MEDICINMAN CELEBRATES 1ST ANNIVERSARY WITH FFE 12

MedicinMan
~ FIELD FORCE E XCE L LE N CE ~
The 1st Anniversary of MedicinMan was celebrated by creating a new annual platform of pharma thought leaders to foster Field Force Excellence - FFE 2012 on June 16 at the JW Marriott in Juhu, Mumbai. Over 80 senior pharma executives from 24 top pharma companies attended FFE 2012 signifying the importance of Field Force Excellence. The registrations had to be closed, as it was practically a full house. Arvind Nair, Conference Director of Brand Drift once again delivered a spectacular event, this time ably assisted by MedicinMans new CEO, Chhaya Sankath and MedicinMans US Representative, Sejal Kikani. The outstanding faculty of FFE 2012 from 15 leading MNC and Indian Pharma ensured that the delegates had a feast of learning on various areas that impact FFE. The list of FFE 2012 faculty was representative of the uniqueness of Indian Pharma. Social media maven, Salil Kallianpur, Centre of Excellence at GSK live tweeted the event highlights ensuring that pharma professionals all over the world kept abreast of FFE 2012 proceedings. FFE 2012 kicked-off with a welcome address by Anup Soans, Editor of MedicinMan followed by a Keynote address by Amlesh Ranjan, Associate Director at Sanofi. This was only appropriate as both Anup and Amlesh began their career as Medical Reps and products of Field Force Excellence in India. Amlesh Ranjan began with a quote by Gautama Buddha Excellence can be achieved, if you dream more than others think is practical; care more than others
Chhaya Sankath presenting FFE 12 memento to Narayan B. Gad, CEO of Panacea Biotec

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think is wise; expect more than others think is possible; risk more than others think is safe. Amlesh traced the progress of Medicine and Pharma industry from palliative to corrective. (FFE 2012 presentations will be hosted on MedicinMan website for the benefit of pharma professionals, subject to copyright of presenters). Amlesh Ranjan touched upon several areas that lead to field force excellence and concluded with the statement The value that you add, comes from the values that you hold signifying the importance of personal responsibility and integrity in fostering excellence. Amlesh Ranjans success story can be read in the November 2011 issue of MedicinMan. The CEO Roundtable was the centerpiece of FFE 2012. This was for the first time directors of pharma companies who were brought on an open platform to discuss FFE. Brilliantly moderated by Sujay Shetty, Partner and Lead of Pharma and Life Sciences at PwC, the CEO
Cont. on page 3

FFE 2012 FACULTY

AMLESH RANJAN SUJAY SHETTY N. B. GAD GIRDHAR BALWANI SHRIHARI SHIDHAYE JOSHUA MENSCH APARNA SHARMA KEITH PINTO JOLLY MATHEWS DEEP BHANDARI B. RAMANATHAN HARI KRISHNA VIKRAM MUNSHI DANDABANY D SALIL KALLIANPUR S VARADARAJAN ANUP SOANS

MedicinMan FFE Special Issue | Volume 2 Issue 7 | July 2012

SuperVision for the SuperWiser Front-line Manager and HardKnocks for the GreenHorn are

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Medical Reps

MedicinMan 1st Anniversary Issue

Senior Pharma Industry professionals and CEOs listen to Amlesh Ranjans Keynote Address at FFE 2012
Cont. from page 1

Roundtable gave a splendid account of the issues and intricacies of fostering FFE in the current context. The panelists were Narayan Gad, CEO of Panacea Biotec, a veteran unafraid of speaking his mind, Girdhar Balwani, Managing Director of Invida, another veteran with deep understanding of issues relating to field force; Shrihari Shidhaye, Director, Sales and Marketing, Abbott and Joshua Mensch, Marketing Director of Data3s from Prague, Czech Republic lent an international flavor and brought in the technology perspective to FFE 2012. The CEO Roundtable deliberated for over an hour and took questions from the audience. Joshua Mensch, a featured speaker at eyeforpharma and other international conferences, rated FFE 2012 as one the best conferences attended by him with regard to the quality of the faculty and delegates. Aparna Sharma, Director HR at Deutche Bank Group gave the lead talk on the new role of HR in enabling FFE, followed by a panel discussion moderated by Deep Bhandari, General Manager, MSO at Novartis. The panelists were Keith Pinto, Sr. GM Training and Management Development at GSK; Jolly Mathews a veteran in pharmaceutical sales training and B. Ramanathan, Business Unit Training Manager at Ranbaxy. The session dwelt on the current practices that were mechanized and the need to evolve a customized approach to attract talent that could be groomed for future leadership roles. This session attracted the maximum heat from the audience and panelists and was very ably moderated by Deep Bhandari with insights to this complex human issue. This was followed by a sumptuous lunch where faculty, delegates and industry service providers networked, caught up with the past and exchanged learning. The afternoon session focused on the important role of the Second Line Manager. Hari Krishna, General Manager Sales and Marketing at Glenmark brought his experience with IMS and expertise in pharma to the fore in taking the

