One company adding an LMS in 2008 is emerging midsize firm Daiichi Sankyo. The company's head of training, John Sjovall, hopes the LMS—combined with a new enterprise-resource-planning system—will allow his department to better measure the impact of their training. "Our goal is to start doing clinical-type trials of our training programs," Sjovall says. "We'll run one group through a training segment, separate another group as the control, and then we'll compare the results."

Methodology of the Study

Trend 5: L&D Departments Seek Productive Partnerships

Another challenge for trainers will be adapting to their growing consultative role, which may involve less action and more analysis. "It's becoming clear that if the industry doesn't address customers' concerns about the value of our sales forces, we put our traditional marketing approaches at risk," says Brian Fagan, executive director of SPBT. "Training can be part of the solution as the marketplace is becoming more complex. Some of the strategies that training departments are implementing to help the industry adapt include continuous quality-improvement processes, increasing trainer headcount, and providing physician and patient value beyond product. These L&D initiatives have worked in other industries, and we expect that they will help our sales organizations maintain their relevance to our customers." And as this unfolds over the next few years, it's possible that a pharma, biotech, or device company could stake out a reputation as an innovator—not only in battling disease, but in advancing learning.

Rayna Herman is a principal at Health Strategies Group. She can be reached at rherman@healthstrategies.com
. Laura Ramos is editor of SPBT Focus magazine. She can be reached at lramos@spbt.org
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