Date of Conferral

2021

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Management

Advisor

Richard Dool

Abstract

Organizations are spending billions of dollars annually on employee training and development. Training is only useful if employees transfer the new skills to the workplace and it leads to meaningful impacts. The purpose of this qualitative exploratory single-case study was to explore employee perceptions regarding how to improve training transfer in a federal government organization. The conceptual framework for this study was based on Baldwin and Ford’s concept of training transfer. The research question was used to explore employee perceptions of how to improve training transfer in the federal government organization. Purposeful sampling was used to identify and select 20 participants who had graduated from the organization’s midcareer leadership program. Qualitative data were collected using semistructured interviews. Data analysis involved using a systematic search for subthemes and themes. The findings revealed that from the employees’ perspective, improving training transfer in the workplace requires: (a) organizations to provide employees with ample opportunities to implement their improved skills in the workplace, (b) the willingness of employees to self-direct and find opportunities on their own to use new skills in the workplace, (c) employees to have post-training sustainment support to help them achieve and maintain higher transfer rates, and lastly, (d) organizations to implement systems for tracking and monitoring its employees’ usage of new skills to achieve the expected outcomes. Implications for positive social change include providing organizational leaders and managers with insights and strategies for improving training transfer outcomes, which might lead to improvements in employee productivity and organizational performance.

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