stand that the role of FLMs was more significant and armed with technology to increase their span of control, they could bring about FFE without SLMs. Deep Bhandari brought in deeper insights into the way in which pharma sales leadership evolved and stressed the need for SLMs. Deep Bhandari was of the opinion that lack of role clarity was due to managements lack of vision and not SLMs redundancy. Vikram Munshi as veteran from GSK and Ranbaxy added much value to the discussion through his lively presentation on leadership development of SLMs. The session concluded with Dandabany Devarajan, a veteran SLM at Galderma responsible for South India and Sri Lanka showcasing how he, as an SLM had effectively contributed to his teams success on clearly defined and measurable parameters. Salil Kallianpur led the post tea-break session on Aligning SFE with Commercial Excellence with his incisive presentation that gave the audience a marketing perspective. S. Vardarajan, Associate Director at Merck followed with the Sales perspective and gave the audience a deep insight into the intricacies and essentials of rolling out SFE. Joshua Mensch concluded with the technology aspect of SFE and brought international perspectives and experiences of companies in implementing SFE. All the FFE faculty were a treat to listen to for their clarity and depth of knowledge The final session Half-time Coach by Anup Soans was a preview of an L and D program developed by MedicinMan for FLMs. Half-time Coach emphasized the importance of facilitation skills and emotionally intelligent FLMs to function as performance coach to bring about FFE on a daily basis. If you wish to participate in FFE 2013 in Feb 2013 or Brand Drift also in Feb 2013, get in touch with us now. Contact: anupsoans@medicinman.net Ph. +91 93422 32949

MedicinMan 1st Anniversary Issue

Keynote Address by Amlesh Ranjan

Associate Director, Marketing & Strategic Healthcare Partnerships. Member, Inter-continental Taskforce on Market Access , Sanofi, India

Amlesh Ranjans Keynote Address set the tone for FFE 2012 deliberations. Amlesh began by emphasizing the importance of Field Force in Indian Pharma and its continued dependence on Field Force in the future. More than sharing Best Practices, Amlesh stressed that FFE 2012 was about discovering Next Practices and Re-fueling for the future.

Highlights

Pharma business has changed because Medicine itself had changed from palliative to preventive to corrective. The end of the Blockbuster era is the beginning of the Disease Busting era marked by a greater understanding of biology. A new ecosystem is evolving facilitated by the digital revolution and the convergence of healthcare with the digital world. The digital convergence is creating an empowered patient who moves from shock to denial to acceptance to compliance and finally an advocate of good health practices. Diversity and disparity has increased in India, therefore healthcare is more than a business opportunity it is a social responsibility. Fortune is both at the top of the pyramid medical tourism and affluent Indian patients as well as at the bottom of the pyramid poor and rural Indians. Programs like RSBY are working very well in India. The self-care and OTC segment is seeing a tremendous growth due to easy access to health information. The market is transitioning from individuals to networks and hence the importance of communicating with all stakeholders in the healthcare network. Emergence of KAM and Market Access to engage different segments of healthcare providers and payors. Moving from transactional to relational and differentiating through people. FLM Captain; SLM Colonel. Right people, right competencies and role clarity. SFE is bridging the gap between Strategy and Tactical translation at the field. SFE is the strategic arm of Sales Management and the tactical arm of Marketing Management. Excellence = Adding, Creating and Co-creating value for all players from Field Force to Doctors and Patients. The entire proceedings of this and other sessions will be available for Rs. 1,500/- in an FFE 2012 Special Print and DVD package. Write to anupsoans@medicinman.net

