Focus Supplement 2 - Summer 2017 - 39

FEATURESTORY

training in medical information and
receive certification.

Value of the Position?
e field training position oﬀers a
great deal of value for both leadership
and the field. For Robinson at Janssen,
field trainers provide the training
team and internal partners with
impartial experts in the field who
provide insight into sales
representative performance and
execution in a just-in-time manner.
ey oﬀer innovative and creative
approaches on how to improve sales
and representative performance in the
field. ey also provide a strong pool
of candidates for future district
manager positions.
For Schaal at AstraZeneca, the
value of the field trainer lies in having
the ability to deliver the right training
to the field at the right time. Regional

training specialists provide a conduit
for delivering training to field sales
and supporting pull-through of
training in the field. Foundation
facilitators are a conduit for delivering
knowledge to the field. ey help
develop new hires, and provide
consistency, clinical expertise and
sales messaging support.

assignments."
Schaal takes a more measured
approach. Her team uses monthly
calls and both quantitative and
qualitative feedback data. ey also
use level 1 and level 2 evaluative
surveys.

How Do You Measure the
Value of the Position?

How do our experts see the future
of the position? Robinson would like
to see upper management have an
increased understanding of the role
and its benefit to the future success of
the sales force. He believes that to be
more eﬀective, the number of FSTs
needs to be consistently evaluated
against the needs of the business,
particularly as Janssen moves into
more complicated disease states.
Schaal sees the need for a bridge
between leadership and the field.
"ere is an increased need to have
people in the field as oen as possible
in order to provide local markets
context and insight into virtual
launches and virtual training," she
said. Field trainers facilitate speed of
access to that context and insight.
e field trainer role continues to
evolve. It has moved from being a
utility position to serving as a crucial
conduit of information between
leadership and the field. For
Robinson, the position is important
for any forward thinking organization.
It provides a more eﬃcient way to be
in touch with the sales force. It also
provides a tremendous amount of
insight, serving as a bridge between
the sales force and internal teams.
Schaal agrees. "ere is an age-old
perception that learning is easy and
simple," she said. "Leadership can
sometimes fail to think long term
when it comes to training."
e continuing evolution of the
field trainer role may be a way to
change that perception. ■

When asked how they measure the
value of the field trainer position,
Robinson took a pragmatic approach.
"e value of the team is measured
by their level of interaction with the
business partners," he said. "For
example, serving as performance
consultants, being included in weekly
leadership calls, executing interim
district manager assignments, and
taking on challenging coaching

Future Evolution of Field
Trainer Role?

Gayle Shaw-Hones, RN, Ph.D., is director of learning and development, for Kynectiv. Email Gayle at gayleshawhones@kynectiv.com.

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Focus Supplement 2 - Summer 2017