Building a New Hire Training Program for Experienced Account Specialists

Challenge

A life science company in an emerging and highly sophisticated therapeutic space was preparing to launch its first ever commercial therapy. The company's training team needed to build a new hire training program for its Account Specialists that would prepare them to face their role's unique challenges, which included:

• Working within a dense cross-functional "matrix" of colleagues
• Interacting with prestigious customers who often serve as thought leaders 
• Managing accounts in a still-emerging therapeutic space where any two accounts can differ significantly in structure and processes

The training team also had to consider the learning needs and preferences of the Account Specialists: each Account Specialist would boast years of experience working in the new therapy’s disease state; the ideal new hire training program would thus "meet them where they were," taking into account the experience and acumen they would bring to the table.

Insight

We understood that this learner audience would be best trained in a manner that showed trust for the expertise they already had and respected their time and level of seniority. As such, we helped the training team design a new hire program that minimized seat time and classroom activities and prioritized active, scenario-based, and peer-to-peer learning to prepare the Account Specialists to meet the unique challenges of the role. 

Solution

The final program included:

• Dynamic, gamified exercises that allowed the learner to map the processes and customer roles and responsibilities involved in the therapy
• Exercises and case studies that prepared the learner to navigate complex clinical discussions while establishing individual and brand credibility
• Collaboration-focused simulations designed to “war game” responding to expected account challenges from a “matrixed” organization
• Structured discussions delivered by highly experienced peers covering different types of treatment centers and the common risks, opportunities, and challenges they represent

Results

The company was extremely pleased with the program’s design and partnered with us to build out the program's content.