The Compliance Shift

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How a Trusted Advisor Approach Revolutionised Compliance Behaviour

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Headlines

• 19% increase in accountability
• 15% increase in self-management skills and growth mindset behaviours
• Improved trust and rapport with healthcare professionals (HCPs)
• Enhanced purpose alignment and confidence in articulating compliance messages
• A coaching culture established across the organisation to ensure long-term sustainability

"Our sales teams have become more effective, responsible, and aligned with our compliance philosophy."
— HR Manager

"The Program is having a huge impact—it’s completely changed the way we behave."
— Oncology Business Unit Director, Saudi Arabia

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Background

A top 5 global pharmaceutical company faced significant challenges implementing its compliance manifesto across regional divisions in the Middle East:

• Diverse regulations in each country
• Varying levels of skills and capabilities among teams
• Historical behaviours misaligned with new regulatory expectations

With the pharmaceutical market in the region becoming increasingly regulated, the organisation needed a radical new approach to align its workforce with compliance objectives.

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A Custom Connected Program: EQuip for Purpose

Open Water designed EQuip for Purpose – Selling Compliance, a high-impact, custom behaviour change program focused on compliance, trust-building, and emotional intelligence.

To ensure long-term impact, Open Water partnered with country leadership teams to embed a coaching culture across the organisation. This strategic outcome has supported ongoing performance improvement and strengthened compliance messaging across regions.

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Key Components of the Program

1. Deep Diagnostics: Established a clear behavioural change brief.
2. Experiential Workshops: Delivered practical strategies and emotional intelligence training.
3. Coaching Toolkits: Provided ongoing support for field teams.
4. Internal Ambassadors: Trained leaders to sustain behavioural change.
5. Mindset, Knowledge, and Behaviour (KMB) Assessments: Measured progress before, during, and after the Program.

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Impact

The EQuip for Purpose Program delivered measurable, lasting results:

• Teams demonstrated significant improvement in:
  • Building trust and rapport with HCPs
  • Aligning values and purpose with the company’s compliance philosophy
  • Strengthening stakeholder influencing and consultative questioning skills
• Sales teams became more effective, responsible, and compliant communicators
• 85% adoption of critical job behaviours within three months of the workshops
• 97% knowledge retention, ensuring sustained behavioural change
• Ultimately, patient outcomes improved through better HCP decision-making
• 100% of delegates agreed the Program combined experiential, social, and theoretical learning for the best experience
• 98% rated the Program highly for overall value, with a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 10