The Way We Learn in Life Sciences Today September 2014

ow can today’s life science worker learn when there’s no real industry development standard,

little to no time, lackluster technology, a gap between science and business acumen and, if they’re a newcomer, an attention span bordering that of a gnat?

There’s a five-part learning dilemma facing today’s life science’s workplace.

#1 Companies require their labs to adhere to standards, but not so their worker’s ongoing professional development.

Universities, as the often cited reference in provision-ing today’s worker with the necessary scientific and tech-nical acumen, can provide (along with various vendor groups), a smattering of business acumen to augment that learning. However, the cost in time and money often mimics their previous student-customer encoun-ter when an individual was last on campus getting that biology or engineering degree. Not to mention that the teaching, even when under an academic umbrella, is for the most part, the reflection of a single instructor’s opin-ion or experience, rather than that of the industry vested in the learning. At least, this was the case in the more than decade and a half I spent overseeing instruction in professional development programs for scientists and engineers across several campuses for a world renowned university system.

What’s the benchmark when on-the-job training is relegated to the neighborhood college, or whomever the L&D (Learning and Development) Director knows from his or her previous company or worse, predicated on selecting a vendor group because they charge 20% less than anybody else?

Simply put, where is the collective voice of an in-dustry whose entire reputation is based on absolute adherence to the rigor of standardization in processes ensuring the utmost in quality of customer or patient experience?

The FDA determines regulatory provisions, ISO prompts quality adherence, Sarbanes-Oxley oversees accounting practices and PMI governs project manage-ment. But who’s to say what the Body of Knowledge and accompanying standards are for being a life science pro-fessional actively working in a medical device company or in biotechnology or in wireless medicine or…? What are the general skills a professional should have at point of entry? Moving up into a supervisory capacity? What about as a manager? You get the gist.

#2 The increasing cost of time.

Even if workers want to learn, and they do, they have little (and I mean little as in none) time to do so when the work-place is fraught with doing more with less. This only exacerbates the dilemma. The

truth is that I’ve never met a scientist, or other life sci-ence professional who didn’t yearn for more data. And, once obtained, to cultivate knowledge from the piles of information collected into a treasure trove of usefulness that his or her respective organization could translate into a product or service. In fact, it’s not just the organi-zation they’re trying to support, but a global populous as exemplified by one young scientist working in a research lab. When asked why he did what he did, the response was a sit-up-and-take-notice statement “I wake up each morning frothing at the mouth in anticipation of finding a cure for what ails mankind.”

Maybe not everyone is frothing, but there’s certainly a fair number of professional workers in life scienc-es expecting to make a difference. Instead, they find themselves scratching their heads in puzzlement as to how to get that just-in-time knowledge (vs. more piles

If the Global Biological Standards Institute specifies that “Life Science(s)

standards are essential for ensuring process and product quality and safety in biological research,” why is there no standard in professional development

for life science workers?

The Way We Learn in Life SciencesSeptember 30, 2014 by Victoria Tucker

H

of information) that will build up their skillset which can then be interpreted as practical value by those cutting their paychecks. Since the currency of time doesn’t allow for traditional methods of learning, how does our knowledge-hungry worker get their just-in-time data? As John Seely Brown1 writes “in a world of increasingly rapid change, the half-life of a given stock or skill is con-stantly shrinking” – at around 5 years. Don’t tell that to the worker who is still paying off their student loan from their biology degree, not to mention their recent MBA.

#3While the web turned 25 years of age back on March 12th 2014, corporate learning has not kept pace with the monumental advances falling under this umbrella of technology.

Cloud storage, countless forms of social media, video streaming, wireless medicine, Gamification, applicant tracking systems, apps, YouTube, and myriads of other technological wonders are being birthed at warp speed. But, when it comes to professional development, there’s been relatively little progress – at least when it comes to the type of technology corporations have adopted to train up their staff. There’s eLearning, even MOOCs (mas-sive open online courses), but this is a form of learning that has mostly morphed from sitting in a classroom to being able to watch an instructor’s PowerPoint presenta-tion while simultaneously eating popcorn, doing a load of laundry and wearing fuzzy socks from the comfort of home. In other words, the presentation still smacks of traditional academia.

