Focus Magazine - Fall 2011 - 21

COVERSTORY

Pfizer: Managing Manager Development
I By Tim Sosbe journey of a thousand miles, the old saying goes, starts with a single step. at may seem cliché, but it’s also a time-honored truth that resonates today in the training industry. No matter how large the objective, how critical the mission, the solutions all start one step at a time.

“Coaching is so important because it gives a rep another set of eyes. Sometimes we
can’t really see ourselves as others see us.”
— RICHARD STEWART, PFIZER
at sense of structure and upward mobility is a key part of management training at P zer. As a leading global pharmaceutical company, P zer learning leaders have structured key training in de ned, ongoing cycles designed to seamlessly advance talent in the organization. In fact, P zer’s training plan for district business managers is multi-layered, with training delivered in four dened phases that address three distinct cornerstones. e emphasis, learning leaders will tell you, is on control, engagement and strength. Just ask Richard Stewart, P zer’s director of management training, responsible for the ongoing development of about 700 district business managers, who oversee about 7,000 sales reps working in the United States.

“Instead of everything being generated out of headquarters in New York, from the top down, this is more bottom up,” Stewart said. “ e people who are close to the business talk to their boss and decisions can be made, like how do I use resources. Whatever you’re doing, it’s much more of a local decision being made instead of New York headquarters. e value is that it’s much more responsive to local needs.” Stewart works as part of P zer’s management training and continuous development group, responsible for the primary care and specialty sales managers and representatives. Once a person becomes a district business manager for P zer, Stewart and the management training team takes charge, leading them through the four phases of training over a three-year period. e four phases are designed to help develop leadership and people skills, as well as focusing on tools like emotional intelligence and coaching. “We know that by helping district business managers work out of their strengths, develop their strengths and work with their teams to develop their

own strengths this will increase employee engagement and this will improve sales results,” Stewart said. In fact, he added, the top 25 percent of engaged district business managers and their teams consistently score the top sales performance.

The Four Phases at Pfizer
P zer’s district business manager training starts at the beginning, of course. Within the rst 90 days of starting a new role, the managers go through the rst of the four phases of training. Some is done virtually, like an

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Focus Magazine - Fall 2011

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