The Systematic Approach to Developing Core Capabilities, Part 2: Needs Analysis and Capability Models

The economic, policy, and social transformations of the last several years have greatly affected biopharma companies’ operational performance and strategic effectiveness. These transformations have led to greater complexity in the required skill sets for many roles, increasing the demands on the professionals who work in these companies. Those increased demands, coupled with the post-COVID increase in demand for issues such as work flexibility and professional development, are making it more challenging for biopharma companies to develop and retain great employees. However, learning and development (L&D) teams within biopharma companies can play a key role in addressing this challenge. Ultimately, the companies that work with their L&D functions to mitigate the effects of those changes on their employees are the ones that will be best positioned for success in spite of the challenging headwinds.

Taking a systematic approach to developing core capabilities is one of the most powerful ways for companies to develop staff members and thrive in this challenging time. We define a systematic approach as one that is structured, methodical, and standardized across the organization. Moreover, this type of approach consistently uses ongoing evaluation and measurement, socializes the process with both leadership and individual contributors, and applies a mindset of continuous skills enhancement.

By using a systematic approach, organizations can both enhance employee effectiveness and improve the overall employee experience. In Part 1 of this series about how L&D can develop core capabilities systematically, we described the need for such an approach, its benefits, and its key components. Those components are as follows:

1. Needs Analyses
2. Capability Models
3. Personalized Learning Plans

In this article, we explore the process of conducting needs analyses and developing capability models. We take a detailed look at what it means to approach these processes in a systematic way, and we share a case study that illustrates how doing so helped a biopharma company better support its employees’ development and retention. Later, we will conclude the series with a third article on developing personalized learning plans.

Needs Analyses

Developing a needs analysis is the essential first step toward building a capability model that defines the skills needed for success in a given role. In this process, L&D teams identify and evaluate individuals’ needs and areas for development, with the goal of finding the gaps between their current skills and abilities and those that are required to perform in their specific roles.

While some of the specifics of needs analyses can differ across organizations, a systematic approach to the issue usually includes the following steps:

• Reviewing and analyzing relevant background materials such as job descriptions and existing capability models
• Identifying the appropriate stakeholders to participate in the process, ​​including in-role employees (both new to and experienced), functional area leaders and managers, and cross-functional partners who work with individuals in this role
• Conducting group and one-on-one interviews with stakeholders

The topics explored during the interviews depend on the gaps being explored. Examples may include:

• Current capability gaps
• What good looks like in roles
• Career paths

Companies may choose to work with either their internal L&D teams or with a third party to conduct needs analyses. While internal L&D teams understand organizational dynamics deeply, they also run the risk of being too close to the issue and not seeing some issues as clearly as an external partner may. There are other benefits to working with a third party. One is that someone with an outside perspective is more likely to avoid the bias that can come from being too close to the subject. Another is that third parties bring in external expertise and thinking to the process. Finally, with their relative distance from the topic, third parties have the ability to synthesize the data collected in a needs analysis into documentation that is more understandable to a wide range of users.

Once a needs analysis is completed, its outputs are used to align on core capabilities for the organization and inform the learning pathways that support individuals’ career paths.

Capability Models

Once the needs analysis has been completed, its outputs are used to develop capability models for the organization. These models are structured frameworks that lay out the specific skills and abilities needed to succeed in a given role. They offer insight and direction on expectations for performance, and they answer two key questions: What do employees need to know to optimize their performance, and what actions do they need to take to do so?

Capability models most often include the following elements:

• Details about the knowledge and skills needed for each capability
• Descriptions of how the capabilities look in practice when an employee is using their knowledge and skills
• Definitions of the proficiency levels related to each capability, including expectations for performance by role

A completed capability model often contains components that include worksheets to support goal creation and networking/mentoring conversations, as well as short (often one-page) summaries by role with proficiency levels and select contextual examples.

A systematic approach to capability model development includes multiple key steps that are typically performed in a standard order:

1. Developing the model
2. Communicating and training teams on how to apply the model
3. Evaluating and measuring skill development based on the model

Developing capability models offers numerous benefits, both for individual contributors and for leaders. For individuals, the benefits include:

• Cleary understanding expectations for the role
• Performing the role effectively
• Enabling productive development conversations and performance reviews with managers
• Planning career paths
• Building L&D journeys that support both current performance and future potential

The benefits for leaders include:

• Deepening understanding of employees’ career goals
• Offering higher-impact development coaching
• Empowering individuals to develop themselves
• Conducting performance reviews more efficiently
• Increasing individual effectiveness and retention
• More proactive planning for future recruiting efforts

Once the capability models are complete, an organization may use them to develop focused learning that can be used for developing personalized learning plans.

Needs Analysis and Capability Model Case Study

The commercial operations function of a large biopharma company needed to develop a capability model and learning pathways for customer-facing field teams in a business unit dealing with complex treatments in international markets. Because these teams had high logistical coordination needs, a diverse set of stakeholders, and a complex product-to-patient journey, their work required them to develop new capabilities.

The commercial function began by conducting a needs analysis and then built a capability framework based on it for three functional customer-facing field roles: account managers, medical science liaisons, and patient support managers. Some of the capabilities defined included problem solver, clinical expert, organizational navigator, and influential communicator. As part of the same project, they subsequently defined learning pathways for each of the roles.

Once the needs analysis, capability model, and learning pathways were defined, the functional area’s leadership had a clear roadmap for how to implement the most appropriate trainings and when to do so, based on the organization’s new, evolving customer engagement model for international markets.

Conclusion

Needs analyses and capability models feed the subject of the third and final installment in this series, personalized learning plans (PLPs). That article will examine how to develop PLPs that enable employees to grow and thrive in their current roles, as well as progress to future roles that increase their contributions to the organization. The article will focus on how to build PLPs with a systematic approach, using a standardized process to identify situation-specific insights that drive success in the organization.