How Acino automated MBO and built a performance management system in LMS Collaborator
Goal management is a complex process, especially in an international company with thousands of employees. For MBO to work effectively, transparency, control, and integration with team development are required.
Acino found a solution: they automated the MBO process using LMS Collaborator. Now, setting goals, tracking them, and summarizing results is done quickly, without unnecessary paperwork.
Kostyantyn Chernychenko (Data and Systems Administrator) and Nadiia Kolesnyk (C&B Manager) share insights on automating performance management and implementing LMS Collaborator.
About the company and the launch of e-learning
Acino, part of Arcera, is one of the top three leaders in the Ukrainian pharmaceutical market. Founded in Switzerland, Acino is part of the Arcera Group, a global life science company headquartered in Abu Dhabi (UAE). The company develops, manufactures, and commercializes a wide range of innovative and proven medicines and dietary supplements in key international markets. The company’s operations span more than 90 countries on four continents, with manufacturing facilities in eight countries. In total, we offer more than 2,000 products in various therapeutic areas worldwide. The number of employees exceeds 5,000.
The distance learning system at Acino was launched in 2017.
The main criteria for choosing an LMS platform were:
– functionality for different roles (managers, trainers, employees),
– customization and integration with internal systems (CRM, HR),
– support for SCORM and personalized courses,
– analytics and reporting for HR and L&D,
– localization and support for the Ukrainian market.
Today, approximately 1,200 employees are connected to the LMS Collaborator learning module (880+ of them work in Ukraine, the rest are located in seven other countries). The platform is particularly popular among newcomers during their adaptation period and medical representatives who use it to study and review product information.
In terms of business objectives, online training at Acino solves a wide range of tasks:
- adaptation of new employees,
- development of practical skills,
- learning and familiarization with SOPs (standard operating procedures) and company policies,
- personalization of learning.
LMS Collaborator makes content accessible from any device, allows you to quickly update materials, track results, and evaluate learning effectiveness.
“We use LMS Collaborator for employee training and development. The platform allows us to create online courses, tests, webinars, track progress and certification, and integrate training with MBO goals and HR processes. It supports content personalization based on employee role and level, performance analytics, gamification, and incentive programs. This makes it an effective tool for improving team competencies and engagement,” says Kostyantyn Chernychenko (Data and Systems Administrator).
Performance management at Acino: the path from Excel to automation
Back in 2016, before the introduction of LMS, the performance management process at Acino looked like this: the CEO received strategic tasks for the year, formed his own business goals in Excel format, and passed them on to functional managers, who then determined their priorities based on these goals. The process was then cascaded down according to the organization’s structure.
Throughout the year, goals were adjusted manually: employees opened their Excel files, prepared for meetings with their manager, and made the necessary changes during those meetings. At the end of the year, summary meetings were held. These Excel files were printed, signed, and forwarded to the HR manager, who, in turn, manually tracked the submission of forms and entered the information into the bonus calculation for each employee.
The main trigger for automation was the desire to increase efficiency and automate a process that required significant time to coordinate, manually process documents, and perform calculations.
Automating performance management processes with LMS Collaborator: how the process works now
Thanks to LMS Collaborator, the performance management process has become much simpler for both users and the C&B manager. The team now uses a unified template that includes five annual goals. If an employee needs fewer goals, they can set four or three, and the rest will simply not be weighted. Weight is measured in percentages and cannot exceed 100% regardless of the number of goals. Importantly, the number of goals cannot exceed 5. This structure has a practical rationale: goals with low weight do not motivate employees, and a large number of goals (e.g., eight) reduces focus.
All goals are business-related and broken down into specific areas, such as business growth or expansion. The template allows you to break down each goal into specific tasks or criteria for achievement, quickly fill in all the necessary fields, and determine the weight and deadlines for each task.