MedicinMan 1st Anniversary Issue

Chhaya Sankath joins MedicinMan as CEO

Chhaya began her career as a Medical Rep after completing her B. Pharm from Bombay University. She later moved to Medical Communications with IJCP Publications where she worked for 6 years followed by another 5-year stint with Indegene, formulating and executing comprehensive strategies for pharma brands in varied therapeutic areas. Later, at McCann Healthcare, a premier WPP group, Chhaya was instrumental in launching its Medical Communications Division during her three-year tenure. Chhaya brings with her deep insight into the process of healthcare brand building. Till recently Chhaya was Head - Medical Communications at Wolters Kluwer, the largest medical communications conglomerate globally. Read MedicinMan http://slidesha.re/odius6 for Chhayas Success Story.

The best in art and life comes from something urgent and powerful. An idea or emotion that insists on its Being. From that insistence, a shape emerges and creates its structure out of passion. If you begin with structure, you have to make up the PASSION, and that's very hard to do.
- Roger Rosenblatt
Chhaya Sankanth: chhaya@medicinman.net | +91 98674 21131 (Mumbai) Arvind Nair: arvindnair@medicinman.net | +91 98702 01422 (Mumbai) Anup Soans: anupsoans@medicinman.net | +91 93422 32949 (Bangalore)

Moderator: Sujay Shetty, Partner and Lead, Pharma and Life Sciences, PwC (center) (left to right) Joshua Mensch, Director Marketing, Data3s, Czech Republic Girdhar Balwani, Managing Director, Invida India Shrihari Shidhaye, Director Sales and Marketing, Abbott Healthcare Narayan B. Gad, CEO Panacea Biotec

Opening Remarks by Sujay Shetty Moderator Sujay Shetty: Whenever I travel abroad, people want to understand and decode the Indian mindset and pharma market. The promise of the Indian pharma market slated to be in the worlds Top 10 pharma marketsis too alluring to ignore. FFE 2012 is a wonderful opportunity for us to enrich ourselves from the vast experience and expertise of veteran CEOs as well as the senior executives in the audience of Indian and MNC pharma companies. FFE 2012 is an opportunity to discus issues like the impact of Gen Y entering the workforce, whose models and methods are Google and digital. To discuss how selling is moving from heavy promotions to Key Account Management; and other issues that impact field force. (Question to panelists): What are the Top Two Trends Impacting Pharma Field Force? Joshua Mensch: 1. Harmonization and unifying of various functions within a company to ensure seamless communication between various functions like Sales, Marketing, HR, Training, SFE, even functions like Finance and Supply Chain. Using technology to integrate functions that ultimately impact sales directly or indirectly will facilitate this breaking of silos. Building relationships within and outside the company. 2. Refined thinking about KPIs moving from quantitative to qualitative measures.

Narayan B. Gad: A little bit of context is needed when discussing FFE in India because India is a unique market with the largest number of brands and companies jostling in the marketplace. The challenges are: 1. A high attrition rate of 35% 2. Reduced competence of a Medical Rep compared to 10 years ago and 3. The job of a Medical Rep is no longer aspirational. Having said that, I would want companies to focus on three areas to address the problems: 1. Once a person has been hired as a Medical Rep, what can we do to create a willfullness and pride in the job? How can he love the wife he has, even if she was not his first choice? (Ed. Not an easy task given that Gen Y prefers to choose their own partners even in opposition to parental wishes.) 2. Technology enablement how can we use technology to compensate for the lower competence of the below average Medical Rep, so that he delivers value to the in-clinic interaction? 3. Creating a culture of competence among the managers. Todays SBU Heads in many cases are yesterdays Medical Reps many who joined the profession not out of choice and hence the lack of competence continues. A lot can be achieved if the managers are more competent. Girdhar Balwani: Pharma industry still has a lot of attraction and those who do choose the career and work hard have the opportunity to rise in the organization as is evident from the success achieved by many in the audience. Apart from technology, the increasing number of brands has changed the way in which a Medical Rep interacts with the doctor. The expectations of doctors have also changed dramatically. The recent growth of many companies how have they grown? They have grown through relationship building, where the Medical Rep becomes just a Rep instead of scientific information provider. Will the MCI guidelines change the way doctors behave? Will we as an industry evolve code of conduct to follow ethical practices? Im a bit skeptical as there are too many companies, too many brands and too many Medical Reps. Shrihari Shidhaye: Technology will certainly be a big impact on Field Force. But how are we using technology? If we use fancy gizmos with the same visual aid on the iPad, the novelty will soon wear off. We have to ensure that we build back-end capability that creates and delivers value through technology. Even while using technology for Field Force merely for reporting and compliance instead of gaining customer insight, we may be using technology but we may not be optimizing its utility. Pride in the Field Force is a big Missing Link. Productivity of Field Force is falling sharply. While implementing SFE, are we doing everything to ensure that productivity increases?

