Transfer of training

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Transfer of training is applying knowledge and skills acquired during training to a targeted job or role. This is a term commonly used within industrial and organizational psychology. [1]

Contents

For example, after completing a safety course, transfer of training occurs when the employee uses learned safety behaviors in their work environment. [1]

Theoretically, transfer of training is a specific application of the theory of transfer of learning that describes the positive, zero, or negative performance outcomes of a training program. [2] The positive transfer of training-- the increase in job performance attributed to training-- has become the goal of many organizations. [1] [3] Characteristics of trainees, the work environment, and training strategies contribute to this goal of positive transfer. [4] Ultimately, transfer of training provides organizations with a method to evaluate training's effectiveness and identify areas for training's improvement. [5]

Types

There are three types of transfer of training:

  1. Positive Transfer: Training increases performance in the targeted job or role. Positive transfer is the goal of most training programs. [2] [3]
  2. Negative Transfer: Training decreases performance in the targeted job or role. [2] [3]
  3. Zero Transfer: Training neither increases nor decreases performance in the targeted job or role. [2]

Model of transfer

Baldwin and Ford (1988) [6] is the most commonly cited model of transfer, which defines the transfer of training as the generalization and maintenance of material learned in training to the work environment. [7]

Within this model, the authors conceptualize transfer of training as a three-stage process. [6] [8] In the first stage, the inputs to training, including the training strategies, the work environment, and trainee characteristics are defined. [6] [8] Next, through the training process, these inputs generate training outputs in the form of learning and retention. [6] [8] Ultimately, transfer of training occurs in the final stage when learning and retention are generalized and maintained in the work environment. [6] [7] Using the training inputs defined in this model, psychological research has identified many factors that contribute to the positive transfer of training. [7] [4]

Influences on positive transfer

Within the current literature, there is a lack of consensus over what factors contribute to the positive transfer of training. [4] [7] However, across psychological research, the following factors have consistently impacted positive transfer.

Trainee characteristics

  1. Cognitive Ability: Higher cognitive ability typically leads to higher levels of retention and generalization of learned material. [4] [9]
  2. Self-efficacy: Higher self-efficacy contributes to positive transfer through its influence on confidence and persistence. [4] [9]
  3. Motivation: Individuals with a higher motivation to learn tend to experience higher levels of positive transfer of training. [4] [9]
  4. Personality: Higher measures of conscientiousness increase the likelihood of positive transfer. [9]
  5. Perceptions of Utility: Beliefs in the value and usefulness of training increase the likelihood of positive transfer. [4]

Work environment

  1. Transfer climate: By definition, a positive transfer climate is a work environment that contains cues and feedback mechanisms that remind employees of learned material. [10] Positive transfer climates tend to facilitate higher levels of positive transfer. [4] [2]
  2. Support: Support from supervisors and peers leads to higher levels of positive transfer. [4] [9]
  3. Opportunity to Perform: Work environments that provide opportunities to use learned material promote higher positive transfer of training. [4] [9]
  4. Check-Ins: Regular reviews of training material solidify knowledge and contribute to positive transfer. [3] [4]

Training strategies

  1. Similarity: Also referred to as identical elements theory, a high degree of similarity between the training environment and work environment increases the positive transfer of training. [2] [4] [3]
  2. Active Learning: Hands-on practice of material contributes to positive transfer, especially when it incorporates a variety of different contexts. [3]
  3. Behavioral Modeling: A training technique inspired by Albert Bandura's theory of social learning, which involves explanations, demonstrations, and active learning, feedback, and reinforcement . [4] Behavioral modeling is associated with increased positive transfer, especially when both incorrect and correct behavioral examples are provided during training. [11] [4]
  4. Error-based examples: Training that focuses on how to deal with problems and learn from errors facilitates higher positive transfer. [4] [9]
  5. Collaboration: Collaboration between trainees, trainers, and supervisors during training increases positive transfer. [3]
  6. Multiple Strategies: The use of variety of teaching and learning strategies facilitates positive transfer. [9]
  7. Goals: Setting goals and expectations for training increases positive transfer. [9] [3]
  8. Assessments: Intermittent assessments of participant's knowledge of learned material increases positive transfer. [9]

Assessment

Positive transfer is the goal of many organizational training programs. [3] Therefore, transfer of training plays a vital role in evaluating a training program's effectiveness. [5] Common training evaluation methods, such as Kirkpatrick's Taxonomy [12] and the Augmented Framework of Alliger et al., [13] utilize transfer as an essential criterion to evaluate training. [3] Due to its behavioral outcomes, transfer of training allows organizations to quantify the impact of training and measure differences in performance. [5]

Related Research Articles

Industrial and organizational psychology which is also known as occupational psychology, organizational psychology, or work and organizational psychology; is an applied discipline within psychology. Industrial, work and organizational psychology (IWO) is the broader global term for the field internationally.

