Helping marketers to break ranks
pharmafile | January 26, 2006 | Feature | Business Services |Â Â Â
In the pharma industry personnel development seems to be viewed from a short-term perspective. Where personnel development is undertaken, process driven training seems to be the current norm, even if it only provides a foundation.
Provision of more advanced training to arm marketers with the approaches and thinking to become expert and courageous marketers, who can make a difference, is sadly lacking.
To maximise the potential of the highly educated human resource we have within our industry, we have to be more effective at helping them do and see things differently.
In addition, we have to help our staff develop the ability to be output, not process driven and look at the bigger commercial picture. Only then will we begin seeing a better ROI within our businesses.
We cannot achieve this if our marketers are too hung up on operational detail, with strategic thinking consisting of filling in forms and spreadsheets. Marketers are often not challenged to be truly strategic thinkers and calculated risk-takers with a grasp of the bigger commercial picture.
I am sure many senior managers believe they do challenge marketers to think strategically but the myopic focus on the 'numbers' when the chips are down, without understanding what is behind the projected revenues, does not encourage or motivate people to think differently!
Short-term versus long-term view
Marketers are consistently told they need to do things better and improve efficiency, effectiveness and ROI, but to really be effective and move forward, they obviously need to be doing things differently. However, the usual approach is incremental.
If we are to be truly successful, we need to help improve competencies. Of course this should include internal business processes and the working environment, but also how to approach things in different or more appropriate ways to meet ever more demanding challenges.
When finances are being scrutinised, the training and development budget is often one of the first things to get cut.
This is extremely short-sighted because when times are hard surely there is a greater need to be more effective, efficient and work smarter to gain a crucial competitive edge? How can we hope to deliver more with less, if our personnel do not have the right skills to do this?
Developing competencies is not a quick fix so cutting back is storing up trouble for later, potentially creating a vicious circle. Hence the need to invest in people ahead of any potential challenges to ensure they are properly equipped to do their future jobs by providing the right approaches and thinking now.
Specialised marketing training
Many of the blue-chip consumer marketing companies ensure that new recruits have a solid foundation to work from. For example, Procter & Gamble's graduate training scheme recruits graduates into one of eight 'functions', including consumer and market knowledge and marketing.
Consumer and market knowledge involves sophisticated and proactive market research-based work to identify business opportunities, including new product development. The marketing function involves growing the value of brands within the P&G product range. Marketing trainees learn about advertising, PR, consumer bonding, direct marketing and project management within their first two years.
Some pharma companies take a similarly structured approach with new recruits, but not the majority. So what can we do?
It is essential that our marketers have a solid foundation in pharmaceutical marketing, not purely marketing, if they are to be truly effective. Although many of the skills can be translated from general marketing courses and are relevant, we are working in a specialised area and as such require specialised training to make these learnt skills relevant. Many traditionally trained marketers struggle to understand how to effectively access the levers of growth in healthcare and put general marketing learning into practice. We need training that ensures the techniques are easily translated to our industry.
Consequently, training needs to be developed and delivered by people who understand the practical application of marketing techniques within the healthcare environment. Hence the recent launch of the PriMe initiative from the PM Society a training programme by the industry for the industry, focused on the unique needs and requirements of our industry. PriMe 1 provides those who are newly appointed or aspiring marketers with the core, practical skills needed to provide the foundation for pharmaceutical marketing.
The foundation is important, but we also need to equip pharmaceutical marketers with more developed competencies to build on that foundation so they are capable of becoming expert and courageous marketers who can make a difference.
To achieve this a stepwise approach is needed to provide these tools:
- Develop a view on the 'future' and what this means for marketing competencies. There seems little point in investing in people if we are not equipping them for the 'new' challenges we face. While this may seem impossible at first sight, there are trends that can be identified and parallels drawn that will help develop this hypothesis.
- Analyse human performance problems or improvement opportunities separating those that lend themselves to training solutions from those that do not. Training can only resolve problems resulting from an individual's lack of knowledge, skill, or appropriate attitude; training will not solve problems stemming from poor management practices such as lack of adequate planning, communication, feedback or effective guidance.
- Analyse who will receive training, what working conditions will exist when learners try to apply the new learning in their jobs, and how new working practice will be measured to provide the basis for judging performance.
- Assess each individuals training needs to clarify gaps between what performers should know, do, or feel and what they already know, do, or feel. Clearly this requires a view of appropriate competencies both for the immediate but also medium-term future.
- From this gap analysis, you can clarify the training objectives for what learners should know, do, or feel when they complete training.
- Establish measurement criteria by which to assess success in training and sequencing instructional objectives for presentation to learners.
- Decide who should provide the training. Many companies may be tempted to use in-house experts. This can be fine, particularly for process training. However, not every expert is also a trainer, so some 'train the trainer' development may be needed. External sources are more likely to bring additional benefits (eg, new approaches, new thinking and new applications).
Embedding the training
To be most effective, training needs to be tied into application as soon as possible after the formal training session has taken place. Learning is known to decay very rapidly unless applied. To thoroughly embed learning, people need to apply the knowledge learnt during their course into real business situations, transferring theory into reality, immediately after the training.
Recognising this embedding process takes time, a little like when you start using a new gadget. Initially, there is plenty of input, but not as much or effective output as you would like, perhaps to the point where frustration sets in. However, if you persevere, things come together, significant progress is made and you may end up wondering how you ever managed without it!
Learning is a constant process so it is important to provide learners with a support network, from internal and/or external sources. For example, the training solution provider can provide coaching, facilitation of application in real life and 'after sales service'. This can help to address problems/roadblocks/obstacles etc in a measured and monitored way to demonstrate true added value. Support can also come from mentors, and/or experienced practitioners within the company.
More and more companies are recognising that e-learning can be combined with traditional training ('blended learning') to give the best of both worlds – immediate knowledge and skill development enhanced with further guidance 'as needed'. Classroom-based learning with face-to-face interaction and guided development of application skills is important to provide a sound basis and resolve misunderstandings. E-learning is useful for pre-classroom preparation, additional knowledge transmission 'as required', on the job problem solving, and post-classroom follow-up, measurement and monitoring.
Improving your marketers' skills and arming them with the ability to think differently, results is a marketing team able to 'think outside the box' and not hung up on process and detail.
They can then take considered risks and differentiate themselves from much of the bland and ineffective marketing that is going on all around us. By improving the skills of your personnel you will then see an improved ROI on your business.
