Informal learning and the transfer of learning: How managers develop proficiency

Abstract This study examined how the extent to which managers engaged in informal learning, perceptions of support in the transfer environment, and level of managerial proficiency related to transfer of learning in twenty core managerial skills. The results suggested that informal learning is predominantly a social process and that managers with high levels of proficiency who experience low levels of coworker, supervisor, and organizational support learn managerial skills mostly from informal learning and transfer learning more frequently. New perspectives are offered on the interrelationship between informal learning and transfer of learning, the role of metacognition and self‐regulation in informal learning, and the influence of informal learning in the development of managerial proficiency.