Plus, the expectation to learn shouldn’t be viewed as an extraneous benefit to workers, but as an essential mo-tivator tied to their overall connectivity and contribution. According to The Life Science Workforce Engagement Survey & Exploration of 2010 Workplace Practices & Trends2:

“Organizations may be missing opportunities to posi-tively sway their workforce to consensus when it comes

to initiative, growth (learning) opportunities, respect for expertise and so on. Upon closer examination, organi-zations may find that neutral ratings as depicted in the survey findings could, in many cases, be reflections of a reluctant connectivity to the organization.”

#4Millennials are expected to make up 75% of the workforce by 2025 and oh by the way – they have the attention span of a gnat.

Literally. 90 seconds – that’s how much time John Eades3 writing for eLearning-Industry.com believes they can pay attention before flitting off to another thought. Personally, I hope to drop dead before this happens as the sheer thought of trying to squeeze something mean-ingful into a minute and a half is downright nauseating.

Still, anyone who’s been around toddlers or teens lately, knows they possess an uncanny ability to navigate a smartphone or tablet with mesmerizing talent and dexterity. This means they also have an expectation of immediate gratification. Not several days later, nor even several hours, but satisfaction in a few minutes – all of which is vastly different from the training associated with traditional corporate endeavors.

#5For the most part, workers aren’t bridging the gap between science and business acumen. And, new hires are sluggish when getting-up-to-speed.

According to the Coalition of State Bioscience Institutes (CSBI) in their 2014 Life Sciences Workforce Trends Report4, “… simply having a basic science degree is no longer enough to be successful. The findings suggest that there is an absolute need for ‘professional hybrids’ – individ-uals who have the skill sets necessary to link scientific knowledge with business acumen to advance a product or technology through its life cycle.”

1 John Seely Brown is a researcher specializing in organizational studies with a particular bent towards the organizational implications of computer-supported activities. He is also author of The Social Life of Information.

2 The Life Science Workforce Engagement Survey & Exploration of 2010 Workplace Practices & Trends included survey findings from more than 2,000 individual raters representing 22 life science organizations located throughout southern California. ZBglobal conducted the survey in association with BIOCOM and BEDC – the Biotechnology Employee Development Coalition.

3 “Why microlearning is HUGE and how to be part of it.” by John Eades writing for eLearning Industry.com on July 6, 2014.

FOOTNOTES

LifeCollaborative.com © 2014 The Way We Learn in Life Sciences 2

And, as often lamented by those leading the organi-zation, new workers seem to be carriers of the proverbial deer in the headlights virus. “You want what when?” “What do you mean there’s a budget?” “I know you said this was the project, but wouldn’t it be cool if we also found a cure for those menopause – induced – night – sweats while investigating the cure for athlete’s foot?” And headlights aside, “Why do I have to work with her?”

If the 5 parts just listed are indicative of today’s learning dilemma, what should life science organiza-tions be seeking when it comes to remedying their worker’s development?

#1No standard? Here’s a call-out to industry to create one.

According to the US World and News Report – Febru-ary 22, 20135, the following are the top skills employers are looking for when recruiting to fill their job vacancies:

1. Project Management2. Social Media Savvy3. Critical Thinking & Data Analysis4. Sales5. Writing6. Computer Fluency7. Problem Solving

Likewise, Forbes6 reported a similar list in October, 2013. Susan Adams, a Forbes staff writer, summarized a

survey conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) a Bethlehem, Pennsylvania not-for-profit group linking college career placement offices with employers. According to survey findings, there’s a list employers reference when hiring college grads. And, there are priorities with the first skill being that of work-ing in a team. Together, the list includes:

1. Work in a team2. Make decisions and solve problems3. Plan, organize and prioritize work4. Communicate verbally with people inside and

outside an organization5. Obtain and process information6. Analyze quantitative data7. Apply technical knowledge related to the job8. Demonstrate proficiency with computer software

programs9. Create and/or edit written reports

10. Sell and influence others

The findings from both the US World & News Report and Forbes, are echoed in the 2014 CSBI Workforce Trends Report. Scientific and technical skills (such as chemistry, clinical trials, biology, data analysis, clinical research, good manufacturing and others) are certainly listed as most sought after capabilities, but so are the following:

• Regulatory Knowledge• Navigating in Cross Functional Teams• Strong Communication • Interpersonal Skills• Time Management• Problem Solving• Leadership• Agility and Change Management

I believe that when you take the skills referenced from the sources mentioned here (combined with the findings of other thought leaders contributing to the topic of professional development), you can organize them into knowledge areas.

