The Impact of Trainee Characteristics, Training Design, and Work Environment on the Transfer of Training: A Study of Executive Level Employees of a Selected Tea Manufacturing Company in Sri Lanka

Abstract

The primary purpose of this study was to identify the factors affecting the Transfer of Training. The current study was designed to study three main factors: Trainee Characteristics, Training Design, and Work Environment which were identified as possible factors that influence the Transfer of Training. Standard questionnaires were used to collect primary data for the study. This is a cross-sectional study done in a non- contrived setting. The study respondents were the entire population of 105 executive-level employees who had attended training programs in the selected organization and the final sample was 88 executive-level employees. Descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, simple regression analysis, and multiple regression analysis were used to analyze the data. According to the results of correlation analysis, it was revealed that there is a positive relationship between all three independent variables (Trainee Characteristics, Training Design, and Work Environment) and the Transfer of Training. The results of simple regression analysis revealed that Trainee Characteristics, Training Design and Work Environment significantly and positively impact the Transfer of Training. Moreover, the multiple regression analysis results indicate that there is a significant impact of the Work Environment and Training Design on the Transfer of Training, compared to the influence of Trainee Characteristics. Therefore, this study suggests that organizations can successfully achieve the expected outcomes from their training programs by ensuring the transfer of training through proper designing of the training programs and improving factors related to the work environment. This study was carried out only on one organization that operates in the tea manufacturing industry in Sri Lanka, and future researchers can extend the scope of this study by investigating other industries and other country contexts.