Pharmaceutical Product Development Reviews in Raleigh-Durham, NC Area

Pros

Career Opportunities
Benefits
Flexible work from home practices
Management
Information Systems
Internal training available

Cons

Need to be willing to work in a fast paced environment

Pros

You get to travel and devote your life to a corporation that does not treat the CRAs very well.

Cons

The work will consume your life. Management is not supportive of the CRAs. Quality is trumped by deliverables. The company is filled with unhappy people. It is a large revolving door and good CRAs end up leaving. The weak CRAs get promoted to management.

Advice to Senior Management

Treat the CRAs and middle management better. Intervene when sponsors become inconsiderate during those team calls.

Pros

Flexible schedule, understanding management, stable job

Cons

small bonus, no sick leave (have to use vacation days for sick days), no pension plan. Mostly cubicals with limited private offices even for senior positions

Pros

- low stress environment
- there are good jobs if you get in the right click

Cons

- look elsewhere for "product development" - it doesn't exist
- no developers can be found
- mostly just people filling space and wasting time (no work gets done)
- brain drain (too many good people leaving)
- incompetent line managers

Advice to Senior Management

- get those reward programs going!
- stop changing technology stacks
- get rid of the dead weight

Pros

Flexible work schedule
Can work from home
Salary is close to industry standard although could be a little higher

Cons

Line-managers are promoted based on who they know
Mid-level managers hide from their staff
Very little communication within departments and between departments
No clear vision of where the company is going
Executive management likes to changes horses mid-race; the end result is that nothing gets accomplished
Promotions are based on favoritism
There is no recognition for your effort and hard-work
There is little difference in raises and bonus between top performers and slackers

Advice to Senior Management

Management needs to make decisions and stick to their guns. Show some leadership ability and stop being afraid of making mistakes. Get rid of all the mid-level managers who add zero value to the company. Attending meetings for 40 hours a week does not mean you are productive if nothing ever gets accomplished during the meetings.

Pros

Good health benefits and employee discounts. My co-workers were great-we had no choice but to lean on each other quite a bit.

Cons

Not enough training at all. You're only as good as the person who trained you. It's a "sink or swim" environment. Too much favoritism with promotions and new tasks. Covering your ass was a way of life. It was very easy to be blacklisted for something as simple as "asking too many questions." No clear career paths and too many people who want to be "chiefs", not "indians". There was an employee mass exodus starting last summer and will probably continue to be.

Advice to Senior Management

Listen to employee complaints and give people career paths with the ability to cross-train. Also make pay competitive.

Pros

Strong Company, Very little layoffs in the past, Some Flexibility (depending on department), Facilities are nice for the most part

Cons

Pay is very low compared to market value, Hard work is not appreciated nor rewarded, Work load between sites is not equal, Senior Management does not have a clear vision on where they would like to see the company go in the future, There is no relationship between employees and senior management (even when they are standing directly in front of you they do not speak)

Pros

Good company to work for. Benefits were great, compensation was fair. Not unusual to work 50+ hours, but that went with the terriroty. Line management was aware of this and tried to work with you as much as possible. I'd recommend the company to anyone looking to work for a CRO.

Cons

I was there in a period of transition for the company as a whole and some of the opportunities for advancement for lower level positions just were not there. I believe this has been sorted out since, however.

Pros

PPD is developing new technologies and allows for IT and Business collaboration - which seems to be unique in the CRO industry. Management is investing in key areas and allowing employees to develop new skills. These investments will pay of big in the years ahead.

Cons

When taking risks and jumping into new innovations quickly, employees can get lost with the strategic direction.

Advice to Senior Management

Share the vision and communicate with employees on a more regular basis.

Pros

-Good benefits package
-Excellent place to work right out of college
-Training is offered on a continual basis and there are a substantial amount of opportunities for additional softskills courses
-There is a nice social atmosphere. People are friendly for the most part.
-Great place to come for some clinical experience

Cons

-Poor management communication. Employees often find out new guidelines or study changes with very short notice. Management seems baffled when employees get frustrated.
-Moving up is difficult. Promotions are not guaranteed and not even with a great performance. Management prefers the "yes" men as favorites.
-Not properly compensated in the current market compared to other CROs.
-No sick leave (only PTO for everything).

Advice to Senior Management

-Give more flexibility and show trust in team members that have demonstrated they are responsible. For example: flexibility in work schedule. If I come in at 9am, have good faith that I will stay an extra hour. Over-management is unnecessary and does not help morale.
-Really listen to our constructive feedback instead of going through the motions.
-Extra time-off is the best reward for excellence and helps boost morale.