Performance appraisal or evaluation is an essential component in the pharmaceutical business. It allows the company to retain and reward talented people, as well as eliminate non-performing employees.
Performance appraisal is necessary. It is a procedure that involves the assessment of an individual’s performance on a regular basis. It’s not just once a year or every six months. Appraisals are done every minute you are connected with the company. Performance appraisal lies at the heart of good business practice. A performance appraisal system can only function if the business has a clear idea of where it is heading and has taken steps to ensure that it is taking the workforce along.
Performance appraisal should be treated as an ongoing developmental process. It should be closely monitored by both the Med Rep and the District Sales Manager to ensure that performance parameters and objectives are being achieved and lapses are being addressed. By preparing yourself diligently and demonstrating a willingness to co-operate with your manager to develop yourself, you will create a positive impression.
To better understand and assess your own performance objectively, try stepping to your manager’s shoes. Make sure that you understand all the parameters, all the policies and all the performance objectives. Go through the appraisal system step by step by day 1 in order to be prepared by year end.
Review your job description, your role as well as your duties and responsibilities. Try to analyze you agreed quantitative and qualitative performance targets. What extra efforts have you performed or projects that you have been involved within the past year and what impact does this made to the overall performance of your territory? How does your work compare to the other members of the team?
Keep a detailed record of all your work-related activities. You should have copies of all documents that can substantiate your positive performance. Collate the necessary documentary evidence to support your assertions.
Be open and co-operative with your manager. Chances are he will do the same thing with you. After all, his main task is to develop you. By doing this review, both of you can highlight your success stories and improve past shortcomings. Acknowledge problems and deal with it constructively.
Being prepared in this review will allow you to be in a better position to discuss your performance in an objective manner. Express how you learned from these experiences and have used the knowledge gained to improve yourself and your territory’s performance. In anticipation of your next appraisal, be sure to take note and implement your manager's developmental plan.
Your manager will assess your performance quantitatively and qualitatively. In the quantitative aspect, you will be evaluated for your over-all sales performance. How does your territory fare versus your sales target? Aside from the total sales, you may also be evaluated on a per product basis.
Call performance is also evaluated. Your call rates determine if you are promoting to the right customer with the right product using the right promotional strategy. The proper use of the promotional fund is evaluated by comparing it to your sales. It’s called expense-to-sales ratio. This is a little bit tricky. Every company has different ways of computing this.
In the qualitative part, you are evaluated on the way you do things. This is based on the concept that if you do what is expected of you better than the standards set, the result will be positive. Written examinations and detailing exercises are recorded and improvements or lack of it are included. The quantity and quality of prescribed marketing and promotional activities compared to the standards are also reviewed. Your behavior is also reviewed by means of your 201 file.
The ratio or percentage between the quantitative and qualitative parameters may differ from company to company. In a sales-oriented company, they put more weight on sales performance, say 70%-30% in favor of sales. In other companies, they tend to have a balance between the two.
