The Right Skill Sets For Pharma More Critical Than Ever in 2009, According to TGaS Advisors Organizational Career Guide

People management, strategic planning and vendor management are the three top skills needed at the director level in a pharmaceutical sales organization, according to a new study conducted by TGaS Advisors, a benchmark and advisory services firm for pharma commercial organizations. The TGaS Advisors Organizational Career Guide (OCG), the first industry-wide benchmark for job practices and standards in sales operations, also showed the importance of analytic skills for Executive Directors, who average 23.4 years' experience primarily, but not exclusively, in pharma.

East Norriton, Penn. (PRWEB) February 2, 2009 -- People management, strategic planning and vendor management are the three top skills needed at the director level in a pharmaceutical sales organization, according to a new study conducted by TGaS Advisors, a benchmark and advisory services firm for pharma commercial organizations. The TGaS Advisors Organizational Career Guide (OCG), the first industry-wide benchmark for job practices and standards in sales operations, also showed the importance of analytic skills for Executive Directors, who average 23.4 years' experience primarily, but not exclusively, in pharma.

Results of the OCG study are being presented exclusively to TGaS Advisors clients, who requested the benchmark to learn "How other pharmaceutical companies do it."® The benchmark shows participants where they stand in relation to their peers in such areas as titles and reporting relationships, job and financial responsibility, skills, non-cash compensation, tenure, education and training and career history and management. Half the benchmark participants were large companies and half were mid-tier.

Another area of interest is turnover. Mid-tier companies registered higher, reaching 11.8% over the past 12 months, with 6.5% voluntary and 5.3% involuntary. Large-tier companies experienced a lower 8.6% turnover, of which only 3.1% was involuntary. The OCG calls attention to the need for a career path to give employees future direction. One of the key reasons for the benchmark, said Jeff Wojcik, Vice President and Management Advisor at TGaS Advisors and responsible for Sales Organization benchmarking, was to show clients "what 'good' looks like in the sales organization so they can build intelligently."

"People are eager to see the Organizational Career Guide results, especially now," said Wojcik. "Making critical personnel decisions, whether hiring, cutting back or creating job descriptions, must be on target. When we are asked to do more with less, you can't afford to have people on staff without the right skill sets needed for the job."

This precision is just as important as sales force sizes and support models continue to evolve in this dynamic environment, according to Wojcik. "Letting experienced people move on and turning the reins over to new staff without the requisite skills can severely diminish an organization's capabilities. Inexperienced employees have difficulty managing customer needs or anticipating effectively. They become order-takers, and the organization falls behind."    OCG results are available to participating TGaS Advisor clients.

About TGaS Advisors LLC
TGaS Advisors, ranked ninth among health-related companies by the Inc. 500, is the leader in benchmarking and advisory services to the pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical industry. The TGaS Advisors roster includes nine of the top 10 and the majority of the top 50 pharmaceutical companies with operations in the U.S. market. The firm's benchmarking and advisory services suite of solutions, PharmaStance, provides clients with a way to measure where they stand with respect to their organizations and answers the question, "How do other pharmaceutical companies do 'it'?" TGaS Advisors is based in East Norriton, Pennsylvania. To learn more, visit www.tgas.com.

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