Sujay Shetty: We can summarize the key issues as: 1. Technology will have the biggest impact on every aspect of Field Force working. 2. Appropriate use of technology to integrate various functions and deliver value to sales people. 3. Selling practices and code of conduct will need to be looked at. 4. How to attract and retain talent? And, how to increase the competence of managers? 5. Moving from efficiency to effectiveness and onward to excellence. The entire proceedings of the CEO Roundtable and other sessions will be available for Rs. 1,500/in an FFE 2012 Special Print and DVD issue. Write to anupsoans@medicinman.net

A Tool for Coaching Medical Reps on Key Account Management | Available as E-book for Kindle and iPad

MedicinMan 1st Anniversary Issue | KAM Special

Making the Transition from Medical Rep to Key Account Manager

Sagar S Pawar
The Indian Pharma Industry is going through a profound change in terms of its Marketing and Sales models. The forthcoming years will see the emergence of new innovative commercial models as every Pharma company would want to differentiate themselves through their Products and Services". Going forward, sales and marketing will become more concentrated. Pharmaceutical companies will start focusing on policy makers, patients and payors who would increasingly determine which medicines are prescribed. The success will depend more and more on the ability to differentiate and demonstrate value for money. Many companies will seek to enhance their offerings along with products and will start investing in services like compliance monitoring, home delivery and overall disease management. This resurgence would see new sales models evolving. The companies which will adapt faster and make these changes will ensure success. The service driven model will call for a sales force with different skill sets. Typical selling process will slowly diminish or get restricted to only primary care and KAM (Key Account Management) or Relationship Management (RM) will be the way forward in terms of differentiation. Pharma companies will have to bring in fresh new ideas and processes to hire, train and build individuals in line with Entrepreneur Model as every Key Account Manager or a Relationship Manager will act as a business driver in his own territory or region. With Market shifting from Acute to Chronic with life style changes, more and more specialised medicines will take over the existing therapies and this would require a specialised sales force with completely new skill sets. The future generation sales force will have to embrace technology and be tech savvy to handle the new marketing mediums and take them successfully to the doctors. The KA Manager will have to show good business acumen and will have to manage his territory in a more systematic manner. (see fig 1)
Fig. 1

The Transition from sales rep to KA Manager is inevitable as existing sales models would change and evolve. Some companies may band together and adopt Bundling Strategy" for medicines and will include branded treatments, generics and OTC products for specific patient segments. So for example - a bundle of medicines targeted at patients with Cardiovascular diseases would include - ARBs, Diuretics, Statins, Omega 3 fatty acids, Anti-platelet drugs and Aspirin. The financial services industry already operates with this model where financial advisers bundle products from other providers. Pharma will explore this model as this will help industry reduce cost and re-deploy this money in R and D or in "new value added services". Traditional way of selling may fail and companies will have to build robust KAM structures to differentiate and service customers better than the competitors. KAM will have to play different roles successfully. He will become important "SPOC" managing different stakeholders in the selling process. (See fig. 2, next page) Thus KAM will play a major role in the future selling process and will have to shoulder dual competency and will be judged on multiple parameters. (See fig. 3, next page) At the same time companies will also have to realise that KAM structure would have its limitations and is not the

