Self-management training for improving job performance: a field experiment involving salespeople

In a control-group field experiment using a reversal design, 30 insurance salespeople were randomly assigned to an experimental group that received self-management training. A multivariate analysis of variance and subsequent repeated-measures analyses of variance revealed that, compared with a control condition (n = 30), training in self-management skills significantly improved job performance as assessed through both objective and subjective measures. Performance improvement continued with time, and increases were sustained across a 12-month period posttraining. Subsequent training of the control group produced similar increases in self-efficacy, outcome expectancies, and job performance. Potential mediating effects of self-efficacy and outcome expectancies on the self-management-performance relationship were explored and partially supported.