Date of Conferral

2017

Degree

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

School

Education

Advisor

Olga Salnikova

Abstract

A midsize nonprofit blood bank organization is experiencing a high percentage of supervisors and managers not transferring skills taught in leadership development training programs back to the workplace. The purpose of this mixed methods, sequential, explanatory study was to understand the relationship between supervisor support or opposition and trainees' perception on factors that influence transfer of training and to identify strategies to improve transfer of training in the organization. Baldwin and Ford's Model of the training transfer process laid the framework for this study. Quantitative data were collected from trainees (N = 60) who attended leadership development programs between January 2012 and June 2014 and were analyzed using descriptive analysis, correlational analysis, and multiple regression. The correlation analysis indicated positive relationships between transfer of training and supervisor support. Qualitative data, collected during interviews (N = 8) that focused on trainees' perceptions on how to enhance transfer of training in the organization, corroborated the quantitative results. According to thematic analyses of the interview data, supervisor support, training design, opportunity to use skills on the job, and performance coaching and mentoring have the potential to improve training transfer. Policy recommendations were created to increase transfer of training back to the workplace. The findings of the study could help supervisors and managers increase training transfer, which could improve the organization's profits and create collaborative learning environments that benefit the participants and the communities where these participants live and work.

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