KAM Special | MedicinMan 1st Anniversary Issue

only solution as the future evolved sales model. KAM structure needs to be used selectively and not as a mass weapon. For example - all nursing homes may not justify KAM structure but key nursing homes based on judgement and requirement will justify the KAM model. On the other hand almost all large corporate hospitals and chains will require KAM structure. The other word of caution would be to have a robust selection and training process and not just pick people up randomly from the existing set up. A robust process should be built to tap and select Rep's and Area Manager's who are flexible, skilled and with Entrepreneurial skill sets. The future Marketing and Sales models are bound to change and are changing fast. An effective KAM structure would help companies to effectively market and sell new speciality therapies and treatment in the areas of Oncology, Virology , Vaccines as well as the Biologics and Biosimilars where the need to differentiate would be the need of the hour.
Fig. 3 Fig. 2

Sagar S Pawar, Associate Director, PwC - Pharma and Life Sciences. Sales process Sales planning Business sense Sagar has experience of working across the Pharma value chain and has worked in the Domestic & International markets in areas such as Marketing, Sales, Licensing, New Product Development, Clinical Research and Strategic Consulting.

Personality Social Interaction Knowledge

Salil Kallianpur, Centre for Excellence at GSK delivered an incisive talk on Aligning SFE with Commercial Excellence

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MedicinMan 1st Anniversary Issue

A MedicinMan Poll to Foster Field Force Excellence

Comment and cast your vote here: http://linkd.in/MDfstI

knowlEDGE venturZ Learning & Development Programs

Breakfast for the Brain HR Sales/Marketing/Business Connect SFE Workshop KAM Workshop Program for SLMs Program for FLMs Brand Drift 2013 FFE 2013 And Many More to Create an Ecosystem that Nurtures Excellence in Indian Pharma/Devices etc;
Chhaya Sankanth: chhaya@medicinman.net | +91 98674 21131 (Mumbai) Arvind Nair: arvindnair@medicinman.net | +91 98702 01422 (Mumbai) Anup Soans: anupsoans@medicinman.net | +91 93422 32949 (Bangalore)

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MedicinMan 1st Anniversary Issue

Breaking the HR - Sales Silo at FFE 12

A Kingpins Management Consultancy Feature

Pharmaceutical Sales Profession The HR Challenge

- Balraj Chandra Indian Pharma is experiencing accelerated growth and human resource professionals will find it more and more challenging to acquire, develop, manage and retain people to meet this growth. Adequate investment in recruitment, training and retention is the key to quality, says Andrew Brana, TNS global consultant for sales force optimization. High attrition rates among new-joiners is due to deficiencies in the recruiting and selection process. While concentrating on quantity, often quality is compromised. Role clarity, candidates long-term career aspirations, right mindset and overall fitment are overlooked in the desire to fill up the vacancies quickly. The HR challenge of acquisition of relevant talent, developing, managing and retaining can be addressed by: 1. Creating awareness among students and job aspirants of long -term career prospects by giving them a realistic and positive picture of pharma sales foundation. Pharma sales job enables a person to learn, practice and improvise many skills as they get exposed to a variety of customers - Doctors, Paramedics, Patients, Retailers, Stockists and others. Medical Reps perform a variety of tasks - Customer Relations, Market Research, Distribution and Logistics, Channel Management and Inventory Management. 2. Pharma has always maintained a low profile in the media and people start their career by chance and not by choice. However, those who chose pharma sales as a career can narrate their success stories. So the need is to create a willingness to choose Medical Rep as a career and exposing them to career paths that follow. 3. What next? The good news is that many MNCs have taken initiative to internally promote their Medical Reps to functions like sales training, marketing and others. A well trained and experienced pharma sales professional is in demand in industries like FMCG, Insurance, Banking, KPOs, Market Research and Medical Communications. 4. Training and Development training must be imparted at all stages of employee lifecycle. Corporates must adopt coaching as a way to continuously develop employees. Specialised workshops by external faculty with industry expertise is the need of the hour. Medical Reps and Front-line Managers are the face of an organisation. They are the balance-sheet influencers and need assurance that their career aspirations are taken care. Setting up standards which are recognised and acceptable industry-wide will bring in pride and importance to the pharmaceutical sales career.

