Evaluating the Impact of a Performance‐Based Methodology on Transfer of Training

Transfer of training is the degree to which trainees can apply the knowledge, skills, and attitudes gained in training to the job. Currently only between 5% and 20% of what is learned in training is ever applied on the job. At this time, little is known about the effects of work environment factors, such as support, feedback, and goal setting, on training transfer. We utilized a quasi‐experimental between‐groups design using surveys, interviews, and behavioral measures to evaluate the impact of performance‐based work environment factors on training transfer. Results indicated that participants in the experimental group reported a higher level of training transfer than those in the control group. These findings suggest that a performance‐based approach to training can be an effective method to increase the likelihood that employees transfer training knowledge to the job context.     

M.A.S.S.: A Model for Producing Transfer

Transfer is the application in the workplace of the knowledge, skills and attitudes learned in training. With transfer, trainers hope to link training to increased job performance. However, training alone will not produce transfer. To affect job performance as a result of training, trainers must intentionally promote transfer using a variety of strategies based on known principles of human performance technology. The MASS model, presented in this paper, brings together four of these principles. According to the MASS model, trainers who promote transfer (and who thereby become performance technologists) 1) Motivate trainees to learn and use the training material; 2) increase trainees' Awareness of when to use new skills and ideas; 3) enable trainees to master and to apply Skills; and 4) give trainees psychological and physical Support on the job. When performance technologists follow the MASS model, they can expect to produce trainees who apply at work what they have been taught in training. Use of the model is illustrated with two examples.     

The Effects of Trainee Characteristics on Training Effectiveness in Improving Organizational Performance

Despite the existence of many comprehensive and user‐friendly guides to evaluate training programs, most practitioners have had difficulty assessing training effects on corporate outcomes. Research revealed that trainees, organizational, and training‐related factors might influence the effectiveness of training in terms of organizational performance. The current study examines the effects of trainee characteristics among those factors, specifically what kind of trainee characteristics could affect training effectiveness in terms of job performance in a company. In addition, telephone surveys were conducted to aid in understanding of the reasons for leaving and high turnover of company personnel. The current and terminated employees who went through training programs in the company differed when considering previous sales experience in years and type of sales experience as trainee characteristics factors, with those still employed having a statistically higher average number of years and a higher rated type of sales experience. The current employees demonstrated higher job performance. The implications of these results on the attainment of training effectiveness as well as the selection decisions in the organization are discussed.     

Taking Ownership for Transfer: A Management Development Case Study

The responsibility for effective transfer of training falls into a gray area between trainers, trainees, and management. It is easy for trainers to point fingers at management and say that they are not supporting transfer of learned skills in the work environment. But this assumes that management views training as an integral component for improving organizational performance, which is often not the case. Training is more often managed as a cost than as an asset. One Training section at Intel has been experimenting with increasing transfer and improving organizational performance by directly influencing the trainee population during and after training. The rationale is that the best way to generate interest from upper management, is to demonstrate business results. This article describes a series of tactics for improving transfer of training. Each tactic was driven by the training function in an attempt to directly influence the transfer of specific management skills to the work environment.     

A Comprehensive Model for the Transfer of Training

The transfer of newly learned skills from a training situation to actual on-the-job performance is one of the most important aspects of training design and development, since this process is the ultimate goal of nearly any training session. Based on an extensive literature review in a variety of educational and corporate content areas, the following article presents a model for the effective transfer of newly learned skills from the training classroom to worksite implementation. The model includes three overall stages (pre-training, training, and post-training) and specific strategies in each stage for use by trainers, managers, and other corporate professionals. While useful in a variety of settings, this model should prove particularly helpful to instructional designers and corporate trainers involved in developing instruction to improve the performance of employees at all levels.     

