WYETH PHARMACEUTICALS The Company

Wyeth employs more than 43,000 people worldwide, each one committed to improving the health of people around the world. Diverse and talented people who work at Wyeth bring to the company a range of talent in research, marketing, sales and manufacturing. Wyeth Pharmaceuticals vision is to lead the way to a healthier world as a result of their commitment to quality, integrity and excellence. Through recruitment, development and motivation of the best people, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals are continually growing and improving their business. They are acknowledged as a leader in innovation by linking pharmaceutical, biotechnology and vaccine technologies.

Training And Development

Training Top 125 No. 5: Wyeth Pharmaceuticals' Rx for Excellence Wyeth Pharmaceuticals' learning and development team is a shot in the arm to the organization, keeping it up to date on needed skills, and growing future leaders. For Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, learning and development means ensuring its systems and controls for delivering quality medications and health products are foolproof. "It's intended as a train-the-trainer so people can go back to their work sites and implement a business continuity program," says Associate Director, Business Continuity Program Roberta LaRocca. ." Wyeths learning management system - Learning Excellence Centre In addition, those trained to lead continuity efforts at their work site are taught how to write, implement, and sustain plans that would address the impact of the disaster. Many companies have disaster recovery training in place, but to successfully teach its work site leaders these skills, Wyeth took a slightly different approach. "Typically, vendors certify individuals to do business continuity planning," says LaRocca, "and we went through the training, but we thought we could do a better job internally in terms of the content and how it relates to Wyeth." The company also decided to tie the program it designed to Ursinus College, a locally based liberal arts college, which vetted the program, and now issues a certification to those who successfully complete it. During the two-and-a-half-day course, learners participate in a classroom experience that involves a theoretical lecture about disaster planning, along with presentations from Wyeth employees who have planned and implemented a continuity plan for their work site. In class, in addition to listening to the lecture and case studies, they complete an off-line simulation about implementing a continuity plan during a pandemic. This is followed by an assessment learners must pass before receiving their certification. This internal push toward enhancing operational excellence in manufacturing includes training on changing mind-sets and behaviors. Plant leadership and supervisors will participate in this training which also includes quality manufacturing methods that are used to improve the performance of operations, as well as make performance indicators visible to employees. An example is the use of visual management boards "so they're able to make key performance indicators well known to their entire group, while continuously providing them with data and feedback."

On the sales side of Wyeth's business, the coming time will see an increase in the use of the virtual classroom in training, says Director, Distance Learning & Training Operations Mack Thompson. This will be accomplished through the use of WebEx Training Center software. Trainers who work with the sales divisions are undergoing training to use these virtual tools to teach new sales reps during the onboarding process and initial product and skills training. "We have a full-blown certification process," says Thompson, "so our trainers can take the skills they use in the physical classroom and move those to an online forum where they can engage our students to move through the material, even though our students will be scattered across the country." Webcams, for instance, will be used for learners participating in sales role-play exercises. Also in the sales training and management development division is an effort to roll out a transformational coaching program to improve sales leader coaching ability, says Senior Director, Management Development, Sales Training and Management Development (STMD) Kevin Brown. The company will do a re-survey of its 360-degree feedback among sales team leaders, and then will conduct another, separate survey of sales reps to see if they noticed an improvement in their supervisors' coaching abilities. Such initiatives will be overseen this year by Wyeth's new learning council, says Senior Director, Pharma & Vaccines, STMD Steve Wells. "We've identified not only a learning council, but a steering committee that could give us the executive support we need," says Wells. "We also now will be able to communicate better among trainers and training groups, so we'll be much more efficient in how we use our time and resources." The economy no doubt will continue to be a challenge,as it is for most other companies, but Wyeth has no intention of sacrificing its training, says Vice President of Commercial Operations and Learning Development David Jenkins. "Continuous learning isn't going away," he says. "Whether it's a job function, compliance, or a corporate program, we're going to continue doing those things we think are important so we take care of the patientour ultimate concernalong with customers and our employees."
The bigger a corporation, the harder it is to make all of its parts work together while staying out of each other's way. That's why Wyeth, a pharmaceutical company based in Collegeville, PA, stands out among the companies that applied for this year's Training Top 125. It's not just that the company has interesting training programs or demonstrates a commitment to the ongoing development of its employees. Without that kind of commitment, it's not even possible to make the Top 125. But Wyeth is special because of the way all of its programs hang together. The company has a specific set of goals in mind for how the skills of its employees will be translated into success for both them and the company overall, and each of its training programs supports those goalsand supports the other programs that also support those goals. There are two ideas that tie it all together. One is "every person, every job." The other is "Best Rep." The first phrase has to do with a commitment to make sure that every employee at Wyeth is getting opportunities to develop their skills, so ongoing learning and development is not only possible but actively happening. The second has to do with the sales representatives at Wyeth, who are the company's public face and have a huge impact on whether Wyeth's customers stay that way.

