Session #: 112

Location: Coronado R

Session Format: Industry Session

Engage in an interactive benchmarking dialogue with other colleagues from the Pharma/Biotech field in this special MyIndustry Learning User Group. We will compare notes about how "Learning is Changing", including:

• What are the unique business challenges faced by the Pharma/Biotech industry training groups? How do mergers, acquisitions, growth, high turnover, and efforts at compliance in a highly regulated environment influence our training strategies?

Business pressures currently impacting industry

•          Cost – want training synergies by bridging silos into an organizational approach with buy-in from different areas (alternate reality simulation could be a tremendous tool)

-         Improve internal governance to achieve a more collaborative approach

-         Sales and manufacturing have more budget for training, need to take advantage of reusability of content (XML-based content development improves the ability to do this)

-         Review/improve change management process

•          Turnover - Manage change better

-         Retired/downsized knowledge transfer – provide bonus to separation package for assisting in knowledge transfer before leaving

-         Conduct regularly scheduled (2 x a year) knowledge transfer meetings

-         Performance workbench

 

Organizational constraints

•          Regulated scrutiny of R&D, marketing, sales, and manufacturing

•          Internal and external audits to ensure doing things appropriately (can use as a tool for leveraging resources for training, but need to make sure items identified as training issues are in fact a training issue)

•          External (government) control for accurate and balanced information.  Cannot but out information via common platforms that has not been reviewed and approved.  Makes using a methodology such as alternate reality simulation in a public forum problematic, but may be able to do it internally using some rudimentary review controls

 

• What business drivers determine the way we design, format and deliver our services in the Pharma/Biotech industry? How do we address challenges for cross-generational knowledge workers?  How do we provide effective learning opportunities for an employee spectrum that covers PhD research innovators and compliance-driven manufacturing staff?
•  
  Notes from this session:
  Thanks for Dave Peak for taking notes in our session!
  Learning Delivery in the Pharma/Biotech industries
  • Industry needs to overcome barriers to newer delivery methods; benchmark and consult with other industries who have made the switch to mobile, gaming, virtual worlds
  • Ease of access (e.g. mobile) is key
  • Many face global challenges: 40 countries, many languages
  • Organizational Challenges
    • No one had a robust centralized Learning governance group and/or a CLO
    • Extreme silo-ization was recognized by most people in the group; functional barriers exist everywhere; silos are organizational, technical (multiple systems, e.g. reporting) and procedural (vendor management strategies, best practice)
    • Vendor management can be a challenge: scope creep, LMS vendor evaluation
    • BEST PRACTICE: Get to know your Procurement rep; they usually know nothing about learning and if educated, can be of real assistance in overcoming barriers
    • Often misalignment in initiatives across the corporation (e.g. Sales driving a process)
    • Global locations test communication across numerous time zones
    • Industry conflicted on “knowledge for everyone” vs. dealing with regulatory and legal risk
    • Even blogs are tough to approve in these corporate settings
    • Dilemma: ALL CONTENT IS DISCOVERABLE!
  What are we offering our Next Generation employees?
  • While universities and technical colleges aligned with Pharma/Biotech are responsive to the needs of digital learners, corporations themselves adopt strategies in a “just in time” fashion that is predicated on culture, adoption success, legal issues
  • While one company mentioned “centers of excellence” who innovate on delivery of learning content, they work independently and sometimes have trouble sharing information with each other
  • How do companies address the broad continuum of education when designing training:
    • “we do have to be very selective in what content we focus on and make some deliberate choices for generic content”
    • Challenge: audiences want to be treated as “unique” but would be fine with generic content
    • Strategy could be to “touch” the learner’s ego and sense of competitiveness or the desire to “be in the know”
  What about the role of the LMS?
  • LMS users are challenged by multiple LMS’s across organizations, especially global organizations
  • Validation activities pose a challenge to a single LMS instance
  • Talent management can be a challenge because of the myriad roles and job descriptions
   
  • Some companies measure training success: one group had a dedicated resource and use the Kirkpatrick scale to determine impact
  • Other companies measure through individual developmental goals; some disconnect with senior management about the strategic importance of “training”

• How is training different in our industry than in any other? How do we reconcile the critical business need to stay compliant with less than optimum employee participation in training initiatives? Do we have the executive visibility and champions that we need to be successful? 

What makes training and learning unique in the Pharma and Biotech industries?

 

• SOP training and requirements – dealing with the FDA and other regulatory bodies
• Validated Systems – what makes a validated system? Who has the final say? Engaging the right internal colleagues and vendors
• Centralized needs vs. decentralized training organizations – the needs of the companies tend to be the same across all internal divisions but the divisions believe they are special and want special treatment.
• Sharing content externally – there is a need to share training events with doctors, hospitals, consultants, Pharma partners, etc.
• LMS challenges with all the above

 

There is a trend shifting away from the model of 1:1 training: SOP that is more holistic – i.e. – training may be conducted on several SOPs in one event that covers a whole process or “day in the life” activity of an employee. This presents challenges in up-versioning of SOPs and reconciling this with the regulatory bodies. But it also agreed that this is a much more effective way of teaching and learning.

 

Suggestions to overcome challenges:

Figuring out the training organization

−     Operate as a Center of Excellence rather then a function unit.

−     Create a training governance group and/or learning councils with business unit members

−     Bridge the gap between IT and Training

 

Changing Process and Behaviors

−     Identify a senior level training champion

−     Educate the company on the training function and the corporate need

−     Show how training has impact on the bottom line

 

Performance Consulting

−     Partnering (really) with the business

−     Demonstrate new methods of training and learning instead of creating the same old modules

−     Insert training EARLY in the development process

−     Show what happens if training doesn’t happen

 

 

 

Additional Notes:

 

Several of us met in smaller groups throughout the conference. We decided to start a Special Interest Group (SIG) for Training and Learning in Biotech and Pharma as an off-shoot of the Consortium. We would like to hold tow or three meetings a year hosted by a different company each time. Everyone would be able to attend either in person or through one of many collaboration tools (depends on who hosts). We reached out to Elliott and he will help us launch this by attending the first meeting.

 

The first meeting will be hosted by Schering-Plough (heidi) in Summit, NJ. The date is not set yet, but plan on late winter/early spring. We can continue some of the discussions started in this session and add new ones as well. Stay tuned on this.

 

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