Overview of Transfer of Training: From Learning to Performance

This article explores the background, current state, and emerging trends in transfer of training. Transfer of training can be denned as, ensuring full application of new skills and knowledge to the workplace. Typically, past training efforts have focused on ensuring learning by trainees, and not on supporting the transfer of that learning to performance on the job. Today's organizations recognize effective workforce performance as a strategic asset in the global competitive economy but face problems in attaining high performance. Experience of successful organizations shows that key stakeholders (managers, trainers, trainees, and others) must be closely involved in all phases of the design, development, and implementation of training and other performance improvement efforts, to achieve and maintain effective workforce performance. However, both managers and human performance professionals frequently overlook the need to gain stakeholder involvement to support full transfer of new skills to the job. A successful program in a government agency, and recommendations for transfer strategies for technology-based learning, illustrate the collaboration of stakeholders which is necessary to achieve high levels of transfer of skills to the workplace.     

Web 2.0 and Transfer: Trainers' Use of Technology to Support Employees' Learning Transfer on the Job

We steer transfer research in a new direction by examining the use of Web 2.0 technologies for supporting learning transfer resulting from formal training. We report survey results from training professionals (N = 83) on how their organization uses such methods to cue and support workers’ application of learned knowledge and skills on the job. Guided by the technology acceptance model (TAM) theory, we examined predictor variables found to influence technology use based on empirical and theoretical support in the information technology (IT) literature. Results indicate that trainers are influenced by several individual factors (computer experience, computer anxiety, and computer self‐efficacy), as well as their organization's learning climate, to use Web 2.0 tools to support transfer of learning. Trainers also prefer to use social media, networking applications, and visual media to support transfer among learners. We discuss implications for using Web 2.0 technologies in support of learning transfer and provide directions for future workplace learning research.     

The Influence of Specific Supervisor Support Types on Transfer of Training: Examining the Mediating Effect of Training Retention

The aim of this study was to examine the differential effects of specific types of supervisor support on transfer of training, taking into account established trainee characteristics, such as trainees’ motivation to learn, motivation to transfer, and training self-efficacy. More specifically, nine types of supervisor support were examined (pre-training information, role modelling & facilitation, request sharing, favourable attitude, coaching & feedback, openness, involvement & accountability, work coverage, and training participation). In addition, the mediating effect of training retention is explored, as learning outcomes may present an intervening variable that connects supervisor support to transfer of training. A time-lagged design was used to investigate the relationships in the proposed model and it was evaluated using partial least squares path modelling (PLS-PM). Data was gathered in Belgium through online questionnaires at three points in time from 111 participants of work-related training. Participants were employees from a retail organisation and different government agencies. Results indicate that only supervisors’ accountability and involvement positively predicted employees’ transfer of training three months after training. In addition, it was found that supervisors’ involvement and accountability had an indirect effect on transfer of training through training retention.     

The Perceived Impacts of Supervisor Reinforcement and Learning Objective Importance on Transfer of Training

Transfer of training is a major concern for trainers and managers. If training does not transfer to the job, the value of the training is questionable. This study investigated the relationships between: 1) perceived importance of training objectives and perceived transfer of training relative to those objectives, and 2) types of supervisor reinforcement which trainees perceive to be most motivating and the types of reinforcement that they perceive their supervisors actually use. The study was conducted in the context of a Managerial Leadership Program within a large oil refinery and chemical company in Korea. The study found that as either supervisors or trainees perceived a training objective to be more important, they also perceived more transfer of training relative to that objective. The study also found that the types of reinforcement trainees perceived to be most motivating were also the types that they perceived their supervisors used most often.     

Perceptions as Measures of Training Transfer

This study investigated the extent to which trainees' perceptions of the applicability of what they learned, gathered immediately after training, can predict their perceptions of actual application of the training six months after they return to the job. It also investigated whether support to apply what trainees learned during training after they returned to the job affected their six‐month perceptions. The study found that in all cases, the six‐month perceptions were statistically significantly lower than the immediate after‐course perceptions. However, using a three‐point Likert scale, with “good” being the highest rating, the actual practical judgments about the training program retained the same rating (good) for the program that received the most job environment support. For the training program that received less support, the decisions made from the initial data and the follow‐up data were different. The initial ratings were “good,” and the follow‐up ratings were “fair.” This study suggests that the immediate after‐course perceptions of training are a reasonable estimate of the six‐month perceptions when there is substantial reinforcement from the home job environment.     

