TRANSFER TRAINING METHOD: ITS INFLUENCE ON SKILL GENERALIZATION, SKILL REPETITION, AND PERFORMANCE LEVEL

Personal Effectiveness Training for Unemployed People: Where to Now?

Unemployment remains a major social problem in Australia. Successive governments have attempted to address the problem, in part, by funding occupational skills-based training programs for the unemployed. This paper reviews the general area of occupational skills/personal effectiveness training for unemployed people, and reports on outcomes for individuals attending “typical” courses in Australia. Also reported are outcomes for unemployed people who attended specially devised training, based on the cognitive-behavioural (e.g., Beck, 1976) and learned optimism (Seligman, 1990) intervention approaches. This training aimed to improve well-being, confidence and coping abilities. Variables assessed included individual well-being (e.g. psychological distress), confidence (e.g. self-efficacy), attitude-to-work (e.g. work commitment), training climate and labour market outcomes such as return-to-work. More positive outcomes were identified for unemployed people attending the specially devised programs. The authors argue that training targeted at unemployed people must be based on sound theoretical principles to produce measurable long-term benefits. Future applications of personal development programs are discussed in relation to occupational skills-based training and as stand-alone programs.

Which Goals should Participants Set to Enhance the Transfer of Learning from Management Development Programmes?

This paper is designed to critique the goal setting literature, with particular emphasis on the effectiveness of different types of goals for successful transfer in management development programmes. In reviewing the literature, particular focus was given to goal interventions used in education, training and skill acquisition settings over the last 20 years and how these studies have advanced the understanding of knowledge transfer from management development programmes. Overall, the evidence suggests that the traditional result (or distal outcome) based goals are ill-suited for effective transfer and instead management development scholars and practitioners should use the newer forms of goal setting (e.g. proximal plus distal, behavioural and learning) to facilitate transfer.

Human resource development and human resource management levers for sustained competitive advantage: Combining isomorphism and differentiation

Numerous studies have investigated human resources as a source of sustained competitive advantage, indicating that the high-performance work systems created by certain human resource development and human resource management practices lead to greater firm performance. Though the mechanism by which this link exists remains a ‘black box,’ substantial evidence shows organizations benefit by adopting the human resource development and human resource management practices that lead to high-performance work systems. We discuss two divergent perspectives, institutional theory and resource-based view, and their impact on high-performance work systems. We argue that organizations adhering to tenets of institutional theory experience isomorphism in certain human resource development and human resource management practices, whereas resource-based view attributes create ways that firms differentiate their practices. We posit that to be competitive firms must balance the push–pull effect of institutional pressure with that of resource-based view differentiation.

Making Transfer Climate Visible: Utilizing Social Network Analysis to Facilitate the Transfer of Training

In this article the authors introduce social network analysis (SNA) as a methodology for analyzing transfer climate prior to training. The literature has indicated that transfer climate is critical to a trainee’s ability to apply the new knowledge, skills, behaviors, and attitudes they gain through training back to the workplace. SNA serves as a tool for analyzing a participant’s organizational network relationships prior to training to help the facilitator, trainee, and supervisor gain an accurate picture of the transfer climate. Based on this analysis, measures can be taken to develop strategies to deal with relational barriers prior to training that will facilitate the participant’s transfer of learning back to the work environment. The process of conducting SNA is described and illustrated using a case example. The benefits of using SNA to enhance transfer climate and the implications for further research and practice are discussed.

Training Transfer: An Integrative Literature Review

Given the proliferation of training transfer studies in various disciplines, we provide an integrative and analytical review of factors impacting transfer of training. Relevant empirical research for transfer across the management, human resource development (HRD), training, adult learning, performance improvement, and psychology literatures is integrated into the review. We synthesize the developing knowledge regarding the primary factors influencing transfer—learner characteristics, intervention design and delivery, and work environment influences—to identify variables with substantive support and to discern the most pressing gaps. Ultimately, a critique of the state of the transfer literature is provided and targeted suggestions are outlined to guide future empirical and theoretical work in a meaningful direction.

Behavioral Simulation: Application and Potential in Management Research

Balance in research methods is well recognized for improving knowledge in the field. Despite this, a review of published studies suggests that behavioral simulation has been severely underused. With this in mind, simulations are discussed as a potent and timely methodology for addressing contextual factors in organizations. In addition, strategies for effective simulation design are offered. The promise of simulations is highlighted for studies of managing diversity, retraining displaced workers, organizational citizenship behaviors, and influence tactics.

The Role of Relapse Prevention and Goal Setting in Training Transfer Enhancement

This article reviews the effect of two post-training transfer interventions (relapse prevention [RP] and goal setting [GS]) on trainees’ ability to apply skills gained in a training context to the workplace. Through a review of post-training transfer interventions literature, the article identifies a number of key issues that remain unresolved or underexplored, for example, the inconsistent results on the impact of RP on transfer of training, the lack of agreement on which GS types are more efficient to improve transfer performance, the lack of clarity about the distinction between RP and GS, and the underlying process through which these two post-training transfer interventions influence transfer of training. We offer some recommendations to overcome these problems and also provide guidance for future research on transfer of training.

Transfer of communication skills training from workshop to workplace: the impact of clinical supervision

OBJECTIVE

Recent studies have recognised that the communication skills learned in the training environment are not always transferred back into the clinical setting. This paper reports a study which investigated the potential of clinical supervision in enhancing the transfer process.

