Strategic Alliance Magazine Q2 2017 - 26

C A S E S T U D Y : B AY E R

1

Identify critical partnering skills and organizational capability gaps
Based on data, build a "partnering capability model" highlighting key partnering skills

3

2

Create a self-development pathway so all employees can build their partnering capabilities at their own pace
Implement the self-development pathway

4

Bayer's Journey to Improve the Partnering Capabilities of All Alliance Practitioners
Figure 3
partnering, as well as where the biggest organizational gaps
were. The survey asked employees to reflect on their greatest alliance challenges and how they wished they had been
better prepared to deal with them (see Figure 4).

Step 2: Based on data, build a "partnering capability model" highlighting key partnering skills
From the survey data, Bayer and Vantage identified a
handful of likely partnering capabilities around which to
build a partnering capability model that succinctly communicates the most important partnering skill areas. A
series of working sessions and one-on-one meetings with
key internal stakeholders further tested and refined what
became the Bayer Partnering Capability Model. These
capabilities address the specific challenges posed by a
two-company environment (see Figure 5).
Each capability has an additional level of detail depicting key skills that sit beneath it, as well as a description
of what this should look like in practice for 1) all employees who work on partnerships, and 2) alliance
managers. See Figure 6 for a high-level illustration of
some of these skills and expectations.

Step 3: Create a self-development pathway so all
employees can build their partnering capabilities at
their own pace
The modern workplace should reflect the fact that people are looking for autonomy, impact, and mastery.
Bayer's goal was to provide opportunities that people
would be encouraged to utilize for themselves, with limited focus on mandatory requirements. In other words,
26
STRATEGIC ALLIANCE MAGAZINE | Q2 * 2017

"more carrot, less stick." To help prioritize the program
elements, Bayer and Vantage surveyed people to understand what types of resources they find most valuable. It
became clear that building learning around the on-thejob experience was going to have the greatest impact
and encourage the most uptake; users perceived self-directed or online courses as having the least value (see
Figure 7).
Based on this, Bayer and Vantage created a development
pathway that allows Bayer alliance professionals to
combine self-assessment, in-the-room training, and
coaching with on-the-job learning (see Figure 8), giving
employees the opportunity to balance informal, self-directed skill building with more formal development
activities. This allows individuals to build up their partnering capabilities in a variety of ways, based on their
own needs and availability.
Again, emphasizing the carrot, participation in this
pathway is entirely voluntary. The components of the
development pathway include:

Self-assessment activities
n S kill self-assessment: This self-assessment
tool enables people to evaluate their own
skill level in each partnering capability area;
based on their results, they receive links to a
number of different resources that are designed to help them rapidly develop their
skills. This process is designed entirely for
self-development-there is no evaluation,



Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Strategic Alliance Magazine Q2 2017

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