Pharmaceutical Field | Laura Scarlett
E-learning is gaining ground across the UK as a preferred method for
training and ongoing performance support, but is it being embraced within the
pharmaceutical sector? Information Transfer’s Laura Scarlett looks at trends
within the industry and what it might mean for the delivery of training and
information in the future.
Chances are, considering the
intense regulation of the pharmaceutical industry, the precise nature of its
products and the pace of research, you will regularly complete training and
assessments on a variety of subjects.
Increasingly, in the UK and
worldwide, organisations are using e-learning techniques and technologies to
train and assess staff. By e-learning, I mean the use of any technology across
the learning process, most obviously for delivery of content, but also
encompassing tests and ongoing assessment, and management of learning content
(so that it can, for instance, be easily updated). A recent survey by the
Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development found that 60% of
organisations have increased their use of e-learning in the past two years and
many expect this trend to continue.
“New technologies, increased
connectivity, and growing computer literacy amongst the workforce have helped
to drive the trend,” said Dr Rachel Meller, a partner at Information Transfer,
one of the UK’s leading training and communication consultancies and
specialists in pharmaceutical product training. Rachel and her team have been
producing computer-based training and assessments for the pharmaceutical
industry since the mid-1980s.
“Product and brand managers
have a whole new set of tools at their disposal for supporting the product
sales team, and we have certainly seen a steady rise in interest for e-learning
training materials,” she added.
But, of course, access to new
tools and an available new channel do not mean e-learning is necessarily
appropriate. We asked a selection of learning and development managers and
sales representatives about how they use e-learning, when it is (most)
effective and what changes they anticipate within the industry.
Advantages of e-learning
When we asked what makes
e-learning work, those we interviewed overwhelmingly highlighted the same
advantages. They cited
that e-learning:
- presents a consistent message
- is flexible and rapid to deliver
- supplements other learning
- assists in record-keeping.
Consistency of message
Whereas in classroom training
there is the risk that individual trainers can emphasise or deliver differing
information, e-learning provides a consistent message to everyone. Learning and
development managers told us that e-learning can be particularly effective
where the same information needs to be delivered to a large group of learners,
for example, in induction training. Lindsey Wells, Learning Technology Manager
at Janssen Cilag UK, cited their 2008 Foundation Academy programme that has
been benchmarked by the organisation and will be modelled across Janssen Cilag
Europe in the near future.
Speed and flexibility
E-learning shortens the time
required in the classroom, so that learners do not have to spend as much time
away from their ‘real’ work. One Learning & Development Director told us
that 30% of training in his company has shifted to the ‘virtual’ classroom,
saving travel costs and allowing for increased productivity. He described how,
in the past, a new sales rep would have spent two weeks in the classroom,
whereas now the format is one week in the classroom and seven two-hour
e-learning sessions, interspersed with time in the field. The training now
takes longer to complete, but the learners have time to review and consolidate
their learning, while remaining productive. He considers this a more
cost-effective way to train staff than a 100% face-to-face approach.
Supplements other learning
One training manager told us
that learners need four or five exposures to the same information to absorb it,
so e-learning is the perfect complement to textbooks, clinical papers and the
classroom. Another Learning & Development Manager said that e-learning is
particularly effective for rudimentary, self-check quizzes that help learners
test their knowledge. He also mentioned the advantage of self-paced learning,
for users to dip in and out of.
A global healthcare company
told us that e-learning is blended into their entire learning programme, so
that learners receive printed manuals and a password to the learning management
system (LMS) at the outset: they are trained to a core level before they come
into the classroom. The company is proud of its Knowledge Portal that
incorporates self-paced learning modules, plus articles, videos, an interactive
“ask a question” facility and games with a competitive element. The general
consensus was that e-learning adds value by supplementing understanding and aiding
revision.
Assists in record-keeping
With the pharmaceutical
industry’s level of regulation, it’s no surprise that keeping training records
ranks high among the advantages of e-learning experienced by learning and
development professionals. E-learning management systems allow companies to
keep training records and capture information about learners’ achievements. The
ability to record and print off results of assessments for auditing is
extremely helpful, according to more than one training manager.