4 “Life Sciences Workforce Trends Report 2014.” Prepared by the Coalition of State Bioscience Institutes, a national coalition of 42 state bioscience organizations and the Biotechnology Institute.

5 Jada Graves writing for U.S. News and World Report (Money) “7 Key Skills You Need to Get Hired Right Now. In-demand skills job candidates must cultivate,” February 21, 2013.

6 Susan Adams writing for Forbes in “The 10 Skills Employers Most Want In 20-Something Employees” October 11, 2013.

FOOTNOTES

“ (Those interviewed) also expressed concerns over lag-times in getting new hires up-to-speed, citing

their inability to understand the business aspects of the company

environment.” 2014 CSBI Life Sciences Workforce Trends Report. ”


A call-to-action goes out to leading state and na-tional life science associations to get behind a Body of Knowledge framework, and from there, to craft a detailed level of standardized benchmarks which can be articulated to academic and private vendor groups alike. This would also include the drafting of definitions and corresponding competency levels spanning the range from individual contributor to supervisor/project lead and ultimately to that of manager.

With a uniform framework in place, life science companies not only have a point of reference when soliciting professional training, but can then present their workforce with a guide for moving up or over, and equally important – the culling out of knowledge. This seems a better alternative to that of hoping workers can decipher what should (or should not be) picked from in the tornado of information swirling about them.

Capabilities and Knowledge AreasFour prominent categories emerge, reflecting a Body of Knowledge in which standards can then be generated: 1. Managing Projects, Products & Processes

2. Collaboration3. Alignment with Organizational Performance

4. Continuous Improvement of Scientific & Technical Expertise

Capabilities that are foremost to the category are grouped under each of these knowledge areas and end up looking like the following:


#2No time? Get out the blender.

In less than a decade, corporations have dramatically reduced their budget in time and expense, moving from multi-day face-to-face instructional programs to a model where staff can be trained in under a few hours.

Blended (hybrid) learning is the template most are contemplating when it comes to real-time development. Groups such as the American Society of Training and Development, as well as numerous other practitioners, have weighed in on training formats in which time is respected as the ultimate premium.

In fact, many advocate that to optimize development, consideration must be given to using eLearning as the book-end to a tailored face-to-face course. When work-ers are made aware of a course topic, they go online to prep at their own pace, getting up-to-speed on their own time rather than waiting for an instructor to address the full spectrum of the training audience (beginner to expert). Once oriented, then a face-to-face instructor-led workshop is configured to meet the specific needs of the company as well as those attending the session. Some purport that the ability to teach within 2-2.5 hours is ideal so as to minimize the disruption of “real work.”After the tailored workshop, the blended model encourag-es participants to review on-line materials as well as take a quiz to assess learning. For added oomph, the instructor (or online learning module) spells out immediate ways with which to apply the knowledge.

According to Dario De Angelis7, writing for eLearning Industry.com, “a blended approach can also simplify your course’s logistics.” If, for example, you have 250 workers whom all need training on four separate topics, you’ll

find yourself dealing with issues ranging from confer-ence facilities large enough to hold various groups to printing up materials on each topic (think of the trees) to testing for understanding (again, more paper and time) at the end of each session.

#3 Slow technology? BYOD (bring your own device).

Wider adoption of mobile learning is being linked to increased productivity. It’s not just eLearning, but the ability to engage learning on any device, anywhere and at any time that has people talking. Whether on a train commuting to work, sitting at a coffee shop during the lunch hour, or waiting for a child to finish soccer practice, workers expect to be able to access just-in-time knowl-edge-based topics when and where they want.

According to the 2013 Towards Maturity Benchmark Study8, “expectations of what mobile can add to learning outcomes are at an all-time high; 8 out of 10 Learning

and Development profession-als expect mobile technology to help staff access support at the time of need. 8 out of 10 also believe mobile learning will increase employee en-gagement.”

Using mobile-based technology to support eLearn-ing for the professional devel-opment of life science workers is fast becoming the leading strategy. To give credence to this assertion is the Times of

Malta report on The Way We Learn Now9 in July of 2014, in which they reported the following:

• It is estimated that around the world, half of all classes will be e-learning based by 2019.

• Almost half of global Fortune 500 companies use some form of e-Learning to instruct employees.

7 Dario De Angelis writing for eLearning Industry.com “Blended Learning for Corporate Training” July 2, 2014.

8 Towards Maturity In-Focus report titled “Mobile Learning at Work,” the second in the series that explores changing patterns of use of mobile learning at work… (and) is based on extensive research derived from Towards Maturity’s 2013 Benchmark Study examining key findings based on the responses received from 481 organizations across 44 countries spanning a range of industries, sectors, types and sizes.

9 Times of Malta.com report “The Way We Learn Now: E-learning has changed the way we learn new skills and improve our job prospects. Here is why it is getting top marks.” July 9, 2014.

FOOTNOTES


• According to a report published by IBM, business-es that use e-learning tools have the potential to boost productivity by up to 50%.

• A study conducted by Bersin & Associates shows that businesses that have a strong e-learning culture did better in their market than those who do not.

• E-learning also had the potential to increase information retention. According to the Research Institute of America, e-learning has the power to increase information retention rates by up to 60%.

#4Attention span of a gnat? Think in small bite-sized pieces. Go micro-learning.

It’s a disruptive innovation that flies in the face of traditional corporate schooling. Putting workers in control of their own just-in-time learning – accessing what and when they learn – and offering it in a technolo-gy based format (typically video driven) where a specific topic can be retrieved in about four minutes, is where those under and around the age of 30 are leaning – this according to John Eades, writing for eLearning-Industry.com in his July 2014 post “5 Microlearning Command-ments to Create Your Own Microlearning.” And, it should be noted that microlearning is not lim-ited to the topics found in an eLearning catalog. Rather, it also includes the ability of workers to gather knowl-edge through their personal social networks. According to Rob Cross and Andrew Parker, authors of The Hidden Power of Social Networks:7

“We learned that individual expertise did not distin-guish people as high performers. What distinguished high performers were larger and more diversified per-sonal networks.”

Microlearning presupposes that savvy consumers (aka today’s life science workforce) are continually scouring and interacting with their social-media-based networks to glean what’s new and necessary. Tribal knowledge, once relegated to the tacit data residing in the heads of those walking the corporate hallways, has gone global, mobile and micro.

According to Jane Hart, author of the Social Learning Handbook 20148

“Learning the new is as much about finding out about stuff that is new to the world as is new to the individual, i.e. new ideas, new concepts, new thinking, new skills, new resources, etc. – things that have yet to become codified within existing or new bodies of knowledge. So learning the new is not about going to an annual confer-ence or reading a few industry magazines, in addition to social networks, it includes using a variety of social tools and services to keep up to date – on a continuous basis – with what is happening in one’s industry or profession.”

7 Dario De Angelis writing for eLearning Industry.com “Blended Learning for Corporate Training” July 2, 2014. 8 Towards Maturity In-Focus report titled “Mobile Learning at Work,” the second in the series that explores changing patterns of use of mobile learning at work… (and) is based on extensive research derived from Towards Maturity’s 2013 Benchmark Study examining key findings based on the responses received from 481 organizations across 44 countries spanning a range of industries, sectors, types and sizes.

10 Robert Cross and Andrew Parker The Hidden Power of Social Networks: Understanding How Work Really Gets Done in Organizations. June 2004.

11 Jane Hart Social Learning Handbook 2014: The Next Generation of Workplace Learning Practices in the Age of Knowledge Sharing and Collabora-tion; Centre for Learning and Performance Technologies.

FOOTNOTES

Tribal knowledge, once rele-gated to the tacit data residing in

the heads of those walking the cor-porate hallways, has gone global,

mobile and micro.

“”


#5 Void between science and business? Mind the gap.

When standing in any of London’s tube stations, you can’t help but notice the warning sign boldly inscribed at the edge of each platform – “MIND THE GAP.” Wait for the train to arrive before crossing the yellow line. When it comes to learning for workers, the gap is getting wider and those in charge need to be mindful. Waiting for the proverbial learning train could be precarious at best when trying to achieve immediate organizational results unless some real effort is made to coalesce science with business.

We started our national eLearning program in direct response to this “gap” as bemoaned upon by local in-dustry practitioners “Our scientists don’t speak business and our business people don’t speak science.” There are planks that can span the gap (traditional eLearning mod-els), and then there are smart bridges. When the “mak-ers” of that just-in-time learning come directly out of industry to present their real-world perspective on doing business in a science company, the learning is pragmatic (useful) versus strictly academic. Industry faculty, repre-senting a broad bandwidth of global life science compa-nies, bring a sense of relevance that can’t be found in the neighborhood college or vendor sources, no matter how well-intentioned they may be.

Cross-functional training is not just a necessity, but a matter of engaging for greater produc-tivity in the workplace. As reported by The Life Science Workforce Engagement Survey & Exploration of 2010 Workplace Practices & Trends:

“1 out of 2 workers would be open to a different job/career if it were interesting to them. Some obviously are not open to changing positions, whereas 1 out of 4 viewed the choice as a toss-up. When looked at in the context of a 2010 Workplace Trend (Cross functional Career Pathing), an attention grabbing debate is likely to erupt in organizations. Creating a career ladder or a horizontal pathway (rather than relying on upward mobility alone) could present captivating exchanges.”

This leaning is also reflected in the 2014 CSBI Work-force Trends Report as viewed through the eyes of those being interviewed:

“Employees need to be flexible when working across disciplines, as they will often find themselves working in different areas of the company.”

“We look for employees who have learned through experience, who have been part of multi-disciplinary teams and recognize both the team accomplishment and their role in the team.”

“Individuals with capabilities in communication, leadership, problem-solving and innovative thinking are fundamental to successful company growth.”

Summary When leaders within the life science industry step in with a collective voice to identify, determine and deliver a Body of Knowledge to guide the learning and develop-ment of their workforce, and adopt a blended technol-ogy approach modeled after a microlearning format, workers are not only likely to increase their productivity through access to that just-in-time treasure trove of infor-mation, but increase their engagement and connectively to their respective company.

Think of it this way, the tribal knowledge walking your hallways could just get a whole lot bigger and a lot more valuable.


About the Author

Victoria Tucker is a researcher, speaker and author bringing more than 25 years of experience to endeav-ors with an emphasis in developing life science and medical device organizations and the people within them. She has held formal senior management positions within multi-national organizations including that of VP of Strategic Planning and has led leadership and innovation development programs across

University of California campuses in her capacity as executive Director of the University of California Extended Studies Institute in Leadership and Management for Science and technology Professionals. Through this role and others, Victoria has taught and mentored tens of thousands of individuals. Currently, she is CEO of ZBglobal – a workforce science & eLearning organization powering brilliant workplaces.

About ZBglobal

is a workforce development company specializing in the science and technology of team collaboration.

ZBglobal is home to: Building Healthy Careers in Life SciencesLife Collaborative

TM

( www.LifeCollaborative.com ) a nationally recognized eLearning platform

comprised of BioTech and MedTech programs bridging science with business, acknowledged by the following life

science associations –

MedTech and BioTech Veterans Program ( www.MVPvets.org ) has the mission of recruiting and retraining 5,000 military veterans over the next few years to move into life science companies around the nation.

( www.JobFastPass.com ) is an online learning series preparing candidates to more efficiently and effectively land the career they want.


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The Way We Learn in Life Sciences Today September 2014