Performance appraisal or merit rating in pharmaceutical marketing is a technique to evaluate the performance of the field person on the job in terms of assignments given to him.
Objectives of performance appraisal are to give promotion, wages and salary increment, training and development and self-improvement or otherwise in special case for the sake of demotion, transfer and termination against him. Thus performance appraisal brings out deficiencies and shortcomings in his personality.
In pharmaceutical marketing various methods of performance appraisal of field persons i.e. medical representative are used to evaluate and rank their performance for the purpose of promotion, increment or otherwise are as,
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1. Straight Ranking Method and Paired Comparison Method:
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Under this method, company adopts the technique of men to men comparison. Performer of each is compared with other and superiority is evaluated on the basis of top performance to low performer. This method is not widely used but small local companies still using this method few of them are Star Care India Ltd, Manuma Pharma Pvt. Ltd, Niramay Pharma Pvt. Ltd etc.
2. Grading Method:
Grading method include a predefined grades like very excellent, excellent, very good, good, average, poor, very poor etc. depending on overall performance for that period. Such grading method is used in classroom training program as it has its own advantages to recognize the work of trainee.
3. Graphical Scale Method:
A typical graphic scale is used depending on field person’s sales performance and his individual character like probing ability, active participation, self-intuitiveness, leadership etc. Companies having wide therapeutic group but low sales volume like Geno Pharma Ltd., Aristo Pharma Ltd., Indoco Pharma Ltd., etc. are currently using this method to evaluate performance of field staff.
4. Critical Incident Method:
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The pharmaceutical companies rarely use this method and applicable in specific problematic territories were performance in terms of sales is very low of the field person. Under this method performance is evaluated on the basis of his skills like situation handling, strategy implementation, doctors and chemist call average, reporting to top management etc.
5. Descriptive Evaluation Method:
For a specific purpose this method is used as a performance appraisal like promotion or transfer or otherwise. A detail description script is prepared on field person’s personality, sales achievement etc.
6. Field Review Method or Sales Review Meet Method:
Generally this method is used as mandatory in sales review meeting conducted monthly, bimonthly, quarterly or yearly depending on company-to-company policy and performance of that person is evaluated on the basis of presentation done by field workers.
Field worker has to prepare his presentation on the basis of has sales achievements vs. target, field activity report, doctors cal average etc. in short field review method is a abstract of advantages of all other method that are commonly used and fruitful in typical style of working nature of pharmaceutical marketing.
Team Motivation:
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Pharmaceutical marketing comes under the peripheral of management and management is getting things done through and with the people. So to get things done positive motivation is a major tool in it. Team motivation means to stimulate the team for desire course of action like strategy implementation and self-involvement.
As positive and negative motivation is two-way effective team motivational technique, but in pharmaceutical marketing negative motivation is most commonly used technique to get things done.