Angle Training Forum hosts first ever ‘Kumbh Mela’ of pharma trainers

Eminent speakers at Angle Training Conclave: (L-R) Ashish Ghai, L&D Head, Sanofi; Vinyak Ghokhale, Associate Director- Sales T&D, Abbott; Pankaj Gursahani, Director-Sales Training, Astrazeneca; Hemalakshmi Raju, Global Head – Learning & Development, Cipla; D G Shah, Secretary General of IPA; Rituraj Sar, Global Head – Learning & Development, Lupin; Jagmohan Rishi, Global L&D and Digital Head, Wockhardt; Sushil Barkur, L&D Head, Alkem; Manisha Vitthaldas, L&D Head, Abbott; Maruthi Vishwanathan, CEO, RX Prism; Milind Mangle, Founder & Promoter, Angle Consultancy & Services; B Ramanathan, Senior L&D Professional, Sun Pharma

The Training Conclave organsied by “Angle Training Forum” had representation from almost two thirds of the pharma industry, by turnover

More than 100 senior professionals representing over 50 top pharmaceutical companies, from six major metro cities, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, Mumbai attended a Training Conclave recently organised by Angle Training Forum in Mumbai. The event was also a webcast live with overseas participant logging in.

An online social media forum founded by Milind Mangle founder and internationally certified coach of Angle Consultancy & Services, the Angle Training Forum’s WhatsApp group has reportedly evolved into one of the leading resources for trainers in the sector, with members from more than 100 top pharma companies. A core team of 10 members from the Forum organised the Angle Training Conclave. More than 100 senior professionals from over 50 top pharma companies attended the Conclave, calling it the “first ever training conclave in the history of the Indian pharma industry.”

Pharma industry doyen D G Shah was the Chief Guest of the event who inaugurated the event and was felicitated by Mangle. “Almost two thirds of the pharma industry, in terms of turnover, is represented in the Conclave” said Shah in his opening comments.

Rituraj Sar

Rituraj Sar, Global Head – Learning & Development, Lupin spoke on sustenance of L&OD initiatives for better business impact. Any leraning initiative in the corporate world has to be designed keeping in mind the impact on the business. It should not be an one-time event but an ongoing process. He tackled this aspect by discussing how learning programmes can be designed to have a sustained impact on the business.

Hemalakshmi Raju

Taking this theme ahead, Hemalakshmi Raju, Global L&D Head, Cipla presented the next session on Instructional design, where she pointed out that in order to create a learning programme that would have a long lasting impact on the business, content is very crucial. For this, a trainer needs instructional design and design thinking skills to create impactful content.

Dr Maruthi Vishwanathan

Augmented Reality is a new technology which is catching every one’s fancy. How can it help pharma trainings was explained by informative demos by Dr Maruthi Vishwanathan, CEO, Rx Prism. He says, “Augmented reality is being increasingly used to create interesting and highly engaging content. To provide flexibility to the learners, the solution has been designed in two modes with AR App and without AR App. Augmented reality adds exciting experience to the traditional e-learning courses and grabs attention quickly.”

The focus of this Conclave was technology, strategy and best practices and the event witnessed two interesting panel discussion on the same. More than 50 per cent of the topics focused on technology including a panel discussion on how technology can be used to reduce the cost and increase the learning. Other aspects covered included how can we provide the learning whenever it is required? How can we use mobile technology to increase the reach of training?

More aspects on the impact of technology in training were part of a panel discussion moderated by B Ramanathan, Sr Manager Training, Sun Pharma with eminent panelists Ashish Ghai, L&D Head Sanofi India, Jagmohan Rishi, Vice President – L &D, Digital & Analytics, Wockhardt, Vishwanathan of Rx Prism, and Dr Pankaj Gursahani, L&D Head, Astra Zeneca.

Jagmohan Rishi

Many companies have Online Learning Management System (LMS) to improve the productivity of employees through learning, believing that learning should be made available whenever required and wherever required. Jagmohan Rishi, Vice President – L &D, Digital & Analytics, Wockhardt explained how organisations can make such systems work. He said the success of such initiatives depend upon the digital quotient of the event.

Sujata Kapoor

Millennials have grown up and will soon become the part of the corporate world. The way they learn is completely different from the previous generation. So how can training content be modified so that this new generation finds it interesting? Sujata Kapoor, Sr. Consultant, Jombay explained the same in her session “The Future of Learning” with a lot of research and analytics.

Every organisation undertakes many innovative initiatives, it is very important to share such initiatives with others. Angle Training Conclave served as an excellent platform for the same. In order to get maximum ideas about innovative initiatives a panel discussion on “Best Practices in Training” was organised which was moderated by Vinayak Gokhale, Associate Director- Sales T&D, Abbott India The eminent panel members were Hemalakshmi Raju, Global L&D Head, Cipla, Sushil Barkur, L&D Head Alkem Labs and Manisha Vithaldas, L&D, Head Abbot Healthcare.

Panel discussion – Best Practices
Pankaj Gursahani

The last session of the event was presented by Pankaj Gursahani, Director- Sales Training, AstraZeneca Pharma India on L & D Statergy. His unique delivery style, interspersed with witty comments and insightful tips, held on to the audience’s attention, even though his was the last session.

One of the reasons for the success of Angle Training Conclave was the topics, which were well researched and the speakers were experts in their subjects. The Conclave was so enriching in terms of content and learning that there was a spontaneous feedback to have more such Conclaves. Participants even went to the extent that Angle Consultancy & Services should start certification programmes for the L&D professionals. The Conclave concluded successfully with a vote of thanks by Mangle.