will take a good hard look into "the most important piece of furniture in their house".
Shire execs: want to know how to get a higher Glint survey for satisfaction? Fix the things mentioned in Ben's email. That's it. #mikedrop #bensout #gobigorgohome #bentherealmvp
 


ben is a legend.
He said exactly what every single one of us in the NBU has thought, felt, experienced for the last several years.
Well thought out- on point- professional- TRUTH.
thank you Ben for speaking up and for displaying why you are a true leader.
This display is appreciated and will not be forgotten.
hopefully it will lead to a discussion amongst senior leadership, although their past ignorance is most likely a predictor for future trends.
Thank you again!
 












Good morning NBU. I wanted to write this letter for a few reasons. March 30th will be my last day at Shire as I will be leaving to pursue opportunities with another pharmaceutical company. I wanted to take the time and thank Shire for the great 10 years and also challenge them to do better (Cutoff at NSM was June 30thto be recognized for tenure. My groups start date was July 8th, 2008. I worked here 10 years). I NEEDED to write this letter because I know if I didn’t, I could be talked into staying as I feel a strong connection and a tremendous amount of loyalty to this company. I know that once my chubby finger pushes send on this email, that really won’t be an option and even my closest friends here who would try and convince me to stay will only be left to say, “Good Luck”. I also understand Shire no longer conducts exit interviews so consider this mine if you will.
I want to thank Jerry Totty and Brandy Peckham for taking a chance on me 10 years ago and giving me the opportunity to join Shire. It truly was my “Dream Job” and 6 months in I realized this was my “Dream Company”. I was here for life. No company is perfect, but this was as good as it got. Leaders who truly cared for their employees. They wanted them to succeed, not only in work, but in life. Bonus, payouts, Health Insurance, storage units, territory size, Personal/Sick Days etc. etc. were not set out to be “industry standard”(Some of those decisions put my families safety in danger and it was ignored). The Shire I started with did not want to be associated with the term “industry standard”. I don’t have a masters or doctorate in business, but in my opinion “industry standard” means average. Shire was not an average company and industry standard was not accepted. Instead of individuals sitting around and thinking, “how can we take things away from our employees to become more “industry standard”, leaders were sitting in rooms creating ideas to make us stand out and figuring out plans to improve their lives. There were gifts and deserved free time at meetings. There were MEANINGFUL contests worth 7,000 points or a trip to New York City. Those are just a couple examples of the contests I remember winning. Those 7,000 points were worth much more than this “new” point system as well. I took my whole family on a Disney Cruise. When a contest is rolled out now they want a standing ovation when they announce the winner will be getting 600 of those “new points” and you can get yourself a $25 Amazon gift card.
The definition of Tenacity was shared on stage as seeing the glass half full. I have spent time researching tenacity and I could not find that definition anywhere. Regardless, those that have been here for some time used to have no reason to see the glass as half empty or half full or ¾ full. THE GLASS WAS FULL. If that full glass began to leak even the tiniest amount, leaders were finding a way to plug the hole, fill it back up, and make it overflow. That is how it should be in my opinion.
I have had 4 RD’s and one interim RD while at Shire. I learned something positive from four of those five individuals. Thank you Brandy Peckham, Josh Lynch, Bill Garrett, and Scott Shields. Working with you was a pleasure. Please always remember to stay humble and don’t let promotions go to your head. Empathy is important in your positions and being willing to put yourselves in our shoes once in a while goes a long way. Ask yourself, “how would I feel if I was a rep in this situation .” You do not pay us. We, the reps, pay you. I think that is forgotten at times. Many leaders feel they are better than those they lead. Real leaders see themselves as equals just trying to help those they lead to get to a common goal. There are a host of reps that would be amazing leaders in this company and could do your jobs. They simply chose not to go that direction in their careers, or have not been given an opportunity. We want to work hard and make you money when we feel your appreciation and support. Simply telling a group from the stage that “they are the best and you appreciate them” does not make it so. Those should be, and are action statements. It is easy and a nice gesture to tell people anything you think they want to hear. The harder thing to do is to SHOW those people they are the best and are appreciated through your actions. Changing a goal with a week left in a quarter, lowering your reps payouts by thousands of dollars, would not make my top ten list on ways to show your reps they are the best and appreciated. Treating your business unit like the ugly step child and making them stay an extra half day at a meeting while every other business unit got to leave early does not make that list either. Our colleagues from other business units were literally laughing at us as we walked by to our meetings as they were awaiting their ubers and buses to the airport. I heard the words, “sucks to be you” on more than one occasion on that Friday morning walk. Where were our leaders when that decision was made to lower our payouts with a week left in the quarter? That is when a true leader is needed to stand up for us and say, “this can’t happen, we can’t treat people like this”. Instead I was told, “this kind of stuff happens at other companies occasionally”. My point exactly. This kind of stuff would not have happened at the company I joined 10 years ago.
