I’ve been wrestling with something and would really like input from you, my commercial biopharma readers.
It has to do with the misperception of the training department as something less-than-strategic in the commercial organization.
You know the drill. Financial problems? – cut training. Tactical needs? – throw it over the wall at training. Got a rising corporate star needing a ticket to punch? – put him or her over training.
Training is often viewed as a “servant” organization, without a business-value-adding identity – and we who are in the field often struggle to articulate its strategic role in the corporation.
We have an instinctive understanding of the value of T&D, but how to articulate it in the language that a C-level person would embrace? Can it be summarized in one punchy sentence?
Here’s one concept I’ve come up with so far…
Training’s mission is to develop the present and future leadership of the company – not only via training programs, but also through the rotation of high performers in the training department, which serves as a crucible and a sieve to create better corporate leaders.
And as Jim Trunick (formerly of Allergan) once pointed out to me, part of that mission (which is irreplacably in the hands of T&D) is imparting and reinforcing corporate culture.
Corporate executives are often quick to cut or devalue “training.” But creating and equipping leaders at every level is perhaps the conversation we need to embark upon – because that’s all about strategic business value.
What do you think?