HRM

Challenge Unit 5 - GP11

Lina J A Al Haj Issa / Edina Bodo / Giuseppe Noto Malta / Julien Cargnelutti

You are a group of HR consultants looking to pitch for this job. Your objective
is to design a custom-made training and development proposal for
Pharmaceutical International Innovative Product’s sales representative
workforce in Spain.

The proposal should contain:

• A Training Needs Assessment (TNA), (i.e. organisation, task and learner

levels).
• Learning objectives of the programme to attend to the training
needs.
• Methods & activities.
• Evaluation system.
• Budget.

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 1- A Training Needs Assessment (TNA), (i.e. organisation, task and learner levels).

To craft a tailored training and development proposal for Pharmaceutical International

Innovative Product's sales representative workforce in Spain, we initially conducted a Training
Needs Assessment (TNA). This assessment will guide decisions on the objectives, format,
scope, and evaluation framework of the necessary learning intervention.
The assessment has been conducted across three distinct layers: organizational, task, and
learner levels.

Considering the objectives set by the company, we can deduce that the skills and abilities the
sales representatives must possess could for instance the followings:

Entrepreneurial Mindset; Result oriented approach, communication, negotiation, time

management, business plan development; financial knowledge and effective selling
skills.

To prioritize training effectively, we believe that utilizing a "skills matrix" type tool could be
beneficial. The concept involves assessing employees on a scale of 1 to 5, utilizing distinct
criteria for each skill or ability, and subsequently averaging the results. Prioritization would
then be determined from the lowest score to the highest.

Also, it is important to underline that Luis García, the Director of the IP Division in Spain is
highly concerned about this challenge which essential for the success of the program. He is
willing to support the team transition to their new role and ensure their effectiveness as key
account managers, he is ready to invest in their training. He estimates he could spend a total
of 200,000 € in the programme.

2. Learning objectives of the program to attend the training needs, proposed activities
The main objective of the designed training program is to prepare the sales force for the
upcoming challenges, develop their skills in a way that they can execute the defined strategy
and contribute to the future success of the company. First, they will need to understand the
WHY! It somehow requires a cultural transformation that we can cascade by consistent
communication delivered by the leadership team and the Regional Managers.

As a next step we propose to

cascade a Sales Training
Roadmap, that we defined as a
learning curriculum for a 2-years
program including the most
essential learnings in a modular
pathway. We target all Medical
Sales Representatives, Key
Account Managers and
Regional Managers to
participate in the program so
that each member of the sales
team has the same skill set to
work with to deliver the objectives. Medical Representatives will need to work more with Key
Opinion Leaders (KOLs) who re in hospitals and healthcare service centers. This change of
direction requires an even more professional and business driven approach. We require them
to develop their competencies on 3 areas according to the training roadmap.

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Medical knowledge is vital for our sales force. KAMs and Medical Reps must be reliable
partners for doctors, KOLs, and therapeutic experts. To ensure they're well-informed about
our products and competitors, we propose regular product trainings and knowledge sharing
sessions.

Technical skill development pathway will be the next important milestone in the training
program. These modules will ensure that our Medical Reps and Key Account Managers have
an up-to-date skill set regarding sales techniques. We'll cover topics like sales process,
competitor analysis, visit planning, and relationship building. A closing workshop with doctors'
feedback and role-play exercises will enhance learning.

The third pillar of the training program is the soft skill development pathway. We
recommend making these modules optional and ask them to choose 3 modules in which they
think they should develop their skills. We believe that it makes sense to differentiate the skill
development plans as all sales force members have different level of seniority and
competency. Offering the opportunity to choose from 6 modules will increase their
engagement in the development program as they can decide based on their individual needs.

3. Methods

We propose a diverse learning path to be implemented during the next 2 years. It’s important
to utilize blended learning opportunities to maximize efficiency of the program and match the
needs with the given resources in terms of budget, time, and trainer's capacity. We
recommend cascading the Sales Training Roadmap by offering face-to-face classroom
trainings for soft skill developments where it’s crucial to have intense interaction, practice in
role-plays and gain experience from interactions / feedbacks. The internal Sales Trainer can
prepare and provide these sessions easily. Product trainings and scientific knowledge sharing
is the learning pathway where online programs can be organized in a cost-effective way as no
logistic cost will appear while delivering a training through Teams/Zoom by colleagues from
the Medical Department (Medical Advisors). We would combine it with self-learning
opportunities when participants are asked to read articles, case studies and work on them
individually, closing by an online knowledge test to check the level of understanding.
Discussing case studies and sharing best practices from the field are very important as well
to include between execution of different modules. Finally, the coaching sessions will play an
important role in the salesforce development. It’s highly recommended that both the internal
Sales Trainer and direct supervisor of the employee (Regional Sales Manager) is going out
regularly to the field for duo calls to follow up the development process and support the Medical
Representatives with valuable feedbacks.

4. Evaluation System

The Evaluation System Model shall contain the following evaluation levels to have an effective
Training Proposal

First Stage:

• Assess the sales representative’s goals, characteristics, needs & constraints with the
business strategies priorities taking into consideration the Pharmaceutical International
mission, goals, culture, and external factors.

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• Assess training resources and materials & examine the curriculum whether these inputs
are aligned with the training proposal objectives.

Second Stage:

• Evaluate the sales representative’s reactions after completing each training based on
Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis.

▪ Qualitative methods include open-ended surveys, focus groups, and

interviews.
▪ Quantitative methods include standardized surveys, tests, and metrics.

• Measure how much knowledge and skills have changed before & after training, through
workplace observations and comparing 360-degree reviews.

Third Stage:

• Evaluate the program’s Return on Investment (ROI) to measure the difference between
the training cost and training results.
• Evaluate the impact of the sales representatives’ training program on business results to
measure productivity, quality, efficiency, and customer / Doctors’ satisfaction ratings.
• Ensure the training program remains responsive to changing needs or it is continuously
improved over time.

5. Budget

Here is the break-down of the budget allocated to each learning initiative. To mitigate the
costs, the proposal is to use our own meeting rooms, sometimes internal trainers, and coaches
and even some hours in e-learning. Surely, an external supplier is part of the plan to get new
skills internally.

TYPE DESCRIPTION COST DURATION

Internal Trainer-led sessions in the company's training rooms: 20 000,00 € 24 hours, two editions
Technical External Supplier-led sessions in the company's training rooms: 35 000,00 € 24 hours, two editions
Skills Travel expenses for participants 10 000,00 €
Training Administrative expenses 5 000,00 €
SUB TOTAL 70 000,00 €
Internal Trainer-led sessions in the company's training rooms 10 000,00 € 12 hours , two editions
External Supplier-led sessions in the company's training rooms 35 000,00 € 24 hours, two editions
Soft Skills E-learning modules 10 000,00 € 12 hours
Training Travel expenses for participants 10 000,00 €
Administrative expenses 10 000,00 €
SUB TOTAL 75 000,00 €
Internal Trainer-led sessions in the company's training rooms: 16 000,00 € 16 hours, two editions
Product
Travel expenses for participants 10 000,00 €
Skills
Administrative expenses 5 000,00 €
Training
SUB TOTAL 31 000,00 €
Internal Coaches (mainly via e-learning platform and partly with internal coaches 20 000,00 €
Individual
Administrative expenses 4 000,00 €
Coaching
SUB TOTAL 24 000,00 €
TOTAL 200 000,00 € 196 hours