Kingpins Management Consultancy is a Specialist Recruitment Firm for Pharma, Medical Devices, CROs, Clinical Data Management and allied industries. We are committed to assisting our clients to find professional talent required to achieve their objectives and build workforce of the future. Our efforts have made us a partner of choice in recruitment for leading healthcare companies. We work on a national level and recruit for all positions across functional areas, offering a one-stop recruitment solution as well as exposing candidates to wider opportunities and cross functional assignments. We strive to work closely with our clients to ascertain the precise qualifications and skill set required for the job and we screen and re-screen candidates accordingly. Insalenious is an initiative to create awareness among students and education providers of emerging career opportunities in pharmaceutical sales and allied industries. Insalenious assists ambitious students with structured as well as customized training to transform them as skilled professionals and provide them with their 1st job.

Email: balraj@kingpinsindia.com

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Photo Feature: FFE 12

Role of SLMs and Aligning SFE with Commercial Excellence

MedicinMan 1st Anniversary Issue

The Challenging Role of SLM in Shaping the FLM

K. Hariram, Former MD - Galderma

Product and service differentiation is going to become increasingly difficult to achieve in the era of globalization. Field sales leaders will face growing pressures to reduce field sales investments and to produce more with less. Faced with increasing resource constraints, sales leaders need to complement their internal sales force effectiveness measures. In this context, FLM becomes the fulcrum of FFE and the No. 1 priority as the FLM impacts multiplying effects through his direct contribution to his team members. The FLM plays a very critical role in the hierarchy. However, is there role clarity? Role always relates to: 1.Responsibility 2.Relationship 3.Area of contribution The Responsibility may be to achieve Planned Revenue Generation at all levels of hierarchy in a commercial organization, whether direct or indirect. But what differentiates one role from the other is the relationship area and the Area of Contribution. At the FLM level, the relationship primarily revolves around their team members (Medical Reps) and secondarily with customers (KOLs) and distribution outlets. The major differentiating factor is: Area of Contribution, where in comes, on the job coaching and training, maintaining interpersonal relationships, influencing and inspiring the reps, plus the managerial functions of planning, organizing, directing and monitoring /controlling, etc. Unfortunately, this role clarity is mostly lacking in the industry. The FLMs are treated On Par with Reps in the sales meetings. Both are exposed to company information and strategies at the same time. Most importantly, they are not empowered in line with their responsibilities.

No doubt, FLMs may soon fall into the trap of Identity Crisis. They are mentally burdened with the need to achieve results (at any cost). What is the responsibility of a SLM in this context? The SLMs have a major role in bridging these gaps and hence their direct area of contribution has to be in developing the FLMs through continuous Coaching And Training both on the job and off the job. Is the SLM equipped with the knowledge and skills plus the know-how of building the FLM? What should the SLM focus on? When we take a typical market situation, it is like a jungle. The reps are busy cutting their way through this jungle with their sharp knives. They are the producers (making calls, generating prescriptions etc), the problem solvers. They are cutting through the undergrowth, clearing it out. The FLMs are behind them, sharpening their knives too and setting up work schedules for the Reps. Who has to make the difference here? The SLM has to be the leader here. He has to be the one who has to climb the tallest tree, survey the entire area and shout wrong jungle (wrong calls, priorities, etc) As individuals, teams etc, we are often so busy cutting through the undergrowth that we dont even realize we are in the wrong jungle. So the role of SLM calls for an intelligent mix of management and leadership, efficiency and effectiveness, sorting out the priorities, avoiding majoring on minors and more importantly, the perspective (sight + insight) and the ability to know whether the ladder is leaning against the right wall.

3 Ways To Improve Your Team's Performance

1. Measure what you value - Do your team members know what matters to your organization? Do they understand how and why their actions affect overall success? You can add clarity by clearly defining half a dozen values. Then measure your team members' performance against each one. 2. Focus on consequences - Motivation and results are driven by consequences, both good and bad. After you ensure that your team members understand your expectations, explain the consequences too, both for fulfilling expectations and for failing to do so. Make sure, you are following up on those consequences as well. 3. Deal face to face - Talking one-on-one is the best way to influence others. Deliver praise and thanks personally to assure that the person understands your appreciation. Confront poor performance personally too, so that the issue is not ducked and your commitment to improving the situation is not doubted.

