What predicts skill transfer? An exploratory study of goal orientation, training self-efficacy and organizational supports

Results from a study examining the predictors of skill transfer from an instructional to a work environment are presented. Prior research indicates that skill transfer is a function of both individual and contextual factors. A total of 186 employees from a work organization were surveyed on individual dimensions (goal orientation, training self-efficacy) and contextual factors (supervisor and peer support). Pre-training motivation was proposed as proximal training outcome and further connected to the distal outcome, skill transfer. Analyses with structural equation modeling using EQS indicate that individual dimensions, such as mastery-approach goal orientation and training self-efficacy, are related to pre-training motivation. Also, contextual factors, such as peer support, predicted both pre-training motivation and skill transfer, while supervisor support was unrelated to either pre-training motivation or skill transfer. Pre-training motivation, in turn, was related to skill transfer. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.

[1]  Philip Bobko,et al.  Correlation and Regression: Applications for Industrial Organizational Psychology and Management , 2001 .

[2]  John P. Campbell,et al.  Individual and team training. , 2002 .

[3]  N. Schmitt,et al.  THE INFLUENCE OF TRAINEE ATTITUDES ON TRAINING EFFECTIVENESS: TEST OF A MODEL , 1986 .

[4]  Steven P. Brown,et al.  The Influence of Goal Orientation and Self-Regulation Tactics on Sales Performance: A Longitudinal Field Test , 1999 .

[5]  G. Dobbins,et al.  Exploratory Field Study of Training Motivation , 1993 .

[6]  Timothy R. Hinkin,et al.  The influence of individual characteristics and the work environment on varying levels of training outcomes , 1997 .

[7]  P. W. Thayer.  A rapidly changing world: Some implications for training systems in the year 2001 and beyond. , 1997 .

[8]  Eduardo Salas,et al.  Effects of Training Goals and Goal Orientation Traits on Multidimensional Training Outcomes and Performance Adaptability. , 2001, Organizational behavior and human decision processes.

[9]  J. Terborg,et al.  ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE AND ORGANIZATIONAL LEVEL TRAINING AND SUPPORT , 1985 .

[10]  Xiangen Hu,et al.  A method for exploring the effects of attrition in randomized experiments with dichotomous outcomes , 1998 .

[11]  M. Browne,et al.  Alternative Ways of Assessing Model Fit , 1992 .

[12]  Marcel van der Klink,et al.  Supervisory support as a major condition to enhance transfer , 2001 .

[13]  Gina J. Medsker,et al.  A Review of Current Practices for Evaluating Causal Models in Organizational Behavior and Human Resources Management Research , 1994 .

[14]  P. Bentler,et al.  Comparative fit indexes in structural models. , 1990, Psychological bulletin.

[15]  Doo Hun Lim,et al.  Trainee Perceptions of Factors that Influence Learning Transfer , 2002 .

[16]  P. Bentler,et al.  Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis : Conventional criteria versus new alternatives , 1999 .

[17]  J. Mathieu,et al.  Goal Orientation in Organizational Research: A Conceptual and Empirical Foundation , 1996 .

[18]  R. Noe.  Trainees' Attributes and Attitudes: Neglected Influences on Training Effectiveness , 1986 .

[19]  P. Warr,et al.  TRAINEE CHARACTERISTICS AND THE OUTCOMES OF OPEN LEARNING , 1995 .

[20]  Scott B. MacKenzie,et al.  Common method biases in behavioral research: a critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. , 2003, The Journal of applied psychology.

[21]  Onne Janssen,et al.  Employees' goal orientations, the quality of leader-member exchange, and the outcomes of job performance and job satisfaction , 2004 .

[22]  M. Quiñones.  Contextual influences on training effectiveness. , 1997 .

[23]  J. Mathieu,et al.  Influences of Individual and Situational Characteristics on Measures of Training Effectiveness , 1992 .

[24]  Gilad Chen,et al.  Examination of relationships among trait-like individual differences, state-like individual differences, and learning performance. , 2000, The Journal of applied psychology.

[25]  Elwood F. Holton.  Making transfer happen: an action perspective on learning transfer systems , 2003 .

[26]  George A. Morgan,et al.  Person-Environment Fit and Transfer of Training , 2002 .

[27]  Timothy T. Baldwin,et al.  TRANSFER OF TRAINING: A REVIEW AND DIRECTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH , 1988 .

[28]  Elwood F. Holton.  The flawed four‐level evaluation model , 1996 .

[29]  Jr. James H. Olsen.  The Evaluation and Enhancement of Training Transfer , 1998 .

[30]  J. Mathieu,et al.  Meeting trainees' expectations: The influence of training fulfillment on the development of commitment, self-efficacy, and motivation. , 1991 .

[31]  Jin Xiao,et al.  The Relationship Between Organizational Factors and the Transfer of Training in the Electronics Industry in Shenzhen, China , 1996 .

[32]  G. Alliger,et al.  KIRKPATRICK'S LEVELS OF TRAINING CRITERIA: THIRTY YEARS LATER , 1989 .

[33]  Jeffrey D. Facteau,et al.  The influence of General Perceptions of the Training Environment on Pretraining Motivation and Perceived Training Transfer , 1995 .

[34]  E. Salas,et al.  A FRAMEWORK FOR UNDERSTANDING PRE‐PRACTICE CONDITIONS AND THEIR IMPACT ON LEARNING , 1998 .

