Employee training and development 5th chapter 05

Chapter 5
Transfer of Training
McGraw-Hill/Irwin

Copyright © 2010 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.


Figure 5.1 - A Model of the
Transfer Process

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Introduction
 Transfer of training - trainees
effectively and continually applying what
they learned in training to their jobs.
 Generalization - a trainee’s ability to
apply learned capabilities to on-the-job
work problems and situations that are
similar but not identical to those
problems and situations encountered in
the learning environment.
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Introduction (cont.)
 Maintenance - process of continuing to
use newly acquired capabilities over time.
 Training design - the characteristics of
the learning environment.

 Trainee characteristics - include ability
and motivation that affect learning.
 Work environment - includes factors on
the job that influence transfer of training.
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Table 5.1 - Transfer of
Training Theories

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Training Design (cont.)
 Key behaviors - set of behaviors that
can be used successfully in a wide variety
of situations.
 Application assignments - work
problems or situations in which trainees
are asked to apply training content to
solve them.

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Training Design (cont.)
 Encourage trainee responsibility and self
management
Trainees need to take responsibility for
learning and transfer which includes:

preparing for training.
being involved and engaged during training.
using training content back on the job.

Self-management - a person’s attempt to
control certain aspects of decision making and
behavior.
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Table 5.2 - Examples of Obstacles in the Work
Environment That Inhibit Transfer of Training

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Training Design (cont.)
 Encourage trainee responsibility and self
management
Obstacles inhibit transfer because they cause
lapses, which take place when the trainee
uses previously learned, less effective
capabilities instead of trying to apply the
capability emphasized in the training
program.
Trainees should try to avoid a consistent
pattern of slipping back or using old,
ineffective learned capabilities.
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Table 5.3 - Sample Content of
Self-Management Module

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Work Environment Characteristics
That Influence Transfer
 Climate for transfer
It refers to trainees’ perceptions about a wide
variety of characteristics of the work
environment that facilitate or inhibit use of
trained skills or behavior.
These characteristics include:
Manager and peer support.
Opportunity to use skills.
The consequences for using learned capabilities.

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Table 5.4 - Characteristics of a Positive
Climate for Transfer of Training

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Work Environment Characteristics
That Influence Transfer (cont.)

 Manager support
It refers to the degree to which managers:
emphasize the importance of attending training
programs.
stress the application of training content to the job.

Action plan - written document that includes
the steps that the trainee and manager will
take to ensure that training transfers to the
job.
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Figure 5.2 - Levels of Management
Support for Training

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Work Environment Characteristics
That Influence Transfer (cont.)
 The action plan includes
a goal identifying what training content will be
used and how it will be used.
strategies for reaching the goal.
strategies for receiving feedback.
expected results.

 It provides a progress check schedule of
when the manager and trainee meet to

discuss the progress being made in using
learned capabilities on the job.
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Work Environment Characteristics
That Influence Transfer (cont.)
 Ways to gain managers’ support for
training:
Provide a brief on the purpose of the program
and its relationship to business objectives and
strategy.
Encourage trainees to bring to the training
session work problems and situations they
face on the job.
Share benefits of the course with managers.
If possible, use managers as trainers.
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Work Environment Characteristics
That Influence Transfer (cont.)
 Manager support
Managers pay attention to the development of
their staff because part of their incentive plan
is based on training and development.
The incentive plan comprises fiscal,
productivity, and strategic goals.

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Work Environment Characteristics
That Influence Transfer (cont.)
 Peer support
Support network - group of two or more
trainees who agree to meet and discuss their
progress in using learned capabilities on the
job which may involve face-to-face meetings
or communications via e-mail.
The more peer meetings that trainees attend,
the more learning transferred to the
workplace.
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Work Environment Characteristics
That Influence Transfer (cont.)
 Peer support
Trainers might also use a newsletter to show
how trainees are dealing with transfer of
training issues.
Trainers may also provide trainees with a
mentor, a more experienced employee who
can provide advice and support related to
transfer of training issues.

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Work Environment Characteristics
That Influence Transfer (cont.)
 Opportunity to use learned capabilities or
opportunity to perform refers to the
extent to which the trainee is provided
with or actively seeks experiences that
allow for application of the newly learned
knowledge, skill, and behaviors from the
training program.
 It is influenced by the work environment
and trainee motivation.
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Work Environment Characteristics
That Influence Transfer (cont.)
 Opportunity to perform is determined by
breadth, activity level, and task type.
 Low levels of opportunity to perform may
indicate that:
the work environment is interfering with using
new skills.
training content is not important for the
employee’s job.

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Work Environment Characteristics
That Influence Transfer (cont.)

 Technological support
Electronic performance support systems
(EPSSs) - computer applications that can
provide, as requested, skills training,
information access, and expert advice.
It may be used to enhance transfer of training by
providing trainees with an electronic information
source that they can refer to on an as-needed basis
while they attempt to apply learned capabilities on
the job.

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Work Environment Characteristics
That Influence Transfer (cont.)
 Technological support
Trainers can monitor trainees’ use of EPSS,
which provides the trainer with valuable
information about the transfer of training
problems that trainees are encountering.
These problems might relate to the training
design or work environment.

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Organizational Environments That
Encourage Transfer
 Learning organization is a company

that has an enhanced capacity to learn,
adapt, and change.

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Table 5.6 - Key Features of a
Learning Organization

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