Building the Future: 7 Keys to Pharma Training
Earlier this year, our organization delivered a conference in Madrid on the 7 keys to the crisis, considering which factors firms should consider in planning their training efforts.
Many pharmas have started to look forward now and these 7 points serve as a good start point for those involved in training and development as we emerge into a new world, closely scrutinized for cost and value. .
The 1st key to survival then relates to ensuring training initiatives are value-oriented. In the majority of organizations, value is created by increasing sales, reducing costs, or improving efficiency. The first key is to decide what the drivers of these 3 elements are in our specific medical setting. In a hospital environment for example, sales are typically linked closely to the credibility and communicative ability of the medical rep. What in turn drives this? Is it pure ability or specific knowledge? If we carry out this kind of value-tree analysis, we can get to the actual drivers that can improve value. It may be that a specific kind of disease area knowledge is vital for reps to be taken seriously by their clients. .
As well as completing a value tree analysis, it helps to have the right pedagogical model (2nd Key) for training. What are the best ways to manage this knowledge? Which learning pathways? Is a controlled linear sequence appropriate or is a more user-customisable model appropriate? Creativity can help us here. Especially if we consider the 3rd key, informal learning. Given the high cost of top-down driven learning models, this represents a great opportunity. Chances are someone somewhere in the organization knows the answer or has competencies better than we can design into a training programme. Therefore, if we look for existent or emergent best practices and amplify those signals through facilitated peer to peer sharing of knowledge, we can reduce training costs significantly. There is no better example of this, than when a new drug is launched and reps learn how to sell it. Setting up rapid diffusion and reuse of sales best practice is invaluable in reducing the sales learning curve. .
However informal social learning is not something that sits easily with most pharma decision makers: what about regulatory issues? Surely we cannot allow loose chat about products on-line?. It is important therefore to set up forums with clear objectives, audiences and active facilitation. By active facilitation, we mean that it is normal for the forums to be continually monitored every day and an SLA for response times to be set at 24 hours. .
The 4th key relates to a quite different focus on content management. By performing a gap analysis, and segmenting training needs by group, we can decide on which content is most likely to add value. It could be for example, that by providing a short e-learning programme on how to use a new computer system/ process, that substantial time saving can be achieved. .
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Ironically, it is only with these analyses in place that it makes sense to address technology. As an L&D professional today, it is easy to be spooked by the many web 2.0 technologies out there and assume that unless you have the latest web application tools, then your organization is headed to Jurassic Park on a one-way ticket. This is a good example of the tail wagging the dog: technology is there to support the pedagogical model, not the other way around. Consequently, we can select those technologies, and only those technologies that add value to the learning strategies. It may be for example, that webcasting alone is sufficient to provide managers with information they need. Thus choosing the right technology is key to survival, resisting the urge to go with the flow. .
Building the right business case, the 5th key, is going to help us with the budget holder meeting. If we cannot identify concisely how our solution adds value, then why we are taking a walk upstairs to ask for investment anyhow? Would we say yes to this project if it was our own cash? Using on-line technologies genuinely has the potential to reduce costs and improve efficiency in our learning models and we should quantify this. In many cases, other models cannot deliver training in time, to enough people and with such flexibility. .
Clearly one of the implications of this approach is that it requires flexibility in the ways in which training can be delivered, and this is reflected in the 6th key, choosing a flexible learning management platform that can evolve with the learning model. Without this, uncompetitive fixed costs are likely to accrue. .
Finally, a proactive attitude is vital. We cannot wait for someone else to find the answer. There exists in some parts of the pharmaceutical industry uncertainty of how to move forward following sustained criticisms: being in L&D implies providing leadership in knowledge management of our organization.. What are we waiting for? Its up to us to work out how to add value to our organization and then campaign hard for it. .