What is Employee Training?

Employee training is a set of activities to increase employee skill, knowledge and understanding of the process. It focuses on employee performing its duties most efficiently and productively. It aims to improve the personnel’s ability to execute its delegated tasks without making a loss to product, process and organization.

Like every industry, the pharmaceutical industry is undergoing rapid change in many of its major areas, such as drug discovery, manufacturing and quality, and for a pharma organization to stay ahead, it is necessary to be trained and knowledgeable in all of its business areas. Employees training helps an individual to increases its capacity in overcoming these challenges.

Training is also required by regulatory bodies, who require pharma organization to develop an effective training plan for its employees. Regulatory bodies also review training records during their routine inspection.

Employee training must be performed for all department personnel in a pharma facility. The training activity is centrally managed, usually through the Human Resources – HR department, under the guidance of the quality department.

Like every other industry, there can be different types of employee training, which include, but not limited to

• Induction Training – Training given at the time of starting the job for new employees. Given by the HR department, it includes organizational policies, job descriptions, terms and rules.

• Job training –Training is given during the job, usually by the sectional head or subject matter expert. It aims to increase the employee's skill, understanding of the underlying process , different tools & accessories that an employee uses throughout his or her job in pharma organization.

If an organization plans to add new equipment, software or tools, its training is also arranged. In this case, the equipment manufacturer or software developer gives the training, which is agreed upon during the procurement process

• External Training –training given by personnel or an organization outside its current organization. The parent organization makes training arrangements, performs employee selection and aims to enhance the employee's understanding of advanced or critical areas.

Why training is essential

Let’s discuss why training is necessary in the pharma industry

Increased process and product quality

The success rate of a process and product depends on the ability personnel involved in it. A well-trained and skilled person can significantly increase the process efficiency, product quality, and vice versa can also happen.

One advantage of employee training is that it can save the product or process during unexpected deviations or problems. Because during the production process, it is possible that the product deviates from its accepted attributes, even though all equipment and process parameters have been correctly applied. In this case, a little effort or out of the box solution is required, which often comes with a deep understanding of the process after comprehensive training.

Increased personnel performance

Well-trained personnel will execute their duties with more attention to detail and develop an understanding of the underlying process. It enables them to understand their organization's expectations and perform their duties with great vigor and zeal.

A well-trained employee will take responsibility for their actions and show complete dedication with full potential.

Less Wastage Improved Productivity

The pharma processes are critical to human life and must be executed with a high degree of safety & quality. If any defect is found in the finished product after the production process, it is immediately discarded from the warehouse. If the product has been sent into the market, it is immediately recalled from all distribution centers and points of sale. Through it represents the organization’s professionalism and dedication towards patient safety, it impacts the pharma organization’s finances and production targets.  

Product recall is followed by thorough investigation, improvement and, in some cases, regulatory actions; it could have been prevented if good manufacturing practices were there, which largely depends on the employee's ability. A well-trained employee can help an organization reduce wastage with a high degree of quality.

Employee training can help an organization prevent defects in the final product, which can only be achieved from the beginning of the manufacturing process. A well-trained employee can understand the consequences of deviations in the product, wastage in a batch and the financial impact on the organization and individuals.

Develops an understanding of organizational goals

Employees are an integral part of any pharma organization and a significant growth driver for any organization. If properly utilized and managed, they can be an asset for an organization in fulfilling goals and achieving targets.

It can only be possible by making them capable of understanding organizational goals and market requirements. Understanding things like, what are the top priorities, current market trends, problems being faced, and the organizational strategy for achieving its targets can significantly increase employee share in a pharma organization’s success.

Training helps employees to know the current organization’s position w.r.to its targets. It helps employees understand the problems an organization faces and different plans for tackling them.  This mutual understanding results in trust in times of difficulties, which drives the organization's growth efficiently and benefits its employees.

Compliance requirement

Employee training in the pharmaceutical industry is also a compliance requirement for many regulatory bodies worldwide. These bodies require pharma organizations to properly train their employees involved in manufacturing operations, such as production and storage.

Employee training must be implemented for both individual and supervisor roles. Additionally, the organization also require qualified personnel for specific tasks.

The training must also include all the tools, equipment, accessories and processes an employee uses. The training should be followed by proper documentation, which regulatory bodies review during their routine inspection.

Developing training strategies for employees

Employee training is governed by organizational policies and is regulated according to the organizational requirement. For this purpose, developing an effective training plan that resembles the organizational current thinking and needs is necessary.

Some steps involved in developing a training strategy include but are not limited to

What are your training needs?

Before developing a plan, it is necessary to determine what you want to achieve from your training plan. Because a single training plan for employees of all departments would not work. It requires thorough study, at least departmental level, to determine the training needs.

Determining training needs also help to understand the target audience of the training plan. It can also be used to gauge employee performance after training.

Who will provide training?

Deciding and shortlisting subject matter experts is critical to the success of the training plan. The personnel selected must be experts in their fields, and their skills & experience must be at par with the current advancement in the pharma industry.

The trainers can also be used to develop a training curriculum consistent with the organizational requirements and demands.

What is the current state?

Assessing the present state of the employees is necessary to align the training plan according to the organizational needs. It helps to develop a training plan that can be practically tailored to employees’ present state.

The current state of employee can be assessed according to

• Organizational requirements, such as understanding the organization-wide processes, tools, accessories, departments, policies and needs

• Individual requirements, such as skills, knowledge, ability and technical capability to perform its task

Determining the current state of all employees helps decide what level of training is required to fulfil the organizational needs and increase the organization's performance.

Training development team

After training needs are determined and gaps identified, an individual or a team is formed to develop training content in light of the activities in the previous stage. This individual or team is responsible for

• Developing an effective training content

• Filing the identified gaps

• Training mode and style (i.e. in person , group based or web – based)

Developing training content

After devising the training development team, it's time to develop the content. The training content development can include but is not limited to

• Learning objectives, especially after each subsection. It includes the expectations of the instructor from the attendees.

• Supporting material, such as SOP or reading material

• Presenting in an easy and friendly way to prevent difficulties for attendees in understanding the training material

• Including real world examples and current scenarios for a better understanding

Training approval

Before conducting training, it is necessary to get approval for the training items, such as content and plan, from organization management or the relevant department. Training in the pharma industry is critical, and management must approve to keep it according to the organization’s policies and requirements.

Especially in the case of external training, which is often paid, the management's consent helps to spend the money according to the organization needs and prevents any business discrepancy.

Conducting Training

After developing training content, its time to practically implement the training plan. The training date and time are set according to the availability of all attendees, which is communicated well before the training time.

After completing training, conduct an assessment as per the agreed plan. Finally take feedback from the attendees to improve the training.

Documentation

It is best to record critical attributes, such as attendance, training content and assessment for future or compliance records. The attendance record can also be sent to the individual employee’s department if described in the training plan or policy.

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About the Author:

Muhammad Asim Niazi

Muhammad Asim Niazi has a vast experience of about 11 years in a Pharmaceutical company. During his tenure he worked in their different departments and had been part of many initiatives within the company. He now uses his experience and skill to write interested content for audiences at PharmaSources.com.