Huber Inventory of Trainee Self‐efficacy: Assessment of measurement models

The purpose of this study was to further examine the factor structure of the Huber Inventory of Trainee Self‐Efficacy (HITS), a measure of school psychology trainee self‐efficacy. Lockwood et al. (2017, Psychol. Sch., Vol. 54, pp. 655–670) extant data set, collected from 520 school psychology trainees, was utilized. Four measurement models were examined for model fit and factor loadings. Of the four models, a bifactor model with a single latent general self‐efficacy (GSE) and latent domain‐specific factors (i.e., Multidimensional Assessment Skills, Counseling Skills, Professional Interpersonal Skills, and Research Skills) was the most parsimonious. However, standardized loadings indicated that all practice‐related items loaded more significantly onto GSE than their domain‐specific factors, indicating the utility of GSE for practice‐related skills. Of note, the Research Skills factor displayed greater domain‐specific loadings than general loadings. These findings suggest that GSE may be the best indicator of trainee self‐efficacy, though a two‐factor model that represents practical skills versus research skills may also be appropriate. Additionally, reliability scores indicate that subscale interpretation may also be reasonable. Limitations, implications for trainers of school psychologists, and for future research directions are discussed.     

Predicting Motivation to Learn and Motivation to Transfer Learning Back to the Job in a Service Organization: A New Systemic Model for Training Effectiveness

This exploratory study attempted to identify key predictors of motivation to learn and motivation to transfer as well as examine the relationship between the two variables. Organizational commitment, task cues, and co‐worker commitment to quality work were found to be the strongest predictors of motivation to learn. Motivation to learn, a motivating job, and being expected to use the newly learned skills and knowledge on the job were found to be the most important predictors of motivation to transfer.     

Dimensions of Motivation to Transfer: A Longitudinal Analysis of Their Influence on Retention, Transfer, and Attitude Change

This longitudinal study examined the multidimensionality of motivation to transfer training. Based on self-determination theory, expectancy theory, and the theory of planned behaviour, motivation to transfer was conceptualized in three dimensions: autonomous motivation to transfer, controlled motivation to transfer, and intention to transfer. Relationships of these dimensions with attitudes toward training content, knowledge test performance, and self- and supervisory-assessed transfer were investigated to understand further the mediating role of intentions in the transfer process. Participants were 128 trainees in occupational health and safety programs. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated good fit of the proposed three-factor structure. Partial least squares (PLS) based path modelling indicated partial support of the hypothesized relationships. Knowledge gain following training was large (Cohen’s d?=?1.00), while attitude change was small (Cohen’s d?=?0.27). The findings are discussed in terms of their significance for the development of theories of training effectiveness and their implications for evaluating professional development.     

How Trainees Transfer What They Have Learned: Toward a Taxonomy of Use

Researchers have consistently advocated for clearer concepts and better operational definitions of measures of training transfer. To clarify what trainees actually do on the job, we defined transfer as use on the job of what was learned in training and developed a prototype taxonomy of use. To form the taxonomy we asked, “How do relatively autonomous workers, taught open skills, use in their work what they have learned from training?” To create categories of use, we analyzed, defined, and reorganized former trainees’ stories of application from studies by Yelon and others (Yelon, Reznich, & Sleight, 1997; Yelon, Sheppard, Sleight, & Ford, 2004; Yelon, Ford, & Golden, 2013). We identified, as part of the prototype taxonomy the actions, content, conditions, tasks, purposes, and beneficiaries of different types of use. We discuss how this multidimensional framework provides a way of conceiving of and measuring transfer as use and the implications for practice and research.     

Training Transfer: A Suggested Course of Action for Local Authorities to Leverage Performance

Maximization of training influence on individual performance through changes in employee knowledge, skills, and abilities is a paramount concern of organizations. However, training without implementation in a work setting cannot achieve its goals. In this article, the author maps the primary factors that influence transfer of what is learned in training to work settings and provides some evidence‐based recommendations and implications for improved performance.     

