Transfer of Training, Essay Example

Transfer of training is the level at which a trainee is able to transfer the skills and knowledge provided in training to their job. The transfer from training to the job site is a correlative function between the trainee’s motivation and ability with the trainings design and the trainee’s work environment. All three areas influence and impact the learning retention. Each area has specific elements that can inhibit or promote the ability of the trainee’s learning retention and job application.

Some of the biggest inhibitors of the transfer of training are work conditions, lack of peer support and lack of leadership support. The first area is work conditions. Working in a hostile learning environment will completely negate any positive training outcomes by removing the focus from learning to having the trainee complete the task and move on with their job.  These areas of hostility include constrained time, obsolete equipment and no opportunity to use the skill once out of training (DeSmet 2010). Viewing training as a check list item without reverence for quality will indeed lead to a wasted training session and opportunity for improvement.

Lack of peer support can impact the overall objectives of the transfer of training to the job.  When peers in the workplace see training as a waste of time or are unable to provide feedback the individuals trying to utilize the training are on an island without peer guidance or buy-in. This also plays a role in a major inhibitor regarding the discouragement of new tools or techniques learning in training. Change is not always welcome in the work place and it takes proper buy-in, education, training throughout the corporation and wing to wing acceptance from peers to corporate leadership.

With the wing to wing aspect of acceptance the lack of management support can stymie all efforts made in the work conditions and peer support. If the management does not provide the training with the time to train on new skills, the support for change and improvement and the ability to use the new skills in their job the newly trained employee will have zero possibility to utilize their new skill set.

In order to overcome an avert some of these potential pitfalls it is necessary to promote trainee responsibility and self-management skills.  Trainee responsibility encompasses the preparation for the training, full engagement during the training and using the training after the event in their job.  Self-management involves the employee’s effort to impact the aspects of decision making and behavior under their span of control.  Preparation for training varies in scope depending on the type of training presented.  Preparation could range from clearing their schedule beforehand so that they could be fully engaged during the training exercise to preparing a project for review as a six sigma initiative that must result in cost or benefits to the business.  The main focus of preparation is that the employee is mentally prepared to go into the situation ready and willing to learn with candor about post training implementation of the skill enhancements.  Self-management includes areas specifically outside of the trainee’s realm of total control.  For preparation the employee can ensure he or she is fully prepared.  Self-management include areas touching other aspects of business such as business processes, peers and leadership in which the trainee must balance and influence the areas in which they have control.

To incorporate self-management skills the same areas addressed as inhibitors must be addressed for gaps including manager and peer support as well as opportunities to utilize the knowledge.  To address manager support the management team can provide guidance in writing as an action plan to follow the training and implementation of that training. This will provide the goals and objectives needed for both parties.  It also takes more than just written documentation.  Managerial promotion of the training and its benefits are necessary to provide a broad business culture impact. The work environment promotion can be addressed with an action plan for the trainee to show a goal similar to that of the management team, operational tasks on how to reach the strategic goal, feedback and metrics. Feedback and metrics if properly utilized will give management and employees the ability to gauge their performance and make continual improvements to take their to higher output levels.

Business Case for Upper Management

Building a business case is a necessity when providing management and leadership with the experience and knowledge of those performing on the front lines of the business (Palmer 2010).  In regard to Apple, innovation and cutting edge technologies which are provided ahead of the competition and is reliable and intuitive.  New products require new knowledge by the employees.  Frontline employees will need to be a step ahead of the consumer and in order to do that, Apple will need to make a positive impact on the work environment, peer support and managerial support. Training needs to become as accessible as a coffee break. Utilizing webcasts and pushing training to all levels of the business the employees of Apple will be on the cutting edge of knowledge to support their leading products.  The employees of Apple represent the product and the product represents them.  Sleek, stylish, smart, reliable and accurate can be used to describe both the people and products.  Training must provide the tools to the employees so that can do their job and remain on the leading edge of technology knowledge workers.

Measurements of Training

There are multiple ways to measure the effectiveness of training but there are basically six(Bramley, 1991):

• Goal-based evaluation
• Goal-free evaluation
• Responsive evaluation
• Systems evaluation
• Professional review
• Quasi-legal

As Apple as the example, using goal-based evaluations as well as a responsive evaluation would benefit the business because the evaluations are measurable and will provide the source information needed to scope and mold the training efforts. The responsive evaluation is based on a discovery of the merit and shortcomings of the training and the goal-based evaluation would provide the clear guidelines on what performance is expected of the knowledge workers.

Formative and Summative Evaluations

Summative and formative evaluations differ in their form and function.  Summative evaluations provide data and feedback on the efficacy or ability to do what the intended purpose said it was supposed to do (Wolf 2002) were as formative is a little more complicated because it is not evaluating the end product but more along the lines of software development and utilizing user testing during a test run.  Feedback would be provided and changes would be implemented using the approved change management process.  In terms of training for summative evaluations it views the overall population’s performance in regard to training for the specific materials presented.  Formative evaluation reviews each individual trainee and then assesses the learning instance then takes those results to populate the overall impression.  Each one of these can be utilized for the training at Apple to evaluate the training process because each individual still has their own way to implement their training but overall corporate success is the objective of increase training.

References

Apple (2011) Applecare Premium Services and Support Plan Terms and Conditions. Retrieved October 15, 2011 from: http://images.apple.com/legal/applecare/docs/AppleCare_Prem_Svc_Supp_NA_en.pdf

Bramley, P. (1996). Evaluatingtrainingeffectiveness. Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill.

DeSmet, A., McGurk, M., & Schwartz, E. (2010). Getting more from your training programs. McKinsey Quarterly, (4), 101-107. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Palmer, S., (2010). Making the business case for learning and development: 5 steps for success. UNC Executive Development, (1), 1-14. Retrived from www.execdev.unc.edu

Wolff, S.B., Pescosolido, A.T., & Druskat, V.U. (2002). Emotional intelligence as the basis of leadership emergence inself-managing teams. The Leadership Quarterly, 13, 505-522.