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Professional Growth Story | MedicinMan 1st Anniversary Issue

My Professional Journey: A Very Satisfying Experience Milan Sinha

Milan Sinha Traces His Career Growth from an MR in a German MNC to BU Head in an Indian MNC. In early 70s, it was difficult to decide and pick a profession and plan a career. There were very few options After one and half months of rigorous training in Bombay Medical, Engineering, Lecturer, Law, Army and Civil and 3 weeks of field training at Calcutta with stalwarts of Services. For a student who had missed medical college Calcutta branch, I was posted to Monghyr in Bihar. Time and went on to do an honors graduate program and then passed by very quickly and I did not realize, how soon I M.Sc. it was a real dilemma. What to do next? Confident was transformed into a pharma sales professional. I had the of good results in M.Sc. the only option was to get a habit of reading, which helped me read whatever was given teaching job. Botany was my favorto me by the company or by doctors and ite subject and I thought I would also medical books that my doctor-father My job as Medical Rep was a make a good teacher. In fact, my planned one and not simply one of gave me. Recognizing this quality, my HOD assured me that I could go to chance. I decided to get into Phar- seniors and managers helped me develop a particular college, headed by a ma Marketing and believe me, it my knowledge and challenged me to imstudent of our University. That is prove. It was my golden period; within 2 has been a fantastic journey. what was in store and I was certain years of working I became the top perof a career in teaching. former of the branch. People started looking to me as a knowledgeable individual with high potential. I was shifted Being the son of a Doctor, I was quite aware of the job to Ranchi to take care of Business Development by working role of a Medical Rep and I was open to this option. This in the Medical College, where I got an opportunity to sharpwould have been a dynamic, challenging and very growth en my knowledge and skills. oriented career as opposed to teaching, which was a safe, dull and relaxed profession. I became an active member of internal as well as external union for Medical Reps; I must admit that my character deI also tried for SSC in the Indian Army and went up to velopment, leadership and professional skills were acquired SSB Bangalore for final selection. I did not make it to the through union work. I developed better communication merit list. Many of my friends who were medical stuskills. Being part of All India negotiation committee for dents were of the opinion that I would make a very good charter of demands, I could learn the nuances of negotiation pharma professional as I had an interest in medicine. I and deal making. I developed the quality of debate and knew the nature of this profession and I was an extrovert. learned the advantage of agreeing to disagree. I underI applied in John Wyeth, Glaxo and Hoechst in my stood the meaning and advantage of both autocratic and hometown, Ranchi. I was interviewed for John Wyeth. I democratic leadership styles and put it into practice during also got short-listed for Glaxo and selected by Hoechst. my professional career as manager and head of the organiAnd as luck would have it, the people at Hoechst asked zation. I could understand the tactic of losing the argument me to join before I had finished all my M.Sc. practical but winning the customer. This platform also allowed me papers; so I dropped out after appearing in six papers and to learn the intricacies of labor law and its limitations. I adleft out two papers of practical exams. Hoechst was a mit that I gained quite a lot from my association with the strict German MNC and one of the top companies in the trade union activities. I can very confidently say that a posiworld. Even the pay was better compared to that of a tive trade union activity is needed and gives better outcome. Lecturer - Rs. 350 versus. Rs. 300. With lot of pain, I joined the Calcutta office in March 1970. During training I had a slow and very gradual progress in my career. Thanks in Bombay, I was informed that had I appeared in the to the insistence of the director of pharma division and few practical exams, I would have topped the batch. In 1972, of my well-wisher senior managers, I decided to become a I re-appeared for the exams and obtained my M.Sc. demanager. I am grateful to my wife who left her job as a gree. lecturer and encouraged me to rise in my profession. Yes, it was a difficult terrain to cross - challenging situations to The idea behind this narration is to establish that for me, my job as Medical Rep was a planned one and not simply one of chance. I decided to get into Pharma Marketing and believe me, it has been a fantastic journey.

