Organizational training: exploring employees’ intention to participate

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Organizational training: exploring

employees’ intention to participate

A study at an insurance company

University of Groningen, Faculty of Economics and Business

MSc Business Administration, specialization: Change Management

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ABSTRACT

Organizational training is a very useful tool to change an organizational culture. The aim of this study is to investigate why employees do or do not have the intention to participate in training. This study investigates the relationships between the expected transfer-quality of training, the expected benefits of training and organizational commitment on the one hand, and intention to participate in training on the other hand. With the use of a questionnaire, the relationships between the dependent and independent variables are investigated. The results of this study demonstrate that affective commitment, job-related training benefits and support from supervisor and colleagues have a positive contribution to intention to participate in training.

Key words: organizational training, intention to participate in training, training

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1. Introduction

Because of all the environmental changes, customer service performance is

critical for the companies’ survival. Several studies found evidence that 40 percent of customers stop doing business with a company, when they experience poor customer service (e.g., Dougherty and Murthy 2009; Malhotra et al. 2007; Pavlou and El Sawy 2010). Hence, with the help of organizational training, more organizations change their organizational culture with the focus on customers. However, organizational training is only effective, if employees intend to participate in training. An important question that results from this statement is what determines the intention to participate in training? This research paper presents a study about the determinants of the intention to participate in training.

Burnes (2009) suggests that training is a key part of any change project. He states that training is intended to make employees aware of the need for change, and that it can contribute to cultural change. According to Salas & Stagl (2009) training is a very powerful tool to use for producing cognitive, behavioural and affective learning in a specific field. This encompasses what employees need to know, what they need to do and what they need to feel in order to successfully perform their jobs. Therefore, training is a very useful tool to change an organizational culture with a more customer service focus. As previously mentioned, this study is about the determinants of the intention to participate in training. This research is done at an insurance company where several changes are taking place regarding their culture, with the use of organizational training. The organization is further explained in the next paragraph.

1.1 The organization and the description of the problem

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perform for the client. To change the mind-sets of the employees, Aegon Netherlands NV is using organizational training. Aegon Netherlands NV organizes several sorts of training; amongst them are the voluntary training workshops, which are organized three times a year for a week with different themes every year. The larger the attendance, the more people are reached with the knowledge and skills, which are presented in the training. And this is an issue at Aegon Netherland NV, especially at the office in Leeuwarden; employees do not intend to participate enough in voluntary training workshops. For Aegon Leeuwarden it is important to have the knowledge why employees do, or do not have the intention to participate in the voluntary training workshops.

1.2 Research question

Because of the issue that is described above, certain factors are investigated which may influence the intention to participate in training. The selected factors are based on the training literature and their relevance towards the intention to participate is explained in the next chapter. The following independent variables will be included in the research: the expected transfer-quality of training, the expected benefits of training and the organizational commitment of the employees. The dependent variable is the intention to participate in training. This results in the following research question:

To what extent does the expected transfer-quality of training, expected benefits of training and organizational commitment of employees influence the intention to participate in training?

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2. Theory

This study contributes to research about the intention to participate in training. It investigates if the expected transfer-quality of a training, the expected benefits of a training and organizational commitment will influence the intention to participate in voluntary workshop training. In this chapter will be explained why these variables are chosen and it will start with the clarification of the dependent variable: intention to participate in training.

2.1 Dependent variable: intention to participate in training

To make training a success, employees need to intend to participate in training. There are two explicit perspectives on training participation: the labour market perspective and the psychological perspective (Renaud, Lakhdari, and Morin, 2004; Tharenou, 2001). The labour market perspective is especially based on the human capital theory. This perspective explores how the individual characteristics, job characteristics and industrial types are linked to training (Renaud et al., 2004; Wiethoff, 2004). Training decisions are based on instrumental calculations of the opportunity cost of training investment against its future returns. The psychological perspective is about the relationships between training participation and psychological variables such as attitudes, motivation and work environment (Klein, Noe, and Wang, 2006; Maurer, 2001; Maurer, Weiss, and Barbeite, 2003). This study sees participation in training as a rational and thoughtful decision and therefore this study falls in the psychological perspective of training participation.

According to Bagozzi (1992) the definition of intention is ‘a plan or decision to take action relative to a planned change event’. So, in this research paper the definition of intention to participate in training is a plan or decision of the employee to participate in training.

2.2 Independent variable: expected benefits of training

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There are three types of benefits that employees may obtain from training, which are identified by Nordhaug (1989). The benefits are respectively personal-related, career-related and job-related benefits of training. In this research the personal-related and career-related benefits are merged. This study sees the benefits as conceptually different but not in content. Therefore these two benefits are merged in a new benefit labelled ‘employee-related benefits’. This study defines employee-related benefits as advantages that are personally beneficial for the employee. Job-related benefits are defined as advantages that are beneficial for the job of the employee.

