
With the large amount of money spent on training each year, organizations are always seeking to improve employees’ ability to transfer the knowledge and skills learned during training back to their jobs.
The authors of this study (Chiaburu et al., 2010) discuss perceived organizational support (POS), which refers to an employee’s belief that the organization cares about his or her well being. They say that POS and supervisor support will indirectly affect transfer of training through the effects they have on employees’ goal orientation, motivation to transfer, and self-efficacy, or the belief that they can “get the job done.” In addition, the authors found supervisor support to show slightly more impact in affecting the individual factors than POS did. The researchers also suggest that POS may become more effective if the support put forth by the organization is restated by training supervisors.
The bottom line of this article is this: organizations that want to get more out of their training should be sure that participants feel supported by the organization and their supervisors.
Chiaburu, D.S., Van Dam, K., & Hutchins, H.M. (2010). Social Support in the Workplace and Training Transfer: A longitudinal analysis. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 18, 187-200.