Effect of Enhancing Training Evaluation on Corporate Adventure Training Transfer Process Model
Author: Pei-Wen Liao (Department of Business, National Open University), Chun-Chieh Wang (Department of Recreation and Leisure Industry Management, National Taiwan Sport University)
Vol.&No.：Vol. 69, No. 4
Date：December 2024
Pages：1-28
DOI：https://doi.org/10.6209/JORIES.202412_69(4).0001
Abstract：
Research Motivation and Objectives
Corporate adventure training (CAT) enables corporate organizations to design and organize purpose-driven adventure-based training activities. Such activities enable participants to practice handling, experience, and reflect on situational challenges while the organization achieves training objectives through the creation and transformation of learning experiences. The current study analyzed a training evaluation model by using the Questionnaire for Professional Training Evaluation (Q4TE). With reference to Baldwin and Ford’s model of the transfer process, this research explored the indirect effects of training transfer, self-esteem, and perceived organizational support on the relationship between transfer design and training evaluation in CAT to construct a Corporate Adventure Training Transfer Process Model (CATTPM). This model differs from previous models of the transfer process because it incorporates self-esteem, perceived organizational support, and training transfer as mediating variables. This study explored the indirect effects of transfer design on training evaluation through these mediating factors.
Literature Review
The term training transfer refers to the application of the knowledge and skills acquired in training to the work environment and their sustained use to enhance job performance. The present study considered exploring the process of training transfer and identifying appropriate training evaluation methods to be essential for constructing the CATTPM.
Baldwin and Ford employed a time-dynamic model to illustrate the training transfer curve, identifying positive training transfer as the most desirable type of transfer. However, the ultimate goal of training is to sustain the capacity for long-term continuous learning. Researchers have suggested that training transfer can standardize work contexts, including initial transfers applied in similar situations, as well as internalization and transfer maintenance. Initial transfer occurs when participants begin applying what they have learned in similar situations, and transfer maintenance involves participants continuing to apply the knowledge and skills they acquire in training in various areas.
Training transfer theory emphasizes application of the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviors acquired in training to actual job tasks. These are also concepts and elements that can be incorporated into the course design of CAT. When CAT aligns with the elements of training transfer theory, it leads to generalization and cognitive transfer and thereby contributes to internalization and transfer maintenance through training transfer. This aligns with the long-term continuous learning outcomes that businesses often seek to achieve through corporate training.
Training and development are widely implemented to enhance employee capabilities, including their professional skills and their adaptability to existing or new challenges. Therefore, training and development represent a major investment for businesses, and a comprehensive training program typically includes training evaluation. Studies on the evaluation of training effectiveness have explored this topic in considerable breadth and depth, assessing various measurement tools and evaluation models.
The present study employed the Questionnaire for Professional Training Evaluation (Q4TE), which aligns with Kirkpatrick’s evaluation model. In the Q4TE, a 12-item scale is used to measure several short-term and long-term outcomes, including reactions, learning, behaviors, and results. These dimensions are used to assess participant satisfaction, perceived utility, knowledge, and organizational outcomes, while also streamlining research implementation. The Q4TE is widely used in numerous countries and is suitable for assessing the CAT course training implemented in the present study, which involved employees participating in corporate training. The long-term effects of CAT training evaluation on behaviors and outcomes were determined 3 months after training, with a time-delayed approach used to construct the CAT transfer model.
Research Method
The present study focused on case-based CAT courses implemented by companies and government organizations, that is, training programs related to team consensus, motivation, communication, and leadership.
The duration of these courses was adjusted to suit the specific needs of each unit. They were typically scheduled as half-day or full-day training sessions. The research participants were employees who attended CAT sessions organized by their respective companies. Consent was obtained from the training department of each company involved prior to the distribution of the questionnaire.
A survey was conducted among participants who attended 40 training sessions. Each session was led by the same instructor and assistant and held internally within the organizations over a period of 1.5 months. The formal questionnaire was administered to the participants in these sessions, with each session being attended by approximately 30 to 40 trainees. After invalid and outlier responses were excluded, a total of 1,310 valid questionnaires were obtained (response rate, 91.02%).
Research Results
CAT is increasingly becoming a recognized model for corporate training. Although training requires long-term investment and obtaining immediate feedback was challenging, the present study revealed improvements in the participants’ training evaluation after training. Transfer design was a key input variable, having significant positive effects on training transfer, self-esteem, and participants’ perception of organizational support. The components of self-esteem, training design, perceived organizational support that were proposed in the present study corresponded to the participant characteristics, training design, and work environment components discussed by Baldwin and Ford. Notably, the effects of transfer design on three key mediating variables– training evaluation, self-esteem, training transfer, and perceived organizational support– were explored.
The results indicated that transfer design positively influenced training effectiveness evaluation through training transfer. Furthermore, transfer design positively influenced training effectiveness evaluation through elf-esteem and perceived organizational support. The present study confirmed that self-esteem, perceived organizational support, and training transfer were key mediators. The present study also constructed a CATTPM.
Discussion and Suggestions
CAT can enhance participants’ training transfer and training evaluation, enabling them to apply what they have learned to their work and improve their job performance. Therefore, corporate organizations or human resources departments should regularly organize CAT courses for employees. This will provide employees with an environment in which they can transfer their training to reality, enhance their transferability skills, and ultimately strengthen their organization’s competitive advantage. Additionally, corporate organizations should assist employees in enhancing their self-esteem by providing support and encouragement to CAT participants. This will improve the overall training evaluation of employees and enhance their organization’s overall image, aligning with the goal of sustainable operation. Transfer design is a key independent variable that affects training evaluation through training transfer. To improve the training transfer process during CAT, corporate training departments must accurately identify training needs. Prior to a course, they should communicate with the CAT instructor team, develop course outlines and content, ensure that experiential activities and reflections align with actual work situations, invite unit supervisors or exemplary staff to demonstrate scenario handling, and encourage participants to share their experiences.
CAT instructors should also develop a clear understanding of and empathy for participants, guiding them to apply the concepts and skills acquired from training to their work. Before starting a course, instructors should clearly communicate with the responsible units, set CAT training objectives, and understand and master the skills that participants require for their work. They should leverage transfer design to design scenarios relevant to participants’ duties, creating connections between training content and trainees’ work or daily lives.
Keywords：
corporate adventure training transfer process model, self-esteem, perceptual organization support, training transfer, training evaluation
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