“Any automation boosts how well the company and employees work overall. Now, people work with one form, approve goals in a way that’s convenient for them, and I can see the results right away. We save time and paper and don’t waste resources on manually signing documents. At the end of the year, I simply download a report with the approved results, and this data is automatically entered into the bonus calculation sheet,” explains Nadiia Kolesnyk, C&B Manager at Acino.
Example of creating an MBO in Acino
The cycle of working with goals includes setting and approving them at the beginning of the year, reviewing and adjusting them during the reporting period, and summarizing the results at the end of the year. The system locks goals after approval by the manager but allows adding comments and updating the KPI status.
The manager and employees receive notifications from the system about any changes in goals. For example, if an employee has updated the MBO status, the manager receives a notification, and vice versa – if the manager has left a comment, the notification is sent to the employee.
Example of emails sent from the Collaborator LMS system
In addition to automation, LMS Collaborator allows you to evaluate progress not only as “done/not done,” but also as a percentage.
“This feature is important because employees can see how much of their annual bonus they will receive and why. By entering their self-assessment, they can predict the result and understand how achieving their goals affects their income,” Nadiia adds.
Another important feature is the ability to save your goal history. You can view your goals for any year, print them out, or export them to Excel. This also helps employees demonstrate their performance and achievements during interviews for new positions within the company or use them in their CVs.
MBO history
Integrating MBO with employee development
LMS Collaborator helps companies seamlessly combine goal management with employee development through several tools:
1. Personal development plans (PDPs).
They are not directly linked to MBOs, but can be part of employee goals. For example, if completing an PDP is one of the goals, the employee assigns a weight to it in the MBO and carries out the work itself in a separate PDP tool.
“For example, an employee wants to take on a new position or grow professionally. To do this, a mandatory 360° assessment is conducted, based on which the employee receives recommendations for development. Together with their manager or business coach, they draw up an IPR with a detailed list of what they need to learn and what activities they need to participate in to improve their skills and achieve their career goals,” Nadiia explains.
2. Head to Heart.
This is a tool for recording monthly meetings between an employee and a manager in the context of a specific project. Managers can regularly record project milestones, see the sequence and progress of development, and download reports on these meetings to analyze dynamics.
3. Survey.
Using surveys, managers collect structured feedback about their subordinates’ work from other employees. All participants in the process receive notifications asking them to leave comments about their experience working with the subordinate on a specific project.
Survey for collecting feedback
Benefits of automating performance management processes and future plans
Moving the performance management process to LMS Collaborator has made goal management simpler and more transparent.
1. Automatic monitoring of deadlines. The system automatically reminds you to set goals, which is especially important for new employees or those who joined the company during the year. Previously, this process was tracked manually, but now the manager receives a notification and immediately sees what needs to be done.
“Automated data entry greatly simplifies the work. New employee data is automatically pulled into the system, which means there is no need to manually create separate forms for them or check that everything has been filled out. The simplicity of reporting has also become a big advantage. I can download a report and immediately see all the employees who have worked in the system during the year—it’s convenient and saves time,” adds Nadiia Kolesnyk.
2. Transparency for managers. On their page, they can see their own goals and those of their subordinates, immediately determine who else is in the process of developing priorities and tasks, and can control the process without additional reminders.
3. Flexible status management. LMS Collaborator allows you to flexibly manage goal statuses. For example, if an employee goes on maternity leave, their goals can be blocked and then restored upon their return.
The company has now almost completed the process of synchronizing LMS Collaborator with the CRM system, which will greatly facilitate the tracking and processing of the results of double visits, as well as help in choosing the training path for medical representatives based on the results of their visits.
It is important to add that the best practices of Ukrainian colleagues were recognized by the company’s top management and disseminated to all countries where Acino, part of Arcera, has employees. For four years in a row, LMS Collaborator has been helping the company effectively develop both its employees and its business in 25 countries around the world.
LMS Collaborator will help you automate MBO and combine it with employee development and training.
You will be able to quickly set goals, track progress, and increase team efficiency.
