Focus Magazine - Summer 2013 - 17

COVERSTORY

Merck’s Global Learning
Transformation
I By Tim Sosbe

ransformation isn’t always an
easy process, but it’s frequently a
necessary one. Systems need to
change with the business, industries
themselves see shifts in focus and
requirements, innovations appear from
nowhere, and the world notices.
You won’t have to convince the
learning professionals at Merck’s Global
Human Health Division about the
power of transformation. A simple
satisfaction survey with business
partners within Merck in 2011 and a
strategic, outside in look at World Class
practices in learning & development
heralded a new era for the global
pharmaceutical organization’s approach
to learning, a transformative process
that stretches around the world.
Global Commercial Learning is a
global organization that provides
learning services and solutions for the
local markets around the world in
which Merck operates, covering both
the United States and 140 countries
worldwide. In 2011, a satisfaction
survey was initiated to see how their
internal business partners assessed the
value their services were bringing to
the Merck organization. The results, in
a word, were shocking.
“The bottom line is that we weren’t
delivering the value that we thought we

should,” said Trish
Wetzel, Vice President
of Global Commercial
Learning for Merck’s
Global Human Health
Division. “We had a
client rating score of 4.4
out of 7. That was from
a broad audience of
internal business
partners, as well as our
senior stakeholders in
the organization. We
needed to understand
what was getting in
our way.”

COVER IMAGE: Wetzel and members
of the Global Commercial Learning
team at Merck’s US Headquarters
campus in Pennsylvania.
IN FRONT: Trish Wetzel, VP Global
Commercial Learning
SECOND ROW: Michael Kozitzky,
Jennifer Spevak, Jim McIntosh,
Filipe Duarte
ON STAIRS: Jennifer Iannetta,
Theresa Zeller, Julie Holt

The 4-Step Start
Mining the survey data, Wetzel and
her team identified four areas in which
they could begin the journey to
transform the role of learning:
• Winning the confidence of business
partners.
• Acting quickly to meet urgent
needs.
• Building capabilities to meet longerterm needs.
• Making sure business partners were
clear on the learning services
provided.
“We needed to get very clear around

the services that global would provide
versus what would happen locally. This
was really our key imperative, clearly
differentiating the valued service we
would provide,” Wetzel said. “Our goal
was to eliminate redundancies of what
was happening on the country level
and add more value from a global
support service to the markets.”
Wetzel worked with members of her
team, including Jennifer Iannetta,
executive director, global learning
effectiveness, to begin attacking those
four key missions in Global
Commercial Learning’s journey to
world-class status. Wetzel defined
world-class status through studying
both internal and external drivers. “We

PICTURED BELOW, AND OVER THE NEXT FEW PAGES, IS A REPRESENTATION OF MEMBERS FROM ACROSS THE GLOBAL COMMERCIAL LEARNING TEAM

ARNAUD
FAGUER
Executive Director,
Global Business
Management

SUE IANNONE,
CPLP
Executive Director,
Global Brand
Curriculum

MSD France,
Courbevoie

In partnership with Regional Business
Executives and their leadership teams,
drives commercial learning key initiatives
across Europe Canada, Japan, Emerging
Markets and China.

Merck HQ,
United States

Partners with Global and Regional
Marketing Leadership, Business
Operations and Medical Leaders, to drive
learning strategy and execution aligned
to the strategic initiatives for Merck
Brands worldwide.

FOCUS | SUMMER 2013 | www.spbt.org

RENEE
JULIANO
Director, US
Business
Management

Merck HQ,
United States
In partnership with US Business
Executives and their leadership teams,
drives development and execution of the
US Commercial Learning Strategy.

ORLY BAR
Director, EEMEA
Regional Learning
Lead
MSD Regional
Office, Krienz, CH
In partnership with EEMEA Regional
Business Leaders, takes lead on driving
commercial learning key initiatives
across the Region. Plans, builds regional
learning community and facilitates
communication.

http://www.spbt.org

Focus Magazine - Summer 2013

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