Focus Magazine - Spring 2013 - 40

VIRTUALHOW

Social Media Tools
USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA TOOLS

Key Trends
We surveyed 38 companies to find out if and how they use
social media tools as a component of training. We found that
37% of companies participating in the mini-benchmark use
social media tools within the training organization. Although
this may seem low, it is a growing industry trend. Compliance
concerns were cited as the primary reason why others have
chosen not to engage. (Figure 1)

Social Media Tools in Training
FIGURE 1

Do you currently use social media
within your organization?

Of those who do use social media tools in training, 64%
leverage them for communities of practice for peer-to-peer
learning. Another growing trend is use of social media tools for
informal learning and pull-through activities. (Figure 2) Half the
companies that use social media tools use only one type, with
Yammer the most prevalent.

37%

As might be expected, the Compliance Department plays an
important role in the process of implementing social media tools
from very early planning stages all the way through online
response monitoring. (Figures 3 and 4)
The importance of working closely with Compliance in the
development and launch of social media tools cannot be
overstated. More than half (57%) said their Compliance
partners offered suggestions on how to remain compliant while
meeting the goals and objectives of the training organization.
(Figure 5)
Compliance and regulatory hurdles represent the greatest
obstacle to using social media tools. Half the companies
surveyed report that getting through the compliance process
took as long as six to 12 months. (Figure 6)
Nonetheless, as one participant commented, “Social media is
not going away in society, so it needs to find a way to work in
business, even the regulated ones.”

Advisory Insights
Most of the companies (95%) either use social media tools or
see the value in adding them in the future.
Creating an interactive community for learning represented the
greatest potential value in organizations using social media
tools, according to 68% of participating companies. (Figure 7)
Despite the perceived value, three-quarters (74%) of
participants see the future of social media tools as limited based
on compliance and legal concerns. (Figure 8) Many, however,
find potential value in several ancillary areas not involved in
product training (i.e., coaching, selling skills and corporate
communications).
Companies also report another challenge similar to that
encountered with other training delivery methods:
Demonstrating the value of social media tools in learning and
how that translates into improved performance. Nonetheless, as
one participant concluded, “Social learning is happening
informally; the industry will have to embrace it, but slowly.”

40

Do not use
social media
in training

63%

Use social
media in
training

Reasons for Using Social Media
FIGURE 2
70%

What do you use social media for?

64%

60%

Communities
of practice or
groups

50%

Rep to
corporate
communication

40%
30%
20%

29% 29%

Surveys

21%
14% 14%

Rep to rep
interaction
Pre- or
post-training
assignments

10%
0%

Other*

* Messages at medical conferences, on demand content for training

About this Virtual How: Working in partnership with SPBT,
TGaS Advisors, a benchmarking and advisory services firm
and division of KnowledgePoint360, surveyed training and
development leaders in February 2013. They received
responses from 38 different companies, including
pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device and
diagnostics. For more information or questions, please contact
Rich Waite, M.Ed., Robert.Waite@tgas.com.
FOCUS | SPRING 2013 | www.spbt.org
http://www.spbt.org
Focus Magazine - Spring 2013

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