METHODS

A randomised controlled trial was conducted involving 61 clinical nurse specialists. All attended a 3-day communication skills training workshop. Twenty-nine were then randomised to 4 weeks of clinical supervision, aimed at facilitating transfer of newly acquired skills into practice. Assessments, using real and simulated patients, were carried out before the course, immediately after the supervision period and 3 months later. Interviews were rated objectively using the Medical Interview Aural Rating Scale (MIARS) to assess nurses' ability to use key skills, respond to patient cues and identify patient concerns.

RESULTS

Assessments with simulated patients showed that the training programme was extremely effective in changing competence in all three key areas. However, only those who experienced supervision showed any evidence of transfer. Improvements were found in the supervised groups' use of open questions, negotiation and psychological exploration. Whilst neither group facilitated more disclosure of cues or concerns, those in the experimental group responded more effectively to the cues disclosed, reduced their distancing behaviour and increasing their exploration of cues.

CONCLUSIONS

The study has shown that whilst training enhances skills, without intervention, it may have little effect on clinical practice. The potential role of clinical supervision as one way of enhancing the clinical effectiveness of communication skills training programmes has been demonstrated. PRACTISE IMPLICATIONS: This study raises questions about the effectiveness of training programmes which do not incorporate a transfer element, and provides evidence to support the need for clinical supervision for clinical nurse specialist.

Personalentwicklung und Training

Zusammenfassung. Führungskräfte und Mitarbeiter müssen kontinuierliche Anpassungsleistungen in immer kürzeren Zyklen erbringen, individuelle und kollektive Wissensbestände verändern sich, nicht automatisierbare Aufgaben werden komplexer und deren Bewältigung kognitiv anspruchsvoller. Diese Entwicklungen erfordern ein Ressourcenmanagement, das auf ständige Weiterentwicklung der beruflichen Handlungskompetenz ausgerichtet ist. Die Förderung und Entwicklung kompetenter Organisationsmitglieder mit dem Ziel der Wissensvermittlung, Verhaltensmodifikation und Persönlichkeitsentwicklung geschieht auf individueller, gruppenbezogener und organisationaler Ebene in vielfältiger Art und Weise und ist äußerst facettenreich. Eine zukunftsorientierte und wirksame Personalentwicklung ist ohne psychologisches Grundlagen- und Methodenwissen nicht mehr durchführbar. Der Beitrag leistet eine aktuelle Bestandsaufnahme deutscher und angloamerikanischer psychologischer Forschungsarbeiten zur Personalentwicklung. Die State of the Art-Analyse und Diskussion folgt dabei einem Phasenmodell, aufgeteilt nach Analyse, Intervention, Evaluation und Transfer.

Managing time: the effects of personal goal setting on resource allocation strategy and task performance

One key to understanding motivated behavior is examining the behavior of individuals as they work on multiple tasks under a time constraint. This article is an exploration of the influence of self-set goals on subsequent resource allocation to different tasks. Participants were given a variety of tasks from which they were to choose how to allocate their time and effort. Results indicated that the use of self-set goals structured the work pattern, with less switching between tasks relative to the work pattern of a group of participants who did not set goals. In addition, those who set goals reported less task-related cognitive interference, indicating that they were not as distracted while they worked. Participants who did not set goals, however, performed at a higher level on some of the tasks. It is suggested that self-set goals may often be chosen at an easily attainable level, creating a structured and focused work environment but not necessarily eliciting the motivational properties typically associated with goal setting.

Effects of Training Goals and Goal Orientation Traits on Multidimensional Training Outcomes and Performance Adaptability

This research examined the effects of mastery vs. performance training goals and learning and performance goal orientation traits on multidimensional outcomes of training. Training outcomes included declarative knowledge, knowledge structure coherence, training performance, and self-efficacy. We also examined the unique impact of the training outcomes on performance adaptability by predicting generalization to a more difficult and complex version of the task. The experiment involved 60 trainees learning a complex computer simulation over 2 days. The research model posited independent effects for training goals relative to goal orientation traits and independent contributions of training outcomes to the performance adaptability of trainees. The findings were consistent with the proposed model. In particular, self-efficacy and knowledge structure coherence made unique contributions to the prediction of performance adaptability after controlling for prior training performance and declarative knowledge. Implications and extensions are discussed. Copyright 2001 Academic Press.

Effects of Practice Conditions and Supplemental Training Method on Cognitive Learning and Interpersonal Skill Generalization

Organizational expenditures for interpersonal-skills training have been rising. However, little is known about the translation of cognitive learning into skilled interpersonal-task performance, or about the mechanisms through which interpersonal skills in one domain generalize to other interpersonal tasks. This study used a 2 x 2 experimental design to examine the effectiveness of neutral versus stressful practice conditions and mastery-versus performance-oriented supplemental training for improving cognitive learning and interpersonal-skill transfer to a novel task. Participants who experienced stressful salary-negotiation practice conditions, followed by mastery-oriented supplemental training, showed greater skill transfer when performing a novel task (i.e., contract negotiations). Results showed that superior cognitive learning (i.e., recall, comprehension, and synthesis) and greater time on task were the mechanisms that supported interpersonal-skill transfer for trainees in the stressful practice/ mastery-oriented training condition when compared with the other experimental groups. Copyright 1998 Academic Press.

ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR IN THE NEW ORGANIZATIONAL ERA

Changes in contemporary firms and their competitive environments translate into a new focus in organizational research. This chapter reviews organizational behavior research reflecting the shift from corporatist organizations to organizing. Key research themes include emerging employment relations, managing the performance paradox, goal setting and self-management, discontinuous information processing, organization learning, organizational change and individual transitions, and the implications of change for work-nonwork relations. Research into organizing is building upon and extending many of the field's traditional concepts. This chapter suggests that some assumptions of organizational behavior research are being superseded by those more responsive to the new organizational era.