Handbook of Principles of Organizational Behavior - Soltanieh ...

DESIGN TRAINING SYSTEMATICALLY AND FOLLOW THE SCIENCE OF TRAINING
profitability concerns, as training can also be a powerful lever for enhancing performance ­
related factors such as employee satisfaction, team cohesion, social capital, and organizational
reputation.
A core component of the due diligence process is a pretraining transfer analysis. The
analysis helps describe the dimensions targeted for horizontal transfer, the emergent processes
of vertical transfer, and the contextual factors that may promote or impinge on
the transfer process. For example, the number, scope, and nature of the salient nesting
arrangements in an organization must be mapped to determine their potential effects on
nested variables (Mathieu, Maynard, Taylor, Gilson, and Ruddy, 2007 ). Designers should
be careful to distinguish between objective situational characteristics and social –
psychological perceptions of organizational factors as well as evaluate the embeddedness
or bond strength of key dimensions (Kozlowski and Salas, 1997 ).
Organizational leaders can actively contribute to a climate for learning, or passively
inhibit the replication of learned behaviors in the workplace. A thorough stakeholder
analysis can identify champions of training and provides a forum for airing concerns. This
is important because training, like all initiatives, involves the allocation of limited fi nancial
resources which some may feel are better routed to the production of goods or services,
marketing campaigns, infrastructure improvements, and/or technology upgrades. Yet, in
order for training to be successful there must be both sufficient financial and personal
support for it. Hence, parties on both sides of the isle are best identifi ed and, when appropriate,
persuaded in advance. Favorable projections of the net present value of training
relative to other capital investments can be particularly persuasive evidence when estimates
are based on realistic and conservative inputs.
Define performance requirements
A second training needs analysis activity involves defi ning performance requirements.
Established theories of performance, and taxonomies of performance processes, should
be leveraged to precisely define the nature of performance (see Campbell and Kuncel,
2002 ; Marks, Mathieu, and Zaccaro, 2001 ; Salas, Stagl, Burke, and Goodwin, 2007 ).
This involves describing, disaggregating, and contextualizing the taskwork and teamwork
processes that are critical to overall performance. Behavioral - and cognitive - oriented task
inventories, critical incident interviews, focus groups, and card sorts can each help nuance
key factors. Protocol analysis whereby experts verbalize their thoughts during problem
solving is also an especially useful technique for eliciting decision - making processes in
natural settings (Ericsson, in press). Training designers should also take steps to model and
minimize the systematic and random sources of error inherent to job analysis data.
Once key performance dimensions are defined they should be bracketed by mapping
their antecedents and moderators within and outside the focal level of interest (Hackman,
1999 ). For example, the effectiveness of team coordination can be predicated upon motivated
members at an individual level and investments in information technologies at an
organizational level. The relative importance of these factors to alternative short - , mid - , and
long - term business scenarios should also be illuminated so that specific criteria can be better
targeted for improvement. It is also essential to map the projected trajectory of trainee
change in these factors over time. Describing the transitional process from novice to expert
provides insight into how training content should be developed, delivered, and evaluated.
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