Individual- and organizational-level predictors of training effectiveness in business organizations

Abstract

This study aims at investigating the effectiveness criteria as well as individual- and organizational-level factors that influence training effectiveness. Retrospective data were collected from 171 private sector business organization participants via surveys in a cross-sectional study. Participants were asked to indicate the level of effectiveness of the training that they received six months prior to the study. Findings confirmed three components of training effectiveness: transfer of knowledge to job, performance improvement, and positive organizational attitudes. Analysis of variance results showed that level of training effectiveness may vary depending on the type of training. In this study, computer-related trainings were found to be the most effective on all criteria. This was attributed mainly to resource availability and organizational support to such technical trainings. Multiple regression analyses showed that organizational support and training-related factors (e.g., trainer, training method, etc.) explained the highest variance in training effectiveness.