Again, I do not claim to be as smart as those making decisions in the company but I would like more explanation on the Adult and Pediatric territories decision. To most it makes zero sense. If you cannot adjust and sell Vyvanse and Mydayis to adult and pediatric doctors, you probably should not be in the business. Many of us lost strong relationships in offices and now have reps living over an hour or 2 away calling on offices we live 10 minutes away from. Does not make a lot of sense. Also causes a lot of unneeded confusion. Adult reps get paid this amount per script, Ped reps get paid this amount per script but there are some Ped reps that had their aduld doctors call Shire and request them and or moved adult doctors into their Ped territories so they get paid Ped money per script even though adults are writing those scripts. Sounds confusing right? Well it is, but there is a very easy solution. Give reps a territory and let them call on the pediatric and adult doctors in that territory. I know. I’m a genius for coming up with that one. Truth is if our leaders really valued us and asked individuals that aren’t “yes men and women” they would get this information within a minute or two.
The most important piece of furniture was also mentioned on stage. I would encourage our leaders to take a look into that piece of furniture themselves instead of simply telling us to do so. As you look at your reflection, put yourselves in our shoes. Look how we have been treated. Would you like it if someone took those things from you all while your division is making record profits for the company? I asked a question a couple years ago to our leaders while they were on stage in front of the entire sales force. Many of you remember. It referred to a bonus if we were able to hit the $2 billion mark with Vyvanse. We were told they would, ”look into it and it sounded like a good idea.” I guess they didn’t like the idea because they chose not to do so and sent out an email with the announcement a few weeks after we hit that mark. Really? A salesforce of roughly 500 does over $2 billion in sales which is the 3rdmost sold branded product in the United States and you send us an email? I’m no math wiz but that is a small amount of individuals bringing in a whole lot of money. I’m surprised no one went “Clark Griswald up in here”. Hurricane Irma did not blow over your upside down pyramid as was mentioned at the NSM. I would encourage you to look into the most important piece of furniture in your home in order to find that answer.
Lastly, I sat downstairs at the hotel with someone I had only ever spoke to a few times before at previous meetings. She got emotional while discussing some of her struggles. She explained how she has been at Shire for well over 10 years and is still not making a $100,000 salary. I felt awful for her. She has been a consistent performer and a leader on her team. How is this possible? I am all for bringing in reps from other companies at higher salaries but please stop slapping your own employees in the face as you do it. How easy would it be to make an adjustment for those employees to bring them up to a salary which is comparable with what you are hiring others at. You like industry standard except when it benefits those you claim you appreciate. The industry standard salary for an employee with 10 plus years and a proven track record is not under $100,000. You see when we started several years ago our salaries were very low but bonuses were very large with special incentive etc. I have been fortunate and my appraisals have helped me get over that mark much faster than others but all those loyal employees are deserving as well. Again, I want the new reps to get a great salary but I would also like those loyal Shire employees to also be taken care of. Remember the math above. There is money to make that happen.
