Closing the Skills Gap With Life Sciences Training and L&D
The life sciences industry is at the cutting edge of innovation and discovery, evolving rapidly to address the complexities of modern healthcare. The sector is marked by significant advancements in genomics, biotechnology, and digital health, with transformative technologies like CRISPR, artificial intelligence, and machine learning reshaping drug discovery, diagnostics, and treatment protocols. At the same time, regulatory pressures are intensifying, as agencies such as the FDA and EMA enforce stricter regulations on drug approval, clinical trials, and data privacy. The industry is also experiencing a shift towards personalized or precision medicine, which tailors treatments to individual genetic profiles to enhance efficacy and reduce side effects. Furthermore, the strategic use of big data and analytics is driving research advancements, operational efficiency, and improved patient outcomes.
However, organizations face numerous challenges, including regulatory pressures, escalating costs, talent shortages, and the rapid pace of technological change. In this dynamic environment, learning and development (L&D) programs play a crucial role in equipping professionals with the knowledge and skills necessary to thrive. As the industry pushes the boundaries of what is possible, L&D initiatives support the continuous growth of employees, promote a culture of innovation, and ensure compliance with ever-evolving regulations. By investing in effective training and development strategies, life sciences organizations can enhance their ability to adapt, drive progress, and ultimately improve patient care.
Top Learning and Development Challenges for Life Sciences Organizations
- Widespread Digitization: As the world undergoes rapid digitization, the life sciences industry must keep up by fully embracing digital transformation. L&D leaders play a crucial role in facilitating this shift by offering training on the latest technologies and digital tools. They also need to foster a culture of continuous learning that supports employees in smoothly adapting to digital advancements.
- Workplace Virtualization: The life sciences industry, once reliant on in-person meetings and conferences, is increasingly adopting virtual and hybrid models, a trend accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. L&D leaders must focus on enhancing virtual learning experiences by investing in cutting-edge technologies and converting traditional in-person workshops into effective virtual training sessions.
- Fierce Competition: In a highly competitive life sciences sector, L&D leaders need to devise strategies to attract and retain top talent. Building robust talent pipelines and offering career development and leadership programs are essential for ensuring a steady flow of skilled professionals and supporting their growth within the organization.
- Increasing Skills Gap: The life sciences industry is facing a growing skills gap, particularly in digital competencies, leadership, and soft skills. L&D leaders can address this by assessing skills gaps and developing tailored training programs to address these.
- Regulatory and Compliance Challenges: Compliance with regulatory requirements is critical in the life sciences industry. L&D leaders can support this by providing comprehensive training on compliance and regulatory frameworks, ensuring employees are well-versed in the necessary rules and regulations.
- Increasing Costs and Inflation: The rising costs of research, development, and drug manufacturing are impacting L&D budgets. To mitigate these effects, L&D leaders should adopt blended learning approaches that combine online and in-person training, reducing expenses related to travel and accommodation.
- Supply Chain Disruption: The global supply chain is vulnerable to disruptions such as lockdowns. L&D leaders must prepare for such uncertainties by diversifying suppliers and establishing contingency plans to ensure that training programs can continue without interruption.
- Data Management: With the vast amounts of data generated in the life sciences industry, effective data management is crucial for security and compliance. L&D leaders need to provide training on best practices for data management to empower employees in handling sensitive information securely.
Bridging the Skills Gap in the Life Sciences Industry With NIIT’s Learning Solutions
NIIT offers three tailored engagement models designed to help you navigate the life sciences industry. These models include:
Managed Training Services: Our Managed Learning Services empower pharmaceutical organizations in the Life Science industry to provide results in two aspects of the Learning and Development (L&D) value equation. We work with you in aligning your L&D objectives with the corporate objectives to achieve tangible outcomes.
Preferred Partnerships for Life Sciences: Learning and Development (L&D) within large pharmaceutical companies often are not centralized and are unorganized. We ensure that the L&D services are tailored to meet the specific needs of your organization.
Comprehensive Veeva Training: Our encompassing Veeva training solutions have been developed on our expertise in the life science industry. We cover all major domains- commercial, R&D, medical, or emerging pharma. With 350 successful Veeva rollouts and a 90% adoption rate, our solutions deliver unparalleled benefits.
Case Study: Pharmaceutical Leader's Phase 1 Oncology Training Achieves 574 Completions and 98.5% Approval Rate
Challenge: Our customer, a leading pharmaceutical company with 70,000 employees across 100 countries, wanted to create a learning program for Clinical Research Associates (CRAs) that could effectively enable them to perform oncology clinical research and expand their business in the field of oncology. This was due to the increasing focus on oncology studies, especially in the Asia Pacific Region, creating a growing demand for CRAs with expertise in this therapeutic area. The complexity and highly specific nature of Phase 1 oncology trials were causing struggles for CRAs in providing appropriate support to investigator sites, leading to quality issues and rework.
Solution: The company partnered with NIIT to create the Phase 1 Oncology for CRAs training program. This blended learning program aimed to develop both the theoretical understanding and the practical competencies of a CRA while working on a Phase 1 oncology study. The curriculum included self-paced courses in the form of scenario-based Web-based Training (WBT) and facilitated sessions in the form of Knowledge Wiki pages and Learning Clinics that ensured continuous learning. Additional components addressed the requirement for continuous evaluation, coaching, and mentoring. The training was designed following NIIT’s proprietary E=MC5 approach, ensuring retention by providing a safe environment that helps learners apply their knowledge into practice.
Result: The training program resulted in significant, measurable benefits for the company. From launch (Aug 2020 to Apr 2021), there were 574 completions of the eLearning module and 511 completions of the assessment module, greatly enabling the workforce to support projects in this area. 98.5% of CRAs who took the new training said they would be able to apply what they learned; 98.5% considered the training relevant to their job learning needs; and 97.5%of CRAs who took the training would recommend it to others with a similar role. Additionally, the program received positive feedback from managers as well. The training allowed more CRAs to deal with Phase 1 oncology trials, supporting the company's customers with this specialized study type and reducing quality issues observed earlier.
Download the case study to learn more.
Outsource Your Life & Sciences Training & Learning to NIIT
The life sciences industry is continually evolving, and L&D must keep pace with these changes. Whether it's in commercial sales, medical, HR compliance, or R&D, we provide solutions designed to meet your specific needs and drive meaningful results. To date, we have assisted numerous life sciences organizations in overcoming their challenges and aligning L&D efforts with business priorities to achieve tangible impact.
Explore our comprehensive managed learning services and find out how we can help bridge the skills gap in the life sciences sector.