BMG 735

Managing People in the Organisation

Mark McCrory MCIPD, CPsychol

Learning, Training and

Development
Objectives
• Consider the learning and development cycle
• Introduce the concept of transfer and how it can
be promoted
• Evaluate the role and approaches to evaluation
Learning, Training and
Development
Role of Learning, Training and
Development
• Work increasingly knowledge based
▫ Investing in human capital - a core strategy
for competitive advantage (Cheng and
Hampson, 2008)
• Learning interventions
▫ Return is expected (Burke and Hutchins,
2008)
The Learning Cycle
Training/Learning Transfer
• Transfer consists of two major dimensions:
▫ a) generalisation – the extent to which
the knowledge and skill acquired in a
learning setting are applied to different
setting, people, and/or situations from
those trained, and
▫ b) maintenance – the extent to which
changes that result from a learned
experience persist over time
Training/Learning Transfer

Baldwin and Ford (1988)

Trainee Characteristics
 Trainee How smart they are
Characteristics
Their personality

Motivation

How useful they

perceive the training
Cognitive Ability
• 0.37 ability and transfer (Blume et al.,
2010)
▫ Likely to absorb more information
▫ Organise, recall and adapt information
▫ Implications for development
 Higher cog ability – exploration and problem
solving
 Lower cog ability – structured learning
▫ Metacognition (able to monitor own
progress and improve where needed)
▫ Implication for development
 Need to create opportunities for reflection
Personality Traits
• Following relate to training success:
▫ Conscientiousness – set goals and stick to
them
 0.28 conscientiousness and transfer (Blume
et al., 2010)
▫ Openness to experience – open to new
ideas
▫ Extraversion – we don’t know why!
▫ Emotional stability (weak relationship) –
possibly related to anxiety
Barrick and Mount (1991)
Goal Orientation
• Performance goal orientation (PGO)
▫ Seek to avoid negative feedback and gain
positive feedback
• Learning goal orientation (LGO)
▫ Seek to master a task for it’s own sake
• PGO and LGO are not polar opposites

• LGO – work smart and hard

• PGO – work hard
Motivation
• Motivation to learn
▫ Reaction to needs analysis / skills
assessment
▫ Valence and perceived utility
▫ Goal orientation
Not important!
Participants’
learning
style
Training/Learning Transfer

Baldwin and Ford (1988)

Training/Learning Design
Learning
• “Acquiring knowledge and skills and
having them readily available from
memory so you can make sense of future
problems and opportunities”

Brown, Roediger and McDaniel (2014, pg 2)

Training/Learning Design
• Received the most research attention
• Where most L&D professionals
concentrate their efforts
• Includes:
▫ Learning objectives
▫ Training content
▫ Method of delivery
Objectives/Outcomes

Cognitive
Learning
 Know
 Do Skill
 Feel

Affective

Kraiger et al. (1993)

Training Content
• Content needs to be aligned to actual job
duties
▫ Perceived content validity
 Positive trainee reactions
• Derived through analysis of what people
need to do
• Link to organisational strategy
Method of Delivery

CIPD (2014, pg. 8)

Training/Learning Transfer

Baldwin and Ford (1988)

Work Environment
 Work Context they return to
Environment
Support –
Peer / Manager

Opportunity to perform

Follow-up
Work Environment
• Post-training environment is often the
least considered
• 0.22 between general work environment
and transfer (Blume et al., 2010)
• Climate for learning and transfer
▫ Support
 Manager (0.31)
 Peer (0.14)
Manager Support
• Positive relationship between
organisational learning culture
and training transfer
▫ Disappears once manager support
is considered (Chiaburu and
Tekleab, 2005)
Opportunities to Perform
• Time pressures
• Equipment availability
• Circumstances
• Importance of post-training follow-up
▫ Goals
▫ Action plans
▫ Reminders
▫ Feedback
▫ Accountability
Evaluation
Return on Investment?
• 10% - often quoted
▫ Source unclear
 Too many factors to consider
 Lack of a widely accepted and standard
transfer evaluation methodology (Farrington,
2011)
• Survey of training managers from 140
companies
▫ What percentage of their training budget
did they spend on evaluation? (Burke and
Hutchins, 2008)
Evaluation
• “Evaluation might be the single most important strategy to
ensure accountability and improve training transfer. Clearly,
we cannot make people accountable for something if we do
not evaluate what it is that they are accountable for doing
(Giovannini, 2004). The paradox, however, is that very few
organizations conduct evaluations of training at this level
(Blanchard, Thacker, & Way, 2000; Kraiger, 2003), which
might in part explain why transfer of training remains a
problem in organizations today. Thus, organizations should
evaluate trainees’ transfer behavior and performance as it
would be nearly impossible to hold stakeholders
accountable for transfer without evaluation data”
(Burke and Saks, 2009)
Evaluating Training

Org

77%

38%

14%

7%
Evaluating Training
• Kirkpatrick’s (1967) model assumes:
▫ Criteria are arranged in ascending order
▫ Casually linked and positively related
• Alliger and Janak (1989) completed a
meta-analysis of 12 studies - their results
queried these assumptions
• Major criticism
▫ Focus on outcomes
▫ Failure to consider the variables impacting
these outcomes
• Remains most popular model
Summative Vs Formative Evaluation

• Kirkpatrick’s model is summative

▫ OUTCOMES

• Formative evaluation looks at improving the

quality of the training intervention to increase the
likelihood that it will achieve the intended
objectives
▫ Focus on process criteria – what is happening
▫ Alter the process itself to respond to clients'
needs
Ely et al. (2010)
Evaluation
Learning, Training and
Development - Example
Class Test Question
Using the Insurance Service
Centre Practise Case
• Working in your tables, prepare an answer for the
following question:

▫ Describe any two of the three determinants of learning

outcomes in the model of training transfer and how
might they apply to a development plan for Trainee
Insurance Advisors to become Specialist Insurance
Advisors?

▫ 20 mins – prepare whiteboard with a ‘bulleted’ response

Debrief:

1) Knowledge

2) Application