Transfer of management training from alternative perspectives

Area of Science:

• Management Training
• Organizational Psychology
• Human Resource Development

Background:

• Evaluating the effectiveness of management training is crucial for organizational success.
• Understanding the transfer of learned skills back to the workplace is a key metric.
• Discrepancies in evaluation sources can impact perceived training outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To meta-analyze effect sizes of management training transfer across different rater sources.
• To investigate the influence of study- and training-related variables on transfer effect sizes.
• To compare the consistency and magnitude of training transfer based on self, superior, peer, and subordinate ratings.

Main Methods:

• Meta-analysis of 107 management training evaluations.
• Comparison of effect sizes derived from four distinct rating sources: self, superior, peer, and subordinate.
• Analysis of study- and training-specific variables influencing transfer.

Main Results:

• Transfer effects were largest and most varied using self-ratings, followed by superior ratings.
• Peer and subordinate ratings yielded substantially smaller and more homogeneous transfer effect sizes.
• Training transfer was enhanced in non-military settings, with clear rater knowledge of training participation, targeted criteria, task-based content, and practice opportunities.

Conclusions:

• The source of evaluation significantly influences the perceived effectiveness of management training transfer.
• Self and superior ratings offer a broader, though potentially more variable, view of training transfer.
• Peer and subordinate ratings provide a more conservative and consistent, albeit smaller, measure of training transfer, highlighting the need for multi-source feedback in evaluations.