Focus Magazine - Fall 2014 - (Page 48)

VIRTUALHOW Onboarding Training Programs By William Lycett The demands of the business can often conflict with the need for formal training programs for training and development associates. This is made even more difficult by the fact that the majority of new personnel have no prior training experience before joining the department. Training and development leaders wanted to know how companies are handling this issue. TGaS Advisors surveyed training leaders at 10 pharmaceutical companies to find out about formalized programs at headquarter (HQ), regional and district levels. In a separate survey, TGaS polled 27 relatively new training managers at six different companies about their onboarding experience. Key Findings/Advisory Insights Surveys found that most organizations emphasize headquarters training over regional and district for new training and development associates. Onboarding programs for regional trainers were not even available at four of 10 of the companies that responded. Participants indicated that most personnel have no prior training experience, making some sort of onboarding experience critical in those first 90 days. When it comes to HQ training, companies use anywhere from six to 16 different kinds of training. The most popular are self-study competency assignments, facilitation training and discussion of goals and objectives. All companies expect their new personnel to take advantage of live classroom workshops, iPad applications and assessments. The onboarding process for training managers consists primarily of becoming familiar with the Medical/Regulatory/Legal (M/R/L) process. Clarification of goals and objectives was also highly rated. In contrast, nearly half of respondents said their organization does not have a structured onboarding process in place. Trainers: HQ, Regional, District Organizations put the most emphasis on headquarters programs. (Figure 1) Formalized Onboarding Programs FIGURE 1 FORMALIZED ONBOARDING PROGRAMS (Scale: 1 = Totally Disagree; 7 = Totally Agree) Company ID HQ Regional District Company ID HQ Regional District A 6 NA 7 G 5 5 6 B 6 NA 4 H 6 4 4 C 3 3 3 I 3 3 NA D 3 NA NA J 5 5 4 E 5 1 1 F 6 NA NA 4.8 3.5 4.1 FIGURE 2 Average FORMALIZED ONBOARDING: HQ TRAINERS 1. Totally Disagree. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 of 10 . . . . . . . . 2. Disagree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 of 10 . . . . . . . . 3. Somewhat Disagree . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 of 10 . . . . . . . . 4. Neither Agree nor Disagree . . . . . . 0 of 10 . . . . . . . . 5. Somewhat Agree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 of 10 . . . . . . . . 6. Agree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 of 10 . . . . . . . . 7. Totally Agree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 of 10 . . . . . . . . FIGURE 3 PERCENT OF CURRENT HQ PERSONNEL HIRED WITH NO TRAINING EXPERIENCE 0% to 24% 1 of 10 . . . . . . . . . . . The average rating was 4.8 on a scale of 1 to 7 for formalized onboarding programs at the HQ level. (Figure 2) 25% to 49% 2 of 10 . . . . . . . . . . Prior Experience 50% to 74% 4 of 10 . . . . . . . . . . The majority of HQ training personnel have no prior training experience prior to joining the department. Only one responding company hires experienced trainers. (Figure 3) 48 75% to 100% 3 of 10 . . . . . . . . . . FOCUS | FALL 2014 | www.L-TEN.org http://www.L-TEN.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Focus Magazine - Fall 2014

Focus Magazine
From the President: Recognizing Value (and Vice Versa)
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Guest Editor: On the Cutting Edge of Training and Technology
Front of the Room: The Presenter's Burden
Neuroscience: Learning, Disrupted
LTEN Conference Wrap-Up
Creating a Foundation for Innovation Training
The Science of Learning: Improving How We Train
Sustaining Learning, Driving Results
Member Solutions: Training the Tenured
Podcasts: Delivering Information and Inspiration
Leader-Led Learning: Developing Capabilities
The Power of Virtual Coaching and Mobile Video
Diving into Product Launches
Virtual How: Onboarding Training Programs
Member News
Ad Index
Focus Contacts
5 Questions with DJ Mitsch

Focus Magazine - Fall 2014