If employees expect any benefits of training, it is estimated that this positively affects the intention to participate in training, which is stated by Noe and Wilk (1993). They found that employee participation in training is positively related to whether employees perceive any employee-related or job-related benefits from participating in training. Also Facteau (1995) found out that employees who perceive their training beneficial for both themselves and the organisation, and if there is time to practice and use the new learned skills and knowledge, their willingness to participate in training, and the outcomes from training, are likely to be greater. And Salas, Cannon-Bowers, Rhodenizer, & Bowers (1999) and Tharnou (2001) concluded that the expectation of employees that they gain benefits from training is a main antecedent of training participation. Therefore, this study assumes that if employees perceive training beneficial for themselves and/or their job, they are more likely intended to participate in training. This will lead to the following two hypotheses:

Hypothesis 1a: Expected employee-related benefits positively affect the

intention to participate in training.

Hypothesis 1b: Expected job-related benefits positively affect the intention to

participate in training.

2.3 Independent variable: expected transfer-quality of training

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environment to the work environment and the maintenance of trained skills and behaviours or the length of time that trained material is used on the job following a training generalization (Baldwin & Ford, 1988). So, training transfer involves both the generalization and maintenance of trained skills on the job. Moreover, it is a key criterion for evaluating the effectiveness of training.

According to Velada and Caetano (2007) the available literature has revealed three main influences on training transfer: the training design, the trainee characteristics and the work environment. This research will focus on the work environment. As indicated by Wieland-Handy (2008), transfer of training does not occur in isolation. This occurs in a dynamic work environment, which can support or discourage the employees to apply their new learned knowledge, behaviour and skills (Tannenbaum & Yukl, 1992). If employees cannot transfer their new learned knowledge and skills back to their work, it is not beneficial for either the employee or the organization. The following work environment variables will be included in the research: 1) Colleagues’ support, which is defined as social support of colleagues in the workplace, where the colleagues provides encouragement, discussion and stimulation to apply the new learned knowledge, behaviour and skills. 2) Supervisory support, which is defined as social support of the supervisor in the workplace, where the supervisor provides encouragement, discussion and stimulation to apply the new learned knowledge, behaviour and skills. 3) Feedback is defined as feedback with regard to the way employees enact things learnt in the training. These three variables together form a small part of training transfer. The transfer-quality of the training is viewed as the degree of presence of the above-mentioned three work environment variables.

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above shows that employees, who receive support from their manager and colleagues, are likely better able to transfer their learned knowledge and skills to the workplace.

Also the provision of feedback is an important variable in training transfer. Feedback can be provided in many ways, but the focus in this study is on the provision of feedback from the supervisor and colleagues. According to Van den Bossche et. al. (2010) the supervisor and colleagues are important sources in the provision of feedback. They state that employees, who receive feedback from their supervisor and colleagues, are more likely in possession of richer and helpful information what will help behavioural change.

The above suggests that employees, who receive support and feedback from their supervisor and colleagues, are more likely expecting benefits from training. Alliger et al. (1997) did a study regarding training criteria and found that utility reactions are positively and significantly associated with training transfer. Similarly, Chiaburu and Lindsay (2008) found a strong relationship between training benefits and transfer of training in their study at a large service organisation in the US. Finally, Velada et al. (2007) showed that trainee’s experiences of how applicable the training was to the job or how beneficial the training was, significantly related to training transfer.

The focus of this research paper is on the degree of support and feedback from the supervisor and colleagues: transfer-quality. A study of Madera, Steele and Beier (2011) demonstrated that perceptions of training utility could change because of support or lack of support from the supervisor and colleagues. Moreover, the received feedback from supervisors and colleagues will result in better-informed employees. This implies that employees who receive richer and helpful information about the training, also rather know what benefits they can expect to obtain from training.

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Hypothesis 2a: Support of colleagues, as expected by employees, positively

affects the expected employee-related benefits.

Hypothesis 2b: Support of colleagues, as expected by employees, positively

affects the expected job-related benefits.

Hypothesis 3a: Support of supervisor, as expected by employees, positively

affects the expected employee-related benefits.

Hypothesis 3b: Support of supervisor, as expected by employees, positively

affects the expected job-related benefits.

Hypothesis 4a: Feedback from colleagues and supervisor, as expected by

employees, positively affects the expected employee-related benefits.

Hypothesis 4b: Feedback from colleagues and supervisor, as expected by

employees, positively affects the expected job-related benefits.