Limitations of e-learning
The Training Manager of one
leading biopharmaceutical company told us that one-to-one training was the main
approach for his relatively small number of reps selling niche therapies, but
that he viewed e-learning as an additional resource enhancing face-to-face
training. E-learning at his company includes assessment quizzes and one
particular therapy area has developed a self-paced learning zone, consisting of
several modules and including videos from doctors, which is continually updated
with the latest clinical research.
Simon White, Learning and
Development Manager of Janssen Cilag pointed out that the limited shelf-life of
training content can be an issue. Keeping materials up-to-date is all-important
and it can be a challenge to achieve this within a realistic cost-benefit
framework, he said. The very nature of pharmaceutical product training means
the content has to be custom-built and local language variations for product
training are often necessary. Any effective LMS must be easy to update in-house
and be supported by a committed, trained team of people.
Simon White has found success
using e-learning content for therapy areas which can be shared. For example, he
might commission an anatomy and physiology module that supports several
products, rather than discrete product training for a small sales team. He
added that competitor and market information is very dynamic and therefore
still tends to be covered in the classroom.
One sales representative, with
over 30 years’ experience at a global biopharmaceuticals company, described a
frustrating experience accessing a quiz online and told us one reason she chose
to work as a rep was to avoid spending all day behind a computer. She said she
preferred interaction with real people and the best training she had received
was from senior registrars in the classroom.
Nana Lou Isbye of Lundbeck
showed us the results of a survey she conducted in Spring 2009 among UK sales
representatives, assessing the e-learning they received for one particular
product. They reveal a relatively low level of computer-use among reps, but
overall satisfaction with the quality of the e-learning.
The Learning & Development
Director of a leading pharmaceutical and healthcare products company told us
that the classroom is the only forum for observation of learners’ confidence
levels, which e-learning scores cannot reveal subtly enough, although he
predicted that technology will continue to push the envelope in this regard and
the day may not be too distant when avatars, for example, can overcome this
limitation.
The future
E-learning will never be the
sole provider of courses, but it is a significant component in learning
programmes and, universally in our respondents’ opinions, leads to a higher
level of retention than classroom learning alone. With ever-increasing
availability of e-learning tools and ICT infrastructure, and a corresponding
increase in learners’ familiarity with them, the prevalence of e-learning will
increase.
The training manager who told
us of his preference for face-to-face training still expects e-learning
expansion in his company, such as other therapy areas developing their own
learning zones. Another global healthcare company is sharing best practice across
its different business divisions, spreading the word about e-learning with less
mature divisions. Another Learning & Development Director, who described
e-learning as thoroughly embedded in his company’s product training, says his
company is refining its choice of technologies.
The good news, Matthew Borg of
Information Transfer tells us, is that the e-learning of the future will be
more accessible and you won’t be chained to your desk to take advantage of it.
“We’re already seeing greater
flexibility with mobiles, PDAs and iPods to receive learning content,” Matthew
said. “But the biggest change is likely to be in the source of the
information.”
The latest evolution in
e-learning is companies’ use of collaborative Web 2.0 tools, such as instant
messaging, wikis and blogs, for user-generated content and online discussion.
There has been, generally, a huge increase in the use of ‘social networking’
through sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, and other Web 2.0 content
exchanges, such as Flickr and YouTube. The ready availability of such
technologies is beginning to impact how organisations approach e-learning,
according to Howard Hills, who conducted the 2009 Towards Maturity Benchmark
Report on business’ use of learning technologies. (Towards Maturity helps
organisations improve the impact of learning technologies in the workplace. For more information, please go to
www.towardsmaturity.org.)
The regulatory environment of
the pharmaceutical industry means this sort of informal training is still in
its infancy, but we’re likely to see change. The Lundbeck survey asked learners
whether their e-learning encouraged discussion among colleagues – an element
some respondents felt might be lost without classroom training – and whether
they wished to see more online discussion possibilities. Over 85% of those
surveyed would have liked more discussion (for example, through online chat
with colleagues).
Overall, the trend appears
that the use of e-learning in the pharmaceutical sector is here to stay, will
continue to grow and will evolve, with Web 2.0 becoming a more habitual part of
the learning process.
About the author
Laura Scarlett is a Consultant
at Information Transfer LLP. Information Transfer has been developing product
and therapy training materials for pharmaceutical companies since 1982. For
more information please go to: www.informationtransfer.com/pharma.html.