Learning transfer: the views of practitioners in Ireland

Abstract

Considerable expenditure on human resource development (HRD) has not necessarily resulted in a significant impact on organizational performance, and research suggests that the failure to transfer learning may be an important explanation. The search for factors affecting transfer has been extensive, as shown in Grossman and Salas's article in this issue, but, as they also show, more research is needed. The purpose of the present study is to ascertain the views of HRD practitioners (in Ireland) about the factors that they believe are relevant to the transfer of learning in the workplace. The aim is to discover whether practitioners have identified potential factors which researchers have not explored or not explored sufficiently. This group of practitioners was chosen because of the considerable control they wield over significant tranches of organizational resources. The method first involved engagement with 28 senior HRD practitioners in a workshop setting to create a transfer inventory based on their expert opinion. The initial inventory was then responded to online by a group of 314 practitioners indicating the relevance of the items to the question of transfer. Factor analysis was used to achieve parsimony among items, and 21 potential factors were identified. This study focused on the 15 factors adjudged by practitioners to be most relevant. It is concluded that trainer effectiveness, organizational linkage and training event climate, all deemed relevant by practitioners, may justify further research.i jtd_374 121..139

Learning Transfer in Practice: A Qualitative Study of Medical Professionals’ Perspectives

“…Finally, the findings of this study shed light on the importance of collaborative relationships between scholars and practitioners in the field of HRD (Brown, McCracken, & Hillier, ; Burke & Hutchins, ). There are many suggestions for HRD practitioners as to how to facilitate learning transfer, and practitioners have sought best practices of learning transfer (Donovan & Darcy, ; Hutchins, Burke, & Berthelsen, ). The findings of this study lead us to ask an additional question: “Are there universally good practices to enhance learning transfer in organizations, particularly those employing professionals?” Of course, the suggestions made by HRD researchers help individuals and organizations increase learning transfer.…”

Perspectives on transfer of learning by nursing students in primary healthcare facilities

“…In the absence of transfer of learning, Donovan and Darcy [9] state that healthcare institutions stand to lose quality of care and will be unable to improve their workforce skills. Organisational structures that encourage professional development and the integration of shared knowledge in organisations have been cited as instrumental to knowledge transfer and personal knowledge use.…”

“…The degree of transfer is dependent on student characteristics, the educational design, learning culture of the workplace, and the workplace environment [6] which is an interdependent systemic process. The authors built on the systemic model of training (educational) transfer by Donovan and Darcy [9] (see Figure 1). …”

Understanding the trainers´ view of the effectiveness of continuing professional training: the case of public servants training

“…Bathi & Kaur, 2010;Grohmann, Beller & Kauffeld, 2014;Holton, Bates & Ruona, 2000;Reinhold, Gegenfurtner & Lewalter, 2018). Several studies have focused on analyzing if cultural factors could make difference on the variables affecting the process of training transfer or on the way in which these variables are perceived by participants (Bates, Holton & Hatala, 2012;Subedi, 2006;Yang, Wang & Drewry, 2009) and some authors have raised the possibility that sectorial characteristics influence the efficacy of certain training interventions (Burke & Hutchins, 2008;Donovan & Darcy, 2011;Gaudine & Sacks, 2004). In Spain, research works on the transfer of employees training are still scarce.…”