At my previous companies, it had been ingrained in me by big pharma that external training and conferences were needed for personal and professional growth, so I quickly noticed Catalent doesn't provide external trainings that aren't sponsored by them or annual attendance to conferences, which is is important for specialized expertise, fresh perspectives, and a dedicated learning environment, helping to organize and stay current with industry trends, improve employee skills and morale, and provide networking. It can also be more efficient and cost-effective than internal training, especially when expertise is needed. It also shows that you care about your employees and want to provide them with growth. I believe it should start at an early level and not when an employee reaches a senioror managerial state.
I recommend employees just pay for their own external training or conferences. Because I was the most experienced in my specialty at my site, I also focused on peer-to-peer training with upper level personnel more experienced than me who worked at other sites and I learned so much! I bonded with some operations and QA personnel at other sites who were always helpful when I had a question, or sent me to a different person if they didn't know the answer. They were all so kind and I still talk to them to this day even though I don't work there anymore. Everybody needs mentors and coaches, but you really need to put yourself out there!
Sometimes the number of employees at meetings can get excessive - limiting it to less than 10 people will promote more productive, efficient, and collaborative discussions. Larger meetings often lose focus and disengage participants who feel their contributions aren't necessary. I think it's the 8-18-1800 rule, or Jeff Bezos's 2 pizza principle.
There isn't much opportunity for career growth or changes in career. The role you are hired for is likely the one you will stay in until you outgrow it and leave the company. Also, senior level management gets promoted very frequently, while those below rarely get promoted.
There used to be a "bubble assignment" opportunity where employees could try out another department, say for 6 months, giving good insight to other departments and possible career changes. I'm not sure why, and employees were never told, but this was eliminated by upper management and now there are no opportunities to explore.