 


Good morning NBU. I wanted to write this letter for a few reasons. March 30th will be my last day at Shire as I will be leaving to pursue opportunities with another pharmaceutical company. I wanted to take the time and thank Shire for the great 10 years and also challenge them to do better (Cutoff at NSM was June 30thto be recognized for tenure. My groups start date was July 8th, 2008. I worked here 10 years). I NEEDED to write this letter because I know if I didn’t, I could be talked into staying as I feel a strong connection and a tremendous amount of loyalty to this company. I know that once my chubby finger pushes send on this email, that really won’t be an option and even my closest friends here who would try and convince me to stay will only be left to say, “Good Luck”. I also understand Shire no longer conducts exit interviews so consider this mine if you will.
I want to thank Jerry Totty and Brandy Peckham for taking a chance on me 10 years ago and giving me the opportunity to join Shire. It truly was my “Dream Job” and 6 months in I realized this was my “Dream Company”. I was here for life. No company is perfect, but this was as good as it got. Leaders who truly cared for their employees. They wanted them to succeed, not only in work, but in life. Bonus, payouts, Health Insurance, storage units, territory size, Personal/Sick Days etc. etc. were not set out to be “industry standard”(Some of those decisions put my families safety in danger and it was ignored). The Shire I started with did not want to be associated with the term “industry standard”. I don’t have a masters or doctorate in business, but in my opinion “industry standard” means average. Shire was not an average company and industry standard was not accepted. Instead of individuals sitting around and thinking, “how can we take things away from our employees to become more “industry standard”, leaders were sitting in rooms creating ideas to make us stand out and figuring out plans to improve their lives. There were gifts and deserved free time at meetings. There were MEANINGFUL contests worth 7,000 points or a trip to New York City. Those are just a couple examples of the contests I remember winning. Those 7,000 points were worth much more than this “new” point system as well. I took my whole family on a Disney Cruise. When a contest is rolled out now they want a standing ovation when they announce the winner will be getting 600 of those “new points” and you can get yourself a $25 Amazon gift card.
 


The definition of Tenacity was shared on stage as seeing the glass half full. I have spent time researching tenacity and I could not find that definition anywhere. Regardless, those that have been here for some time used to have no reason to see the glass as half empty or half full or ¾ full. THE GLASS WAS FULL. If that full glass began to leak even the tiniest amount, leaders were finding a way to plug the hole, fill it back up, and make it overflow. That is how it should be in my opinion.
I have had 4 RD’s and one interim RD while at Shire. I learned something positive from four of those five individuals. Thank you Brandy Peckham, Josh Lynch, Bill Garrett, and Scott Shields. Working with you was a pleasure. Please always remember to stay humble and don’t let promotions go to your head. Empathy is important in your positions and being willing to put yourselves in our shoes once in a while goes a long way. Ask yourself, “how would I feel if I was a rep in this situation .” You do not pay us. We, the reps, pay you. I think that is forgotten at times. Many leaders feel they are better than those they lead. Real leaders see themselves as equals just trying to help those they lead to get to a common goal. There are a host of reps that would be amazing leaders in this company and could do your jobs. They simply chose not to go that direction in their careers, or have not been given an opportunity. We want to work hard and make you money when we feel your appreciation and support. Simply telling a group from the stage that “they are the best and you appreciate them” does not make it so. Those should be, and are action statements. It is easy and a nice gesture to tell people anything you think they want to hear. The harder thing to do is to SHOW those people they are the best and are appreciated through your actions. Changing a goal with a week left in a quarter, lowering your reps payouts by thousands of dollars, would not make my top ten list on ways to show your reps they are the best and appreciated. Treating your business unit like the ugly step child and making them stay an extra half day at a meeting while every other business unit got to leave early does not make that list either. Our colleagues from other business units were literally laughing at us as we walked by to our meetings as they were awaiting their ubers and buses to the airport. I heard the words, “sucks to be you” on more than one occasion on that Friday morning walk. Where were our leaders when that decision was made to lower our payouts with a week left in the quarter? That is when a true leader is needed to stand up for us and say, “this can’t happen, we can’t treat people like this”. Instead I was told, “this kind of stuff happens at other companies occasionally”. My point exactly. This kind of stuff would not have happened at the company I joined 10 years ago.
