The pretraining environment: A conceptualization of how contextual factors influence participant motivation

How a training program is introduced may influence a person's motivation to attend and participate actively in the program. A pretraining environment consisting of factors such as the supervisor's style, co‐workers' attitudes toward and experiences with training, the company's publicity about the program, the program's credibility, and corporate attendance policies may have an important effect on an individual's perception of the importance of training and motivation for attending and performing well in the program. An analysis of these contextual factors suggests propositions to predict the influence of the pretraining environment.