Evaluation of transfer of continuous training by the ETF factors’ model

Abstract

Today, the transfer of training -understood as the application of learning from training to job- is a priority for companies. Their proper development provides best qualified professionals to carry out specific functions of the job, allowing them a constant updating. However, an evaluation process of comprehensive transfer requires a high cost in human and financial resources, given the difficulty to collect direct evidence on the job. For this reason, several authors raised the possibility of assessing the transfer indirectly by measuring the factors that determine the application to the workplace -Baldwin & Ford (1988), Noe (1988), Holton (1996, 2005), and Burke & Hutchins (2008), among others. The aim of this paper is to present the results of an evaluation of transfer of continuous training conducted during 2009, by the ETF factors’ model. We applied a telephone survey of 58 items to 1.044 participants from continuous training. Data were analyzed using exploratory factor analysis that 6 factors emerged: satisfaction with the training, organizational support for transfer, sense of responsibility, lack of transfer training possibilities, motivation to transfer, and transfer design. These factors predict 35.5% of the learning caused by training, the 56.7% of the perceived transfer, as well as 51.5% of the impact of this transfer in their organization.