Creating an academy that addresses specific skillsets can help boost engagement among employees because it elevates the image of learning.
Servier* – a global pharmaceutical group governed by a Foundation, world leader in cardiology and focused player in oncology – were keen to develop three academies to address 3 main cross-functional competencies gaps across the company, that are key for succeed in their transformation.
Project Management focus
The priority was Project Management, as there were several factors directly impacting performance and to ensure better execution of strategic programs and business projects linked to Servier’s transformation. For example, less than 15% of those working on projects had been trained. Most were self-taught.
In addition, external consultants were leading a high number of projects and the training that did exist focused too much on hard skills at the expense of soft skills.
To address this issue, the company created a dedicated academy, which they called SERVIER &U.
A global project management approach
The key objective was to develop collective skills in Project Management across the organisation worldwide by offering training programs at ‘core’, ‘advanced’ and ‘expert’ levels. Managers also wanted to establish a community of best practice and foster a culture of coaching and mentoring.
They wished to encourage cross-functional collaboration and efficiency in every project by promoting a common mindset and shared practices, all based on international standards (Project Management Institute PMI® and Scrum.org).
Importantly, all training within the academy had to align with the company’s overall strategic goals.
The SERVIER &U academy is born
The vision for the global development of a project management culture within SERVIER included several learning modules and pathways that promote both hard and soft skills.
To further develop, participants were offered a range of training solutions that meet the needs of program/project managers and line managers. These included Change Management, Agile Roles and certifications in project management (PMP®, Product Owner®, Scrum Master®, etc.)
The training was enhanced with the distribution of the “Servier Project Management Playbook” – a document that outlines the common vocabulary and grammar that makes it possible for everyone in Servier to understand each other and work together in projects of whatever nature.
More efficient practices and gain of performance
Servier observed a gain in project performance of 5%, directly due to the training. The total cost of Group projects is around €300m per year, so this represents a saving of €15m per year, which more than covers training design and delivery costs.
In addition to the value of the training content and the quality of the facilitation, participants mentioned a high level of operational usefulness (86% and 94%) which was also reflected in high Net Promotor Scores of 35 and 51.
A few months after training, all trainees were asked to what extent the training had contributed to their professional and personal development.
Key takeaways were:
- Improvements in all types of practices, notably agile/hybrid approaches that were quite new within SERVIER at the time
- Employed new ways of working by exchanging best practices with different collaborators from all backgrounds, gained different perspectives and became more efficient
- Developed better leadership skills and understood how to deal will different personalities within their team
- Learned new ways of working and practices/tools to use.
- Understood the best behaviours as a team member or project leader.
Conclusion
“The quality of the training was a key success factor,” says Gregory Ruget, Group Program Support Director at Servier. “It’s the word of mouth that leads people to sign up their employees and we succeeded in this. The second factor is the co-operation we had with Cegos, from the learning engineering phase onwards, to build these training programs adapted to our context.”
The launch of this academy was recognised by the Brandon Hall Group Excellence Awards. This global programme rewards innovation and achievement in the world of Human Capital Management. The group recently announced the SERVIER and CEGOS’ project as winner of a silver Award in the category: Best Corporate Learning University.
If you would like to know more about how Cegos Group can help implement a successful project management program to upskill your people, contact us today.
* About Servier :
Founded to serve health, Servier is a global pharmaceutical group governed by a Foundation that aspires to have a meaningful social impact, both for patients and for a sustainable world.
With its unique governance model, it can fully serve its vocation with a long-term vision: being committed to therapeutic progress to serve patient needs. The 21,900 employees of the Group are committed to this shared vocation, a source of inspiration every day. As a world leader in cardiology, Servier’s ambition is to become a focused and innovative player in oncology by targeting rare cancers. That is why the Group allocates over 70% of its R&D budget to developing targeted and innovative therapies in oncology. Neuroscience and immuno-inflammatory diseases are the future growth drivers. In these areas, Servier is focused on a limited number of diseases in which accurate patient profiling makes it possible to offer a targeted therapeutic response through precision medicine. To promote access to quality care for all at a lower cost, the Group also offers a range of quality generic drugs covering most pathologies, relying on strong brands in France, Eastern Europe, Brazil and Nigeria. In all these areas, the Group includes the patient voice at each stage of the life cycle of a medicine. Headquartered in France, Servier relies on a strong geographical footprint in over 150 countries and achieved a revenue of €5.3 billion in 2023. More information on the new Group website: servier.com