Learning Any process in an organism in which a relatively long-lasting adaptive behavioral change occurs as the result of experience

Learning is the process of acquiring new understanding, knowledge, behaviors, skills, values, attitudes, and preferences. The ability to learn is possessed by humans, animals, and some machines; there is also evidence for some kind of learning in certain plants. Some learning is immediate, induced by a single event, but much skill and knowledge accumulate from repeated experiences. The changes induced by learning often last a lifetime, and it is hard to distinguish learned material that seems to be "lost" from that which cannot be retrieved.

Performance

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Ford, J. Kevin (2007), "Transfer of Training", Encyclopedia of Industrial and Organizational Psychology, SAGE Publications, Inc., doi:10.4135/9781412952651.n320, ISBN   978-1-4129-2470-2
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Goldstein, Irwin L. (1986). Training in organizations: needs assessment, development, and evaluation. Internet Archive. Monterey, Calif. : Brooks/Cole Pub. Co.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Levy, P.E. (2016). Industrial/Organizational Psychology: Understanding the workplace. New York, New York: Worth Publishers.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Grossman, Rebecca; Salas, Eduardo (2011). "The transfer of training: what really matters: The transfer of training". International Journal of Training and Development. 15 (2): 103–120. doi:10.1111/j.1468-2419.2011.00373.x. S2CID   17108133.
  5. 1 2 3 Blaiwes, Arthur S.; Puig, Joseph A.; Regan, James J. (1973). "Transfer of Training and the Measurement of Training Effectiveness". Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society. 15 (6): 523–533. doi:10.1177/001872087301500604. ISSN   0018-7208. S2CID   108500214.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Baldwin, Timothy T.; Ford, J. Kevin (1988). "Transfer of Training: A Review of Directions for Future Research". Personnel Psychology. 41 (1): 63–105. doi:10.1111/j.1744-6570.1988.tb00632.x. ISSN   0031-5826.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Blume, Brian D.; Ford, J. Kevin; Baldwin, Timothy T.; Huang, Jason L. (2010). "Transfer of Training: A Meta-Analytic Review". Journal of Management. 36 (4): 1065–1105. doi:10.1177/0149206309352880. ISSN   0149-2063. S2CID   146637689.
  8. 1 2 3 Yamnill, Siriporn; McLean, Gary N. (2001). "Theories supporting transfer of training". Human Resource Development Quarterly. 12 (2): 195. doi:10.1002/hrdq.7.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Ford, J. Kevin; Baldwin, Timothy T.; Prasad, Joshua (2018-01-21). "Transfer of Training: The Known and the Unknown". Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior . 5 (1): 201–225. doi:10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-032117-104443. ISSN   2327-0608.
  10. ↑ Rouiller, Janice Z.; Goldstein, Irwin L. (1993). "The relationship between organizational transfer climate and positive transfer of training". Human Resource Development Quarterly. 4 (4): 377–390. doi:10.1002/hrdq.3920040408. ISSN   1044-8004.
  11. ↑ Burke, Lisa A.; Hutchins, Holly M. (2007). "Training Transfer: An Integrative Literature Review". Human Resource Development Review. 6 (3): 263–296. doi:10.1177/1534484307303035. ISSN   1534-4843. S2CID   145235042.
  12. ↑ Practical Tips for Developing Your Staff, Facet, pp. 23–26, 2016, doi:10.29085/9781783301812.012, ISBN   978-1-78330-181-2 Missing or empty |title= (help); |chapter= ignored (help)
  13. ↑ Alliger, George M.; Tannenbaum, Scott I.; Bennett, Winston; Traver, Holly; Shotland, Allison (1997). "A Meta-Analysis of the Relations Among Training Criteria". Personnel Psychology. 50 (2): 341–358. doi:10.1111/j.1744-6570.1997.tb00911.x. ISSN   1744-6570.

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