By Jon Madden
Managing Partner
President and Chief Financial Officer
About a dozen years ago, I identified a gap in the way life sciences training was carried out. It seemed that training was accomplished in a “one and done” approach—a check-the-box event. Although quick, it didn’t seem to help teams develop the acumen to speak confidently to a physician about a therapy or create optimal business plans based on where in the country a physician practices. I thought we could do better. Around that time, I gathered a team of instructional designers, communicators, and developers and launched Encompass Communications and Learning, Inc.
We set about researching how adults learn new information. What we learned confirmed the gap I had noticed years before. We found that the brain absorbs new information in stages. Let’s call it a learning journey. It starts with taking in new information, then storing it into memory, and finally recalling it for future use. This learning journey is impacted by stress, state of mind, and even sleep.
Based on our understanding in the cognitive science of learning, we developed our own approach to training. We call it iEAR® (Introduction, Exploration, Application, and Reinforcement). All of our learning solutions are built with iEAR® in mind. This ensures our audiences are building on new knowledge in stages—the proven way people gain it. This method, which you can learn more about by downloading this brochure, has helped us streamline trainings while improving learner retention.
Working as a team, we’ve created innovative trainings that have produced results, developed all-in-one mobile platforms to house learning solutions, used gamification and mobile learning to great effect, and so much more!
I’m incredibly proud of my team and what we’ve accomplished over the years. Our new website and blog provide a way for me to share their abundant talents with you. Written by members across my team—including instructional designers, writers, designers, marketers, and medical experts—each post explores a topic impacting learning and communications in life sciences companies today.
In our next blog coming soon, Chapin Brinegar examines how to use the ARCS Motivational Design Model to keep learners engaged in training. A seasoned instructional designer, Chapin is a creative thinker, so you won’t want to miss it. As we continue to innovate and grow as a company, our blog will reflect our journey. We hope you find it insightful and actionable.
Stay tuned for more blog posts from the Encompass team. And feel free to contact us with your questions and comments!
Jon Madden founded Encompass in 2010 and brings more than 15 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries to our clients. Leveraging proven tactics in instructional design, Jon advises customer leadership on transforming thought and action for their teams. Jon is the recipient of numerous Excellence Awards, Leadership Awards, and Circle of Excellence Awards in the life sciences industry.