Training special educators: sustaining professional development in special school placements

With the rapidly changing demographic due to survival rates from medical advances, the need to strengthen training on SEND is now recognised, and special school placements valued, having been previously marginalised within initial teacher training. Practices developed since 2008 at one university to support progression of trainees to gain advanced and specialist skills in SEND were evaluated for effectiveness. This involved ten school mentors, 14 primary trainees on four‐week extended enrichment placements and three trainees with prior experience on final formally assessed seven‐week placements in special schools. This article presents the resulting consolidated developmental placement structures and a proposed compulsory one‐week model for trainees to gain core skills, underpinned by a shared understanding of trainee professional development needs and related support systems. Quality mentoring practices and sustaining trainees' emotional learning journey were integral to their developing pedagogical skills and understanding, so endorsing the debate for more humanistic approaches to teacher training.     

Metacognition and Human Performance Improvement

An understanding of the uses of meta-cognition provides a powerful tool toward developing quality and efficiency in task learning and performance. Metacognition is the executive controller of cognitive processes responsible both for self regulated learning and work performance outcomes. Comprehension monitoring and motivation are two prime components of metacognition which are responsible for commitment to, and definition of, goals, monitoring progress toward goals, and activating the appropriate thinking skills to achieve goals. Specific thinking skill categories of attention, organization, and elaboration are described with examples of how specific techniques in each category can optimize learning and job performance. Research on training of metacognitive skills through both detached and embedded skill-development programs is reviewed. In addition, ways to compensate for metacognitive skills when training is not cost-effective are described. The relationship between metacognitive skills and effective management of work performance is stressed.     

Exploration of technical and nontechnical employee attitudes toward participation in training

This study examined technical and nontechnical employee attitudes toward participation in training. A survey was administered to 337 self‐identified technical and nontechnical university employees. Our findings are as follows: (a) most employees prefer training that is less than 2 hours in length, (b) employees do not want training outside their regular shift, (c) employees strongly prefer hands‐on training, and (d) less than half were encouraged by their supervisor to apply what was learned in nontechnical training to their job.     

What influences transfer of training in an African agricultural research network?

Purpose: This study determined the extent to which transfer of training among trainees from national partners of an international bean research network in Africa was perceived to have taken place; including determining the factors that predicted transfer of training back to the job. Methodology/approach: Online data collection using the Learning Transfer Systems Inventory (LTSI) from 139 respondents was made and analyzed using bivariate correlations and hierarchical multiple regression. Findings: An average of 75% of the training skills were perceived as transferred. ‘Personal capacity’ significantly predicted transfer, while ‘motivation to transfer’, ‘transfer design’, ‘supervisor’, and ‘peer support’ positively correlated with training transfer. Theoretical implications: The LTSI factors remain relevant explanations for training transfer with in African agricultural research and development organizations. Certain work environments are likely to have new factors such as ‘Supervisor and peer’ support which operated as one explanatory factor for training transfer, revealed the closeness of supervisors and peers in agricultural research and development settings. Practical implications: The international agricultural research network needs to consider the trainees’ ability to transfer new training given workload-related hindrances. Originality/value: The applicability of the LTSI for international agencies that conduct training for agricultural research and development in Africa has been tested. Such institutions need policies that enhance trainee capacity to transfer training to the work place.     

The Interactive Effect of Modeling Strategies and Goal Orientations on Affective,Motivational, and Behavioral Training Outcomes

This experimental study focuses on the interactive effect of two modeling strategies and three goal orientations on affective, motivational, and behavioral training outcomes. In this study, 275 trainees participated in a corporate training program. Their goal orientation was measured prior to experimentation, and participants were randomly assigned to a positive‐only or a mixed‐model display during training. Results showed interaction patterns that differed across a variety of training outcome measures: Trainees exposed to the positive‐only models reported higher utility reactions when they held avoidance goal orientations, while those with performance goal orientation reported higher self‐efficacy after training. Finally, trainees exposed to the mixed model who held learning goal orientation, demonstrated higher levels of behavior reproduction of the training content. These results are discussed for their practical and theoretical implication for the training context.