Transfer of training in corporate settings: Toward an understanding of the multidimensional role of the supervisor

In response to ever changing business demands, business organisations invest heavily in training programs, with the expectation that training will update employees’ knowledge and skills and improve their performance. For training to be beneficial it needs however to be transferred back to the workplace. This entails that trainees effectively apply what they have learned in training in their job and that this leads to meaningful changes in work performance (Blume, Ford, Baldwin, & Huang, 2010; Newstrom, 1986). Research, however, indicates that training transfer outcomes are low and suggest minimal return on investment in training. Therefore, transfer of training has become a critical issue in research. Numerous empirical studies have examined training transfer and the factors that affect the transfer of training. One of such factors is support of the supervisor, which has been established as one of the most critical work environment factors that affect transfer of training (e.g. Brinkerhoff & Montesino, 1995; Chiaburu, Van Dam, & Hutchins, 2010; Clarke, 2002; Colquitt, LePine, & Noe, 2000; Cromwell & Kolb, 2004; Hawley & Barnard, 2005; Lim & Johnson, 2002). In general terms, supervisor support can be described as the extent to which supervisors reinforce and support the use of training on the job (Holton et al., 1997). Yet, there continue to be gaps in the literature regarding the specific supervisory behaviours that influence transfer (Baldwin & Ford, 1988; Hawley & Barnard, 2005; Van Der Klink, Gielen, & Nauta, 2001). For the most part supervisory support has indeed been studied as a generic construct, and little is known about specific supervisory behaviours that increase transfer of training (McSherry & Taylor, 1994). It proves therefore interesting to further examine the content of the supervisor’s role in transfer of training (Van Der Klink et al., 2001). The aim of this doctoral project is therefore to expand the theoretical grounding underpinning empirical work on the role of the supervisor in transfer of training and to provide further insight into the relationship between supervisory support and training transfer. More specifically, the focus will be on investigating the role of the supervisor in training transfer at a deeper level of specificity: in terms of specific behaviours and attitudes adopted by supervisors to support transfer of training.status: publishe

Disentangling the role of the supervisor in transfer of training

Literature has indicated that support of the supervisor is critical for an employee to apply the competences developed during a training programme in the job. Typically in training transfer studies this is referred to as 'supervisor support'. A close examination of supervisor support in training transfer studies shows that, although many studies consider it a similar construct, the content does differ from one study to another. The purpose of this systematic literature study is to elucidate this notion of supervisor support by conceptualising and operationalising the role of the supervisor in training transfer at a deeper level of specificity: in terms of particular behaviours and attitudes adopted by supervisors. Ninety-nine articles were retrieved and examined. As a result, a more holistic definition of the construct is proposed and 24 specific behaviours and attitudes that a supervisor can adopt to support training transfer, were discerned. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd.publisher: Elsevier articletitle: Disentangling the role of the supervisor in transfer of training journaltitle: Educational Research Review articlelink: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2014.05.002 content_type: article copyright: Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.status: publishe

The influence of specific supervisor support types on transfer of training: Examining the mediating effect of training retention

© 2017, Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 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.status: publishe

The influence of learning and working climate on the retention of talented employees

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of employee and organizational factors, such as learning and working climate, on the retention of talented employees. Design/methodology/approach – A questionnaire was administered to 972 employees. Explorative factor analysis was performed to reduce the number of variables and to look for underlying constructs in the data. Secondly, using multiple stepwise regression analysis the influence of the factors on retention was examined. Thirdly, ANOVA’s were calculated to compare retention in different kinds of groups of employees. Findings – Retention was reflected by two factors, namely ‘intention to stay’ and ‘intention to leave’. Results showed the significant influence of learning and working climate on worker’s intention to stay. The learning and working climate also had an influence on the intention to leave, although less substantive. Other predictors of intention to stay were age, leadership skills, learning attitude and creativity, and the use of procedures within the organisation. In order to predict the intention to leave, learning attitude and creativity were excluded from the regression model. ANOVA’s only revealed differences for ‘high potentials’ and seniority regarding the intention to stay. Originality/value – This research has shown that learning and working climate has a significant influence on employee’s intention to stay and in a lesser amount on intention to leave. The influence of learning and working climate on retention of talented employees should therefore not be underestimated.status: publishe

The learning intention of low-skilled employees: A key for participation in lifelong learning and continuous training

In our continuously changing society, a need for updating one’s skills and knowledge puts pressure on safeguarding the labour market position of low-qualified employees. However, prior research and official statistics show that employees with a lower level of education tend to participate less in training than highly-educated individuals. This limited participation is associated with employers offering fewer opportunities to low-qualified employees, but also with the fact that low-qualified employees themselves might be less willing to participate. In other words, their learning intentions are assumed to be weaker and more restricted than the learning intentions of highly-educated employees. The article reports on a quantitative survey research on the learning intentions of 406 low-qualified employees. The results showed that employees that participated in formal job-related learning activities during the last five years had a stronger learning intention than those who did not. Next, the results of the stepwise regression showed that self-directedness, financial benefits, self-efficacy, and autonomy were significant positive predictors of the learning intentions of low-qualified employees. Also, the limited number of possibilities or opportunities to learn was not significant. The results indicated that a learning intention can lead towards the participation in learning activities, but participation is not merely initiated by offering opportunities for learning. Organisational aspects such as job autonomy and financial benefits can stimulate the learning intention of an employee. Finally, regarding the socio-demographic variables, only limited differences were found. In short, employees with no educational qualifications and a full-time contract had the lowest intention to learn.status: publishe

Antecedents of informal workplace learning: A theoretical study

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A Supervisors' Perspective on Their Role in Transfer of Training

© 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. The literature has indicated that support of the supervisor is critical for employees to transfer the competences developed during training to their job. However, little is known about which specific supervisor behaviors and attitudes enhance transfer of training. An earlier systematic literature review demonstrated the multidimensionality of supervisor support and discerned 24 categories. The aim of this empirical study is to validate this multidimensional framework and to discover what supervisor support means in practice by exploring how supervisors take up their role in transfer of training. The present study reports on a qualitative study in which 16 supervisors were interviewed about how they experience and display support in training transfer. Findings show that the majority of the 24 categories of specific supervisor support are provided in practice. However, it appears that, particularly, involvement in training selection, coaching learning and transfer, and participation in training characterize the role of the supervisor in transfer of training. The findings furthermore reveal 83 specific approaches, strategies, actions, and attitudes that supervisors report to use to enact each particular category of support for transfer of training.status: publishe