Company helps rep cultivate skills

Medeva set up its management development program for people like Jim Brosius, an eight-year pharmaceutical sales veteran who is doing fantastic work in his position educating hospital fellows and residents.

The company wanted to recognize his talents and abilities, but with a home and three children, Brosius wasn't interested in pulling up roots to get to the next management level. So, in early 1998, Brosius was invited to participate in Medeva's unique program in which he cultivates the management skills he is interested in developing: "How to be a leader, how to create an environment where our sales reps can be successful, communication skills ...the whole gamut of being a successful manager. Those were things I had hoped to get, and [the program] has given me that opportunity,"Brosius said.

He also welcomed the chance to teach as part of the program; a former academic (studying coastal geomorphology), Brosius had lectured to 200 undergrads at a time. So making training tapes, mentoring new hires, and imparting technical information to groups of trainees draws on his existing talents. Brosius couldn't be happier with the program: "We have an excellent training department, so being able to work with them, as a trainer, was a thrill." The program also gives Medeva a chance to evaluate, utilize and retain its top performers.

Brosius describes training new reps as "joyful" and "invigorating." "It gives me an extra kick when I go back out into the field," he said. "And just reviewing the information keeps me sharp."