PFIZER The Company

Pfizer is the world's largest research-based biomedical and pharmaceutical company .To ensure continuous improvement in all areas of the organization, leadership believes in the effectiveness

of proper training. Having training based programs allows employees to gain new knowledge, exchange ideas, and search for answers to his or her concerns or issues. According to McGlynn (1998), Pfizer is a knowledge business. It is not enough to just discover and develop new pharmaceutical products. Employees have to be out there educating medical professionals about the products and what they can do.

Training And Development

All over the world, Pfizer colleagues are impacting millions of lives through science and service. Our commitment to making the world a healthier place reaches far beyond the laboratory or the boardroom. As a recognized leader in global and cultural inclusiveness, Pfizer thrives on hiring candidates from all walks of life and we view the differences in each of us as a vital asset. We adhere to a supportive, communicative environment that allows for discovery and delivery of final, best in class products. Pfizers success depends on the success of our colleagues and we believe it is our corporate responsibility to provide each individual with access to the best possible professional and personal growth opportunities. Pfizer has more than five years of experience intentionally, persistently, and successfully designing and deploying Leadership Development that does not end at the classroom door, but continues after participants return to work and apply what they learned. The current state of the economy has caused many companies including Pfizer to cutback on external hiring. With that being said, internal development and training has become a top priority at Pfizer. The guidelines for Pfizers training program outline the following: a) needs assessment, b) design; how will training materials be created, c) development;what is the training medium, d) implementation; how will training be delivered, e) evaluation; training effectiveness, e) sustainability, and f) reinforcement. Training Needs Assessment-Pfizer requires different forms of training assessments due to the nature of the business. The first training assessment needed is safety. Because of different job requirements, Pfizer should implement a two-level safety training process. The first process provides in-depth training for those working in or supporting the lab; while the second process is a training session for the office staff. Deployment of two different levels of education ensures the workers will receive training aligned with the required safety requirements in their individual areas. Since Pfizer houses a laboratory environment, those working in or supporting a lab must have an understanding of the regulated systems. The employees who work with the regulated systems should learn and understand Good practices. Pfizer Worldwide Research and Development (R&D) sponsors a postdoctoral training programme that provides a unique opportunity to pursue ground-breaking research in the areas of disease biology, drug delivery and mechanisms of action, as well as the engineering of novel therapeutic proteins, vaccines, and nucleic acids. Trainees pursue their research and career training in a culture steeped in the translation of basic science discovery into difference-making medicines for patients of all ages and geographies. Postdocs can pursue their training at a number of the companys Worldwide R&D campuses around the globe. The training programme is designed to provide a strong research foundation that will lead to tomorrows innovative new biological therapies for major human diseases.

Pfizer is also consistently recognised as one of the worlds most admired companies. Much of our achievement comes from the importance we place on fulfilling our mission and values, as well as creating an environment that fosters the growth and development of our people. We believe that, collectively, our individual experiences allow us to better meet the needs of our patients and further our work to make the world a healthier place. Pfizer celebrates the array of unique qualities, perspectives and life experiences, which define us as individuals. This includes our visible differences such as gender, age, ethnicity, physical appearance, as well as other characteristics including work styles, sexual orientation, religious or national identity and education.These traits create a vibrant community and a supportive culture that allows our people, regardless of where they work in the world, to feel valued, involved, supported and respected. And while we celebrate the differences that create the mosaic culture of Pfizer, it is diversity of thought that we value most. We work to provide qualified individuals with disabilities, including disabled veterans, the same career opportunities as any other prospective Pfizer colleague. We believe that physical and mental limitations shouldnt hinder the best and brightest from making a difference in our organisation.
Throughout our rich history, Pfizer has received numerous awards in areas including business and financial operations, corporate governance, employee relations and workplace environment, and philanthropy. We have also received honors for the innovative prescription medicines and pharmaceutical products we develop to help people live longer, healthier lives. In addition, many of our Pfizer colleagues have received recognition for their individual efforts and achievements.

Wyeth Pharmaceuticals Vs Pfizer Wyeth Pharmaceuticals and Pfizer come under the top most companies under the medical drug production. They have been credited with number of achievements and honors in the recent times. Though they belong to the similar traditional background, they follow different approaches to train their employees. As observed above, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals focuses on methods such as lecture and case studies, off-line simulation and the employees are trained to lead continuity efforts at their work site and are taught how to write, implement, and sustain plans that would address the impact of the disaster.This is to reduce the cycle period. On the other hand, Pfizer along with the basic methods of training and development gives huge focus on research and development. It provides a postdoctoral training programme that provides a unique opportunity to pursue ground-breaking research in the areas of disease biology, drug delivery and mechanisms of action, as well as the engineering of novel therapeutic proteins, vaccines, and nucleic acids. Finally we say, both the companies have made path breaking achievements in medicines and pharmaceutical products they developed to help people live longer, healthier lives.