Transfer of training: A review and new insights

Abstract

Even successful training programs cannot guarantee that newly learned knowledge and skills will be transferred to the workplace. This has led to researchers’ interests in understanding the transfer process. Notwithstanding that transfer issues have been studied for several decades, the recent emphasis on ‘workplace learning’, especially the so‐called ‘situated learning’ approach, suggests that conventional training transfer research may be inadequate to understand the dynamics of performance improvement through training. Against this, the authors point to the increased policy emphasis on the development of transferable generic skills, which underscores the ongoing importance of training transfer. This review paper suggests that the role of trainees themselves has not been dealt with sufficiently in research, which leads to a new direction for studying the transfer of training.

Effects of Individual and Work Environment Characteristics on Training Effectiveness: Evidence from Skill Certification System for Automotive Industry in Thailand

“…During the past thirty years, many researchers have tried to provide an answer to the question of which factors influence the transfer process (e.g., Baldwin & Ford, 1988;Cheng & Ho, 2001;Holton et al, 2000;Colquitt et al, 2000;Cheng & Hampson, 2008). Work environment characteristics have often been referred to as the transfer climate or factors perceived by trainees to encourage or discourage their use of KSAs learned in training and in the workplace (Cromwell & Kolb, 2004).…”

Strengths use and deficit correction in organizations: development and validation of a questionnaire

“…In spite of the recent attention for individual strengths, most developmental processes in organizations are still based on a deficit model in which a person's area of weakness is seen as their greatest area of opportunity (Bouskila-Yam & Kluger, 2011;Roberts, Dutton, Spreitzer, Heaphy, & Quinn, 2005;Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000). Training, coaching, performance feedback or on the job learning processes (Cheng & Hampson, 2008;Jordan & Audia, 2012;Passmore, 2007) are often seen as a means to narrow identified competence gaps and to remediate employee deficits, and can indeed lead to considerable performance improvement (Dunn & Shriner, 1999;Ericsson, Nandagopal, & Roring, 2009;LaFleur & Hyten, 1995).…”

Reading across workplace learning research to build dialogue

“…As Cheng and Hampson (2008) have recently remarked: "[a]s the idea that work has become increasingly knowledge based has taken hold, investing in intangible assets-especially human capital-has been regarded as a core strategy for competitive advantage" (p. 327). A key contribution to understanding these matters is found in the work of Ikujiro Nonaka.…”