Written by William Hirst • Published on 15th July 2024

Peter Drucker died in 2005, but his famous observation that ‘you can’t manage what you can’t measure’ has never been more relevant. In pharma we should be aware of the further implications behind these words: if you’re measuring the wrong thing, you’re also managing the wrong thing. 

This is what we do when we fall back on so-called vanity metrics—that is, metrics that give us the sugar rush of making us feel like we’re making progress but don’t demonstrate any real value. Content clicks, HCP contacts, reachout conversions and generated insights all fall into this category. We would do better to define our goals, then create the KPIs to match rather than constantly falling back on what we think makes us look busy. 

Take commercial: counting the number of meetings or impressions is of no use if we are looking to upskill teams. They grant us no insight into what is and isn’t converting sales in pharma–HCP meetings or digital engagements, and therefore grant us no insight into how individual performances are contributing to wider company goals. To really drive performance, managers should aim to replicate the strength of their star players and not just identify who their star players are. To do this, they need much deeper measurements.

As for medical affairs, we’re used to this picture being much more blurry when we’re trying to assess the performance of MSLs or HQ staff, but this is partly because we’re constantly trying to demonstrate the surface-level impact of medical teams rather than the deeper impact of their contributions. This frustration is felt particularly by field teams who complain that managers are only interested in measuring the quantity and not the quality of their relationships with HCPs and KOLs. MSLs know that it is the quality that contains the real value of their work and drives behaviour change, which leads us to the crucial point. Many managers are aware of the flaws of vanity metrics yet remain reluctant to face the real problem, which is that they don’t know what real value looks like.

We shouldn’t shy away from the challenge of creating ambitious goals and measuring our success against them. And by the same token, we shouldn’t be afraid of failing to meet high expectations—they’re difficult to attain for a reason. 

If you’re a manager that has forgotten what it means to generate true value for your company, your colleagues and for the patients you serve, you have the chance to remember it at Pharmageddon Europe. Join the waiting list here.