[35]  J. Colquitt,et al.  Toward an integrative theory of training motivation: a meta-analytic path analysis of 20 years of research. , 2000, The Journal of applied psychology.

[36]  D. Vandewalle.  Development and Validation of a Work Domain Goal Orientation Instrument , 1997 .

[37]  Michael J. Kavanagh,et al.  Applying Trained Skills on the Job: The Importance of the Work Environment , 1995 .

[38]  C. Dweck,et al.  A social-cognitive approach to motivation and personality , 1988 .

[39]  G. Lim,et al.  Individual and situational correlates of motivation for skills upgrading: an empirical study , 2003 .

[40]  M. Quiñones.  Pretraining context effects: Training assignment as feedback. , 1995 .

[41]  J Rothwell.  Major Workforce and Workplace Trends Influencing the train-ing and development Field the USA , 1999 .

[42]  Elwood F. Holton,et al.  An examination of learning transfer system characteristics across organizational settings , 2003 .

[43]  Joseph J. Martocchio,et al.  Effects of conceptions of ability on anxiety, self-efficacy, and learning in training. , 1994, The Journal of applied psychology.

[44]  A. Bandura,et al.  Social Cognitive Theory of Organizational Management , 1989 .

[45]  N. Clarke.  Job/Work Environment Factors Influencing Training Transfer within a Human Service Agency: Some Indicative Support for Baldwin and Ford's Transfer Climate Construct , 2002 .

[46]  Ali Ilker Gumuseli,et al.  The Manager's Role in Enhancing the Transfer of Training: A Turkish Case Study , 2002 .

[47]  Marilyn E. Gist,et al.  EFFECTS OF SELF‐EFFICACY and GOAL‐ORIENTATION TRAINING ON NEGOTIATION SKILL MAINTENANCE: WHAT ARE THE MECHANISMS? , 1997 .

[48]  S. Gully,et al.  Role of goal orientation, ability, need for achievement, and locus of control in the self-efficacy and goal--setting process. , 1997 .

[49]  K. E. Barron,et al.  Predictors and Consequences of Achievement Goals in the College Classroom: Maintaining Interest and Making the Grade , 1997 .

[50]  John Poertner Dsw,et al.  The Supervisor's Role in the Transfer of Training , 1998 .

[51]  P. Bobko.  Correlation and Regression: Applications for Industrial Organizational Psychology and Management , 2001 .

[52]  Debra J. Cohen,et al.  What motivates trainees , 1990 .

[53]  P. Bentler,et al.  Fit indices in covariance structure modeling : Sensitivity to underparameterized model misspecification , 1998 .

[54]  Daniel R. Ilgen,et al.  Accuracy decomposition and team decision making: Testing theoretical boundary conditions. , 1998 .

[55]  Winston Bennett,et al.  A META-ANALYSIS OF THE RELATIONS AMONG TRAINING CRITERIA , 1997 .

[56]  E. Salas,et al.  The science of training: a decade of progress. , 2001, Annual review of psychology.

[57]  Jane Yarnall,et al.  Line managers as career developers: rhetoric or reality? , 1998 .

[58]  Marcia J. Simmering,et al.  Conscientiousness, goal orientation, and motivation to learn during the learning process: A longitudinal study. , 1998 .

[59]  Dirk D. Steiner,et al.  The trainer‐trainee interaction: An attributional model of training , 1991 .

[60]  A. Elliot.  Approach and avoidance motivation and achievement goals , 1999 .

[61]  Elwood F. Holton,et al.  The relationship between learner utility reactions and predicted learning transfer among trainees , 2002 .

[62]  Eduardo Salas,et al.  Measuring Knowledge Organization as a Method for Assessing Learning during Training , 1995, Hum. Factors.

[63]  Marilyn E. Gist.  Training design and pedagogy: Implications for skill acquisition, maintenance, and generalization. , 1997 .

[64]  Sandra L. Fisher,et al.  DIFFERENTIAL EFFECTS OF LEARNER EFFORT AND GOAL ORIENTATION ON TWO LEARNING OUTCOMES , 1998 .

[65]  Robert O. Brinkerhoff,et al.  Partnerships for training transfer: Lessons from a corporate study , 1995 .

[66]  Marilyn E. Gist,et al.  EFFECTS OF SELF‐EFFICACY AND POST‐TRAINING INTERVENTION ON THE ACQUISITION AND MAINTENANCE OF COMPLEX INTERPERSONAL SKILLS , 2006 .

[67]  Winston Bennett,et al.  Effectiveness of training in organizations: a meta-analysis of design and evaluation features. , 2003, The Journal of applied psychology.

[68]  Janice Z. Rouiller,et al.  The relationship between organizational transfer climate and positive transfer of training , 1993 .

[69]  A. Elliot,et al.  A 2 X 2 achievement goal framework. , 2001, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[70]  L. Tucker,et al.  A reliability coefficient for maximum likelihood factor analysis , 1973 .

[71]  James C. Anderson,et al.  STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODELING IN PRACTICE: A REVIEW AND RECOMMENDED TWO-STEP APPROACH , 1988 .

[72]  Patrick M. Wright,et al.  Training Motivation in Organizations: An Analysis of Individual-Level Antecedents [*] , 2000 .

[73]  Steffanie L. Wilk,et al.  Investigation of the factors that influence employees' participation in development activities. , 1993 .