Focus Magazine - Spring 2015 - 11

GUEST EDITOR
Lisa Dreher

Having a Seat
at the Table
In some cases, this
path has already
been paved for us.

f you were to ask 10 training and
development professionals from diﬀerent
organizations throughout the
pharmaceutical and biotech sales industry what
"having a seat at the table" means to them, you
would probably hear 10 diﬀerent answers ... on
the surface. If you listened closely, however,
you would most likely ascertain that there were
common themes. ose themes would include
buzzwords like valued partners, cross
functional collaboration and teamwork.
Ideally, this is where training professionals
strive to be positioned within our respective
organizations. In some cases, this path has
already been paved for us, but in others there
are obstacles.
At the Ferring Learning Center, our road has
been somewhat bumpy over the past few years,
but we have seen a complete transformation of
our department and how training is viewed by
our organization. As with all companies, the
training department was called upon to build
materials for new hires, sales meetings, continuous learning and other sales and marketing
initiatives.
However, the trainers at Ferring were usually
the last group to learn about their assignments
and their input was not always considered
during the planning and collaboration stages.
e trainer position was perceived as a role
strictly used to execute tasks. In addition, some
field sales groups saw training curricula more
as obstacles in their way of selling, instead of as
valuable resources. is led to frustration as
the training team sometimes felt undervalued.
As a group, the Ferring training department
has always consisted of hard-working
professionals who truly value learning and are

passionate about what they do. We knew that it
would take time to create a paradigm shi in
thinking about what training is. We also knew
that we needed to self-reflect and determine
what we could do to change the perception.
We started by proactively fostering
relationships with stakeholders from key areas
in the commercial organization. We would ask
to be invited to planning meetings with
marketing, sales and operations groups so that
we could better understand the business needs
and oﬀer the training perspective when
appropriate. Eﬀective communication was a
key factor, as we needed to sell our value to our
business partners. Our colleagues always had
confidence that we would execute our tasks, but
they didn't realize that we had a lot more to
oﬀer in helping to establish business objectives
and generate creative solutions.
Another key to the success of the Ferring
Learning Center's transformation is that we
continually assess and make adjustments to
improve upon our existing training programs
and materials. We solicit feedback from our
internal customers and implement appropriate
changes to demonstrate our commitment to the
overall success of Ferring's business.
Fast forward to 2015, the Ferring Learning
Center is now considered a main hub of the
organization. Our internal partners from all
functions proactively reach out to us at the
onset of business planning. ey seek our
training and development expertise to help find
solutions from concept to execution. And they
no longer see training as an obstacle.
With some determination and perseverance,
we all can take a seat at the table. I

Lisa Dreher is manager, sales training and development, at Ferring Pharmaceuticals. Email Lisa at
Lisa.Dreher@ferring.com.

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Focus Magazine - Spring 2015

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