Learning Content Axiom, Custom Learning Designs, Red Nucleus & Strategic Thinking Institute
The finalists for the Learning Content award in the 5th Annual LTEN Excellence Awards each brought creative and innovative solutions for their clients and helped raise the bar on their learning initiatives.
Axiom
Axiom helped its client create a live training workshop for two specialty sales teams of 267 commercial representatives and managers and a completely different brand/therapeutic category with 145 participants. The goal was to help learners recognize the unique needs of the multiple stakeholders involved in prescribing decisions and enable them to tailor conversations accordingly.
“Members of the organization had observed that its representatives were gaining agreement from healthcare provider customers to prescribe its product for appropriate patients, but they noted that this agreement was not being operationalized when it reached the point where additional stakeholder involvement was required,” said Michael Ballas, global CEO of Axiom.
The workshop helped representatives identify, leverage and gain commitment from other key stakeholders and staff.
“Since the initial rollout of this initiative, we have been asked to duplicate this experience for additional brands within the organization, demonstrating the longterm value of this training,” Ballas added. “Creating a highly engaging and immersive learning experience helps to enhance learning transfer, building on aspects of neuroscience research: If the training is memorable, it is more likely to stick.”
Custom Learning Designs (CLD)
Astellas nominated CLD for the Learning Content award after working with them to create new ways to engage and excite learners through experiential learning for two oncology launches in 2018. The program included providing immersive training to “real-life” selling experiences for their sales force to gain increased momentum on calls. Throughout, Astellas used a variety of platforms to collect metrics, including a proprietary coaching app provided by CLD.
“Design decisions were made to repurpose training elements across various roles to maximize time and resources as well as flexibility to address the unique training needs of each audience within and across brands,” said Justine Gregoire, associate director CL&D oncology, Astellas.
“Utilizing this business practice, Astellas delivered a best-in-class launch, and more importantly, the representatives were confident delivering the new information to physicians,” Gregoire added. “These two curriculums and training experiences were rated the highest in Astellas history. Ultimately, the learners walked away feeling confident and comfortable with the information. All necessary learners were certified and able to sell in the field by the targeted time.”
Red Nucleus
Preparing to roll out its first product in the depressive disorder space, Janssen Pharmaceuticals selected Red Nucleus to help prepare a new sales force that was largely inexperienced in promoting drugs for major depressive disorder or treatment-resistant depression. The training would reach approximately 900 employees spanning nearly every role of Janssen’s customer-facing neuroscience sales force (including contracted sales representatives) and the home office.
Red Nucleus worked to build engagement through mixed media offerings presented in a patientcentric, visually dynamic website to house, track and respond to learner’s progress. Short interactive activities also provided an understanding of core content and built empathy by detailing real-world perspectives of patients, caregivers and healthcare professionals.
“Red Nucleus provided support and consultation to Janssen as they met the challenge of creating the organization’s first mood disorders curriculum,” said Stanley Cooley of Janssen. “The Janssen team brought diverse perspectives to the review process. Red Nucleus helped Janssen align these perspectives by keeping detailed records and facilitating dialogue among team members. Both teams benefited from strong partnership, mutual trust and respect, resulting in a cohesive curriculum that met the needs of all stakeholders.”
Strategic Thinking Institute
What happens when a strategy text book collides with a superhero comic book? For Strategic Thinking Institute, the answer is the StrategyMan Learning System, based on a 180-page graphic novel in which managers at a fictional company battle to save their company from “strategycide.”
“Research with 400 talent management leaders identified the top 20 challenges managers face, including fire drills, bad meetings, etc. which are personified in the form of villains such as Fire Driller and Meeting Menace,” said Rich Horwath, founder and CEO of Strategic Thinking Institute. “The content is delivered in a variety of learning formats, including live workshops, online gamified learning system, training cards, audio book and an online community resource center.”
With studies showing bad strategy is a leading cause of business failure, the system was designed to help organizations create an enterprise-wide capability in strategic thinking and develop a common language and understanding of strategy to be more skilled in setting direction.
“As there are multiple delivery methods to encompass a blended learning approach, evaluation can be conducted by learning leaders on their teams on a daily basis,” Horwath said.
