Supervisor behaviours that facilitate training transfer

Emerald - Tập 25 Số 1 - Trang 6-22 - 2013
Sue Lancaster1, Lee Di Milia1, Roslyn Cameron2
1School of Management and Marketing, CQUniversity, Rockhampton, Australia
2Faculty of Arts, Business, Informatics and Education, CQUniversity, Gladstone, Australia

Tóm tắt

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to describe the supervisor behaviours that employees found to be helpful and unhelpful in facilitating training transfer. The study aims to provide rich qualitative data from the employee's perspective.

Design/methodology/approach

This study utilises a cross‐sectional design. A case study and a qualitative interpretivist approach were used to interpret the employee's responses. In total 24 semi‐structured interviews were conducted and responses were analysed with the aid of NVivo.

Findings

The results suggested what supervisors did prior to, during and after course attendance was critical to training transfer. Supportive behaviours prior to the course included motivating, encouraging and setting expectations. Practical support provided during the course signalled the value that the supervisor placed on the course. Meetings held after the course provided the best opportunity to support transfer. Transfer was maximised when participants experienced a positive role model and when supervisors showed interest in their experience of the course, encouraged and sponsored new initiatives, and involved them in decision‐making. The main perceived hindrances to training transfer were culture, policies and a lack of encouragement.

Originality/value

This is a qualitative study in a field of inquiry dominated by quantitative approaches. The results highlight the employee's perspective concerning what they found to assist in training transfer. This methodology is rarely evidenced in the extant literature.


Tài liệu tham khảo

Aguinis, H. and Kraiger, K. (2009), “Benefits of training and development for individuals and teams, organizations, and society”, The Annual Review of Psychology, Vol. 60 No. 1, pp. 451‐74. Baldwin, T.T., Ford, J.K. and Blume, B.D. (2009), “Transfer of training 1988‐2008: an updated review and agenda for future research”, in Hodgkinson, G.P. and Ford, J.K. (Eds), International Review of Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Vol. 24, Wiley‐Blackwell, Chichester, pp. 41‐70. Birdi, K., Allan, C. and Warr, P. (1997), “Correlates and perceived outcomes of four types of employee development activity”, Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 82 No. 6, pp. 845‐57. Blume, B.D., Ford, J.K., Baldwin, T.T. and Huang, J.L. (2010), “Transfer of training: a meta‐analytic review”, Journal of Management, Vol. 36 No. 4, pp. 1065‐105. Brown, T.C. and McCracken, M. (2009), “Building a bridge of understanding: how barriers to training participation become barriers to training transfer”, Journal of European Industrial Training, Vol. 33 No. 6, pp. 492‐512. Burke, L.A. and Hutchins, H.M. (2007), “Training transfer: an integrative literature review”, Human Resource Development Review, Vol. 6 No. 3, pp. 263‐96. Cheng, E.W.L. and Ho, D.C.K. (2001), “A review of transfer of training studies in the past decade”, Personnel Review, Vol. 30 No. 1, pp. 102‐18. Chiaburu, D.S. and Marinova, S.V. (2005), “What predicts skill transfer? An exploratory study of goal orientation, training, self‐efficacy and organizational supports”, International Journal of Training & Development, Vol. 9 No. 2, pp. 110‐23. Clarke, N. (2002), “Job/work environment factors influencing training transfer within a human service agency: some indicative support for Baldwin and Ford's transfer climate construct”, International Journal of Training and Development, Vol. 6 No. 3, pp. 146‐62. Cromwell, S.E. and Kolb, J.A. (2004), “An examination of work‐environment support factors affecting transfer of supervisory skills training to the workplace”, Human Resource Development Quarterly, Vol. 15 No. 4, pp. 449‐72. Doh, J.P. and Stumpf, S.A. (2007), “Executive education: a view from the top”, Academy of Management Learning & Education, Vol. 6 No. 3, pp. 388‐94. Gaudine, A.P. and Saks, A.M. (2004), “A longitudinal quasi‐experiment on the effects of post‐training transfer interventions”, Human Resource Development Quarterly, Vol. 15 No. 1, pp. 57‐76. Green, M. and McGill, E. (2011), “The 2011 state of the industry: increased commitment to workplace learning”, The American Society for Training and Development, available at: www.astd.org/TD/Archives/2011/Nov/Free/Nov_11_Feature_State_of_the_Industry.htm (accessed March 2012). Hauer, E., Norlund, A.M. and Westerberg, K. (2012), “Developmental intervention, learning climate and use of knowledge in elderly care”, Journal of Workplace Learning, Vol. 24 No. 1, pp. 19‐33. Holton, E.F. III, Bates, R.A., Seyler, D.L. and Carvalho, M.B. (1997), “Final word: reply to Newstrom's and Tang's reactions”, Human Resource Development Quarterly, Vol. 8 No. 2, pp. 145‐9. Hutchins, H.M. and Burke, L.A. (2006), “Has relapse prevention received a fair shake? A review and implications for future transfer research”, Human Resource Development Journal, Vol. 5 No. 1, pp. 8‐24. Lim, D.H. and Morris, M.L. (2006), “Influence of trainee characteristics, instructional satisfaction, and organizational climate on perceived learning and training transfer”, Human Resource Development Quarterly, Vol. 17 No. 1, pp. 85‐115. Martin, H.J. (2010), “Improving training impact through effective follow‐up: techniques and their application”, Journal of Management Development, Vol. 29 No. 6, pp. 520‐34. Rey de Polanco, N. (2005), “The influence of training evaluations on the training transfer: an experience in a multinational Venezuelan‐American corporation”, Lynn University, Boca Raton, FL, dissertation thesis. Salas, E. and Cannon‐Bowers, J.A. (2001), “The science of training: a decade of progress”, Annual Review of Psychology, Vol. 52 No. 1, pp. 471‐99. Santos, A. and Stuart, M. (2003), “Employee perceptions and their influence on training effectiveness”, Human Resource Management Journal, Vol. 13 No. 1, pp. 27‐45. Yamnill, S. and McLean, G.N. (2001), “Theories supporting transfer of training”, Human Resource Development Quarterly, Vol. 12 No. 2, pp. 195‐208. Yin, R.K. (2003), Case Study Research Design and Methods, 3rd ed., Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA, Vol. 5, Applied Social Research Methods Series.