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MedicinMan 1st Anniversary Issue | Professional Growth Story

My Professional Journey: A Very Satisfying Experience Milan Sinha

overcome. Leadership with imagination was the need of the hour. Dealing with a senior people in the team, making them feel they are wanted and invaluable, making juniors feel that when work increased I would put more hard work than them and establishing myself as a science oriented no-nonsense manager, were few things, which I developed automatically. I am fortunate to hold a record promoted as regional head within three years. My team ranked all India Number One for three consecutive years. Working with taskmaster and result oriented top managers of Indian and German origin was a great experience. I wish to thank them all. As RSM and branch manager in Hoechst and later in HMR was another phase of learning leadership. Managing a huge team of office people who were very different from field workers and dealing with sub-ordinate managers who were sometimes senior or contemporary was a key learning. I am thankful to all those who worked with me and helped me to learn quickly. One key area of learning for senior mangers is the art of making tough and unpleasant decisions. In fact, I excelled in that. I used this when C & F agents were appointed in Patna and Lucknow branch. It was another matter that the saddest work I had to do, was to close down Lucknow office of HMR. I was then shifted to Delhi to head north region of HMR - my dream office. I occupied the same cabin where our past and future directors worked. When I decided to move on from HMR, my transformation from a MNC manager to a successful Indian company was not only challenging but also difficult at times. I was fortunate to have joined Sun Pharma, which was progressive, system driven and value based company. Work culture was different but it was a pleasure. Hard work and managerial skills were recognized and loyalty at any cost, helped me progress very fast. Once recognized as hard working, honest and thinking individual, there was no dearth of opportunity. Within 15 years in Sun Pharma, I moved from Zonal Head, to NSM, Dy. GM, GM and finally, Business Unit Head. At Sun Pharma the reward for gaining the trust is being entrusted with huge responsibility. I was fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to establish an important division of Oncology with great success. Looking at my contribution, my services were extended by two years after my retirement and finally I left the organization in 2011, with great satisfaction. It was an honor for me to be involved in identifying my successor, very seldom done in the Industry. What a journey it was. It was full of thrill, optimism, learning, responsibility and lots of ownership. My entrepreneurship qualities were honed and polished at Sun Pharma. I was always driven to work as an entrepreneur rather than an employee. This gave me tremendous sense of accountability, recognition and authority. I was fully empowered. My involvement in Training and Development was well recognized. In retrospect, when I look back and make an inventory of my success, I come to the conclusion that I was fortunate to have:

1. Joined a wonderful profession where I learned every 2. 3.

day, traveled a lot and met thousands of knowledgeable people, which otherwise I would have been deprived of. It was a rewarding profession and growth potential was immense. I received not only organizational recognition by way of promotions, extension and remuneration but also external applause - Association of Radiation Oncologists of India conferred an Honorary Life Membership for my contribution to the cause of Oncology in India. It was first time a non-medical person got this award. I was sent for many courses in Institutes like ASCI, XLRI and programs of IIM. Gave me enormous opportunity to get name, fame and credibility due to which I was offered many a consultation jobs. My experience in marketing and managing finance effectively landed me to work for an Investment MNC of repute to undertake due diligence before making a decision for investment. The fact that I know the industry, therapy area, market and also the fact that industry knows me as a thorough professional with great integrity and tremendous knowledge, is all due to this profession. Lastly I have greatest satisfaction to have recruited more than 300 people for the industry, mentored and became instrumental in the career growth of more than 65 professionals working in the Industry and the fact that I am still connected to more than 100 top notch professionals is lot to feel proud about. I not only travelled up the career ladder myself but also carried many potential and successful individuals with me.

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Beyond Field Force Excellence - N. B. Gad, veteran CEO shares insight with Ameya Chandavarkar, Director FDC

MedicinMan FFE Special Issue | Volume 2 Issue 7 | July 2012

What do you expect your FLMs and SLMs to be good at? What are you doing to ensure that they gain proficiency in the desired skills?

The Half-Time Coach

A Psychometric Assessment-based Feedback and Feed-forward Program for FLMs and SLMs

1. Management Games Relearning by Reflection, Feedback by Observation 2. Case Studies 3. Movie Clippings 4. Mapping Exercises The Half-Time Coach is delivered by Anup Soans, Editor MedicinMan & Author of SuperVision for the SuperWiser Front-line Manager, HardKnocks for the GreenHorn and RepeatRx
Contact: anupsoans@medicinman.net Ph. +91 93422 32949