Again, I do not claim to be as smart as those making decisions in the company but I would like more explanation on the Adult and Pediatric territories decision. To most it makes zero sense. If you cannot adjust and sell Vyvanse and Mydayis to adult and pediatric doctors, you probably should not be in the business. Many of us lost strong relationships in offices and now have reps living over an hour or 2 away calling on offices we live 10 minutes away from. Does not make a lot of sense. Also causes a lot of unneeded confusion. Adult reps get paid this amount per script, Ped reps get paid this amount per script but there are some Ped reps that had their aduld doctors call Shire and request them and or moved adult doctors into their Ped territories so they get paid Ped money per script even though adults are writing those scripts. Sounds confusing right? Well it is, but there is a very easy solution. Give reps a territory and let them call on the pediatric and adult doctors in that territory. I know. I’m a genius for coming up with that one. Truth is if our leaders really valued us and asked individuals that aren’t “yes men and women” they would get this information within a minute or two.
The most important piece of furniture was also mentioned on stage. I would encourage our leaders to take a look into that piece of furniture themselves instead of simply telling us to do so. As you look at your reflection, put yourselves in our shoes. Look how we have been treated. Would you like it if someone took those things from you all while your division is making record profits for the company? I asked a question a couple years ago to our leaders while they were on stage in front of the entire sales force. Many of you remember. It referred to a bonus if we were able to hit the $2 billion mark with Vyvanse. We were told they would, ”look into it and it sounded like a good idea.” I guess they didn’t like the idea because they chose not to do so and sent out an email with the announcement a few weeks after we hit that mark. Really? A salesforce of roughly 500 does over $2 billion in sales which is the 3rdmost sold branded product in the United States and you send us an email? I’m no math wiz but that is a small amount of individuals bringing in a whole lot of money. I’m surprised no one went “Clark Griswald up in here”. Hurricane Irma did not blow over your upside down pyramid as was mentioned at the NSM. I would encourage you to look into the most important piece of furniture in your home in order to find that answer.
Lastly, I sat downstairs at the hotel with someone I had only ever spoke to a few times before at previous meetings. She got emotional while discussing some of her struggles. She explained how she has been at Shire for well over 10 years and is still not making a $100,000 salary. I felt awful for her. She has been a consistent performer and a leader on her team. How is this possible? I am all for bringing in reps from other companies at higher salaries but please stop slapping your own employees in the face as you do it. How easy would it be to make an adjustment for those employees to bring them up to a salary which is comparable with what you are hiring others at. You like industry standard except when it benefits those you claim you appreciate. The industry standard salary for an employee with 10 plus years and a proven track record is not under $100,000. You see when we started several years ago our salaries were very low but bonuses were very large with special incentive etc. I have been fortunate and my appraisals have helped me get over that mark much faster than others but all those loyal employees are deserving as well. Again, I want the new reps to get a great salary but I would also like those loyal Shire employees to also be taken care of. Remember the math above. There is money to make that happen.
 




Please do not get me wrong. I feel Shire is still a good company and a good place to work. It is a better place to work than many other companies out there. I just referred someone to Shire who started working here 2 weeks ago. (They took the job post down after they lowered the referral payout and made her reapply after they reposted so they could pay me the lower amount. Not kidding) It is just not the company I started with 10 years ago. Please don’t start with the “industry is changing and he can’t adapt stuff”. Through every change made over the past 10 years I have been a top level performer at this company. I know how to adapt. I’ve done it in many situations in my life. In my opinion a leader should not be trying to force those they lead to see the glass as half full. I think they should be shooting for much higher expectations than that. I hope something good happens from this letter and changes are made. If I were ever to start a company, I would know where to get my sales force from. Shire NBU Salesforce is the best in the business. The numbers don’t lie and I know many of you personally. You are the best and should be treated like it. Shire does have a lot of great things going for it and I know they can make it happen if they are willing to listen and make changes. There are a lot of great leaders at Shire that I do look up to and admire. There are others I feel have potential and need to improve. I wish you all the best and know that regardless of what happens you will succeed. You live the slogans others talk about and actually have the grit and tenacity to succeed.
 











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