The Compliance Shift

How a trusted advisor approach revolutionised compliance behaviour

19%

increase in accountability and client trust

15%

increase in self-management skills and growth mindset behaviour

Customer Centricity

Improved connection and rapport with healthcare professionals (HCPs)

People Development
Sales Transformation

The Program is having a huge impact—it’s completely changed the way we behave.

Oncology Business Unit Director, Saudi Arabia

The Compliance Shift


How a Trusted Advisor Approach Revolutionised Compliance Behaviour

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

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.

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.

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.

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
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