As explained before, this study is about the conditions that give rise to the intention to participate in training. Noe and Wilk (1993) point out that employees’ decision to participate in training is influenced by the perceived support from their colleagues and supervisor. Which indicates that employees that receive significant support from their colleagues and supervisor are more likely intended to attend the training. But also expected training benefits influence the intention to participate in training in a positive way. A study of Ng & Dastmalchian (2011) demonstrated that when training is perceived to yield positive benefits, employees are motivated to undertake training. So, employees who perceive the training as beneficial are more likely intended to participate.

Therefore, this study assumes that the relationship between the expected transfer-quality and intention to participate in training is mediated by expected benefits from training. This will lead to the following six hypotheses:

Hypothesis 5a: The expected employee-related benefits mediate the positive

relation between expected support of colleagues and intention to participate in training.

Hypothesis 5b: The expected job-related benefits mediate the positive

relation between expected support of colleagues and intention to participate in training.

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relation between expected support of supervisor and intention to participate in training.

relation between expected feedback from colleagues and supervisor and intention to participate in training.

2.4 Independent variable: organizational commitment

As mentioned before, this study assumes that expected training benefits positively affects intention to participate in training. This study expects that this relationship will be amplified by employees who are committed to the organization. Employees who are not committed to the organization, this effect will tend to be less or not present. Porter et al. (1974) define organizational commitment as the degree of employees’ acceptance of the organization’s strategies and culture, willingness to work on behalf of the organization with strong motivation and to remain in the organization. According to Meyer & Allen (1997) a committed employee supports the organization, protects company assets and shares company goals. This implies that committed employees are more willing and motivated to do their outmost for the organization. Hence, if an organization is arranging training, most likely the committed employees are intended to participate in training.

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and values. Employees with strong affective commitment remain because they feel they want to. The second component is continuance commitment and refers to having no other option than to stay at an organization; based on costs and losses that employees associate with leaving the organization. Employees with strong continuance commitment remain because they feel they need to. And the third component is normative commitment that stands for feeling obligated to stay at an organisation. Employees with strong normative commitment remain because they feel they ought to. This study is using the three-component organizational commitment model of Allen and Meyer as they conceptualized the model. The three-component conceptualization of organizational commitment is used in this study.

Also according to Meyer and Allen (1997), ‘It is more appropriate to consider affective, continuance and normative commitment to be components, rather than types, of commitment because an employee’s relationship with an organization might reflect varying degrees of all three... consequently, researchers stand to gain a clearer understanding of an employee’s relationship with an organization by considering the strength of all three forms of commitment together than by trying to classify it as being of a particular type’. Hence, this study assumes that affective, continuance and normative commitment of employees amplifies the positive relation between the expected employee- and job-related benefits and intention to participate in training. This will lead to the following six hypotheses:

Hypothesis 8a: A high level of affective commitment amplifies the positive

relation between expected employee-related benefits and intention to participate in training.

Hypothesis 8b: A high level of affective commitment amplifies the positive

relation between expected job-related benefits and intention to participate in training.

Hypothesis 9a: A high level of continuance commitment amplifies the positive

Hypothesis 9b: A high level of continuance commitment amplifies the positive

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Hypothesis 10a: A high level of normative commitment amplifies the positive

Hypothesis 10b: A high level of normative commitment amplifies the positive

relation between expected job-related benefits and intention to participate in training.

2.5 Conceptual model

All the dependent, independent, moderating and mediating variables are outlined and summarized in the conceptual model that is shown in figure 1. All variables and their relationships as they are researched in this study, are demonstrated. The expected transfer-quality of training is expected to positively relate to the expected training benefits. Organizational commitment is expected to influence the relationship between the expected training benefits and the intention to participate in training. And a high level of the expected transfer-quality of training will lead to higher expected training benefits what will result in a higher intention to participate in training.

Figure 1: The hypotheses under study

Note: the variables that together constitute the hypotheses are in italics.

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3. Methodology

This study investigates, with the use of a questionnaire, the relationships between the expected transfer-quality of training, expected training benefits and organizational commitment on the one hand, and the intention to participate in training on the other hand. The methods that are used in order to collect and analyse data are described in this chapter. In the first paragraph the measures are described. The second paragraph will elaborate on the methods used to collect the data and in the third paragraph the explanation of the analyses used in this study are provided.

3.1 Data collection

The measures of the variables were all acquired from previous papers and articles. All responses on the statements were measured on a 5 point-Likert scale; (1) totally disagree, (2) disagree, (3) neutral, (4) agree, (5) totally agree. In the section below the measures of the variables are further explained. Before actually sending the questionnaire, the acquired English items were translated to