Organizational training and signals of importance: Linking pretraining perceptions to intentions to transfer

Abstract The organizational literature has suggested that all management actions send signals to employees that affect perceptions and influence behavior. This study investigated the effects of three pretraining signals—course information provided to trainees, accountability to supervisor, and program status (mandatory or voluntary)—on subsequent intentions to transfer program learning. Data collected from 193 trainees in the engineering group of a manufacturing firm indicated that trainees reported greater intentions to transfer learning to the workplace when they (1) received information prior to the training program, (2) recognized that they would have some accountability for learning with their supervisor, and (3) perceived a program as mandatory.