Three-dimensional virtual worlds are replacing classrooms at clinical research organization PPD. The company has launched a variety of popular courses around the concept.
The scenario clearly called for innovative thinking. PPD, a global contract research organization, faced challenges to meeting the training obligations of its far-flung employees, including newly hired clinical monitoring specialists posted throughout the world.
A best-in-class introductory training program was being delivered to the new associates, but the related travel and time demands were burdensome. Training managers began seeking a route to reduce costs while improving overall performance.
It was one of several training concerns for the company, which launched in 1985 as a solo consultancy and today has offices in 46 countries and 12,500 employees. PPD provides drug discovery, development life cycle management, and laboratory services throughout the world. Clients include pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device, academic, and government organizations.
"PPD continually faces the challenge of ensuring the balance between the time invested in L&D and the fact that our employees provide a billable service to clients, making every moment a valuable resource," says Mike Wilkinson, executive vice president and chief information officer. The result is a pressing need for faster and more flexible delivery options.
It was time to go virtual.
Wilkinson and colleagues reasoned that by creating 3-D virtual learning environments, PPD could deliver all of the required training under the introductory Clinical Foundations Program to its global audience. Doing so would eliminate time-consuming travel without loss of performance.
The team selected ProtoSphere, a 3-D collaboration software product from Proton Media. With help from the provider, PPD created a virtual training universe called PPD 3D that is complete with doctor's office, reception, and training and conference rooms. Students select a business-appropriate avatar to represent them in the virtual space, and learn required curriculum from live instructors more realistically than in the classroom. The virtual experience can even be augmented by media such as Excel, PowerPoint, and video.
But first came the job of training PPD instructors to communicate as avatars in a new virtual world. Wilkinson said that despite little available guidance on the subject, they were quickly able to learn the required skills. "Our instructors now enjoy it more than face-to-face training," he says. During the process, the team learned that entirely new skills are required to become a virtual trainer.
So popular and effective was the new clinical training initiative that the concept was rolled out for other training programs. They included the HR department's flagship leadership training program called LEAD, a blended learning initiative that targets all levels of managers. Another is a program called See1Do1: a Virtual Interim Monitoring Visit Experience. Introduced last year, it simulates aspects of key activities performed by staffers within the organization's core business.
"Our 3-D virtual training/collaboration technology improves the cost-effectiveness, speed, and accessibility of training," says Wilkinson. In post-training surveys from Clinical Foundation Program personnel, 80 percent of respondents said they prefer it to classroom training, while a whopping 95 percent feel they are more engaged than with conventional instruction. In addition, global engagement scores rose by 6 percent over the year, a significant achievement. More PPD 3D training is being planned.
Other PPD innovations involve the structure and organization of its training activities. That includes placing all aspects of performance and improvement under Wilkinson and Ed Murray, executive vice president and chief human resources officer.
"Having a business leader in charge gives us immediate credibility in the C-suite, and total business alignment with company strategy," says Wilkinson, who previously ran PPD's global operations. "We also wanted all the aspects of performance and improvement under a single leader. Technology, process improvement, business analytics and data, global learning, and performance all are placed under me."
The duties were divided five years ago after PPD hired Lynn Whitesell as its executive director of organizational effectiveness, a position that oversees all HR-related training, including leadership and soft skills. She reports to Murray.
"The key to our success in employee training is an effective partnership between our HR team and our technology, innovation, and performance group," says Wilkinson. "Integration provides a holistic approach to continuous improvement."
Design and delivery teams align strategically with business units, conducting needs analysis and providing products, programs, and global event coordination. "We train and develop staff, measure performance against standards, optimize processes, utilize technology, and measure post-improvement performance—then initiate additional cycles of continuous improvement," the company says.
An example of this holistic approach is a professional skills foundation certificate program called the EDGE (engage, develop, grow, excel) program. The globally consistent skills development program is intended for individuals who "embrace the company's core behaviors." It provides a foundation for continued development and enhancement of professional skills.
The approach also includes a 15-member Global Learning Council created in 2012 to provide a comprehensive learning and development strategy around performance. Sponsored by the executive team, the panel has established work groups on learning evaluation and metrics, learning culture, and other topics.
Wilkinson says an example of the corporate culture endorsed by the council is to consider technologies as an enabler for the business. "But we don't throw a tech-based solution at something until we fully understand the data around it. We must fully understand the process and then optimize it."
When that happens, he says, training becomes the "icing on the cake" in improving personnel effectiveness.