The importance placed on the learning organization and transfer of training as strategies for a competitive advantage suggests that both should be further explored. The learning organization and transfer of training are valuable tools for learning and managing knowledge within organizations, which is considered critical for success. This study examined the effects of framing training program assignments on training outcomes. A model was developed that suggests that the framing of training assignments can provide feedback regarding past performance and result in different attitudinal and motivational levels going into training.
The conceptual model of this study describes the process by which framing of training assignments influences training outcomes. Therefore, it applies to training situations in which individuals are assigned to (as opposed to choosing) different training programs. The model suggests that training assignments have their most immediate effect on pretraining self-efficacy and fairness perceptions.
The researcher used a one-way experimental design containing two levels of a between-subjects variable. The manipulated variable involved the framing given to the training program (remedial vs. advanced) to which the participants were assigned. The remaining variables involved measured as opposed to manipulated factors. Attributions regarding past performance were found to interact with training assignments to affect pretraining self- efficacy. Both perceptions of past performance and expected assignment were found to moderate the relationship between training assignment and fairness perceptions. Also, motivation to learn was a key variable linking pretraining characteristics and training outcomes. Implications for training effectiveness research and practice are discussed.
This study suggests that, at least in the short term, individuals may actually do better if they are assigned to a remedial program. However, this conclusion must be tempered by the fact that this was a novel task that participants performed only once and in which most individuals expected to be assigned to remedial training.