Job Satisfaction among the Medical Representatives in Bangladesh

Job satisfaction has been studied extensively in terms of sociology and psychology. In layman terms, it is described as the level of contentment an individual is having with his/her job. The pharmaceutical industry is one of the progressive and perspective industries in Bangladesh. It contributes 1% to the country’s GDP and is the third largest industry regarding contribution to government revenue.

The current market size is about 10,000 million with having almost persistently double digit growth. The market is almost self-sufficient in meeting local demand as 97% of the drugs are manufactured locally and is exporting to 92 countries. There are 267 licensed pharmaceutical companies in Bangladesh. Among the 49 Least Developed Countries (LDCs), Bangladesh has the strongest base to manufacturing pharmaceutical products. This large pharma market is principally driven by the prescriptions of doctors. Company personnel try to motivate doctors to prescribe their own company brands by personal selling, clinical meetings, seminars, symposia, etc because in Bangladesh the promotion of pharmaceutical products in the mass media is strictly prohibited. Medical representatives regularly make sales call to doctors by sharing scientific information and competitive advantages of their products over the competitors. During prescription preparation doctors consider such factors and use brand names for treatment and patients buy the prescribed brands.

This large pharma market is principally driven by the prescriptions of doctors. Company personnel try to motivate doctors to prescribe their own company brands by personal selling, clinical meetings, seminars, symposia, etc because in Bangladesh the promotion of pharmaceutical products in the mass media is strictly prohibited. Medical representatives regularly make sales call to doctors by sharing scientific information and competitive advantages of their products over the competitors. During prescription preparation doctors consider such factors and use brand names for treatment and patients buy the prescribed brands.

Analyzing  the  job  satisfaction among  medical  representatives  in  terms  of  various  facets  as  well  overall satisfaction provides a clear boundary of where the career satisfaction of a medical representative lies and also what is lacking in the facets causing dissatisfaction in their occupation.

The factors determining the job satisfaction among medical representatives in Bangladesh were categorized into: a) role of person in question, b) accessibility to sufficient materials, c) payment status, d) performance based incentives, e) superior’s attitude, f) opportunity for personal development, g) job security, h) adequate welfare facilities, i) leave facility, and j) overall satisfaction in the job. It was found that variables resulting in job satisfaction among medical representative in Bangladesh is supervisor’s attitude, job performance associated rewards, and personal development.

Other factors that need to be improved due to resulting job dissatisfaction among medical representatives are job welfare, leave facility, and job security. As a whole we can conclude the two  major factors demanding more attention be to be repaired so that it can help improve job satisfaction among medical representative in Bangladesh are leave facility and job security.

It is evident that the medical representatives are faced with various challenges in their line of duty. Various factors affect their ability to full discharge their duties but of more concern to these medics are things that concern their remunerations. Many are generally dissatisfied with their job for reasons of lack of welfare approaches, poor leave policy and job insecurity. Pharmaceutical companies have to review certain criteria such as job related-welfare, leave facility and job security to further increase the job satisfaction of their medical representatives. This would not only benefit career satisfaction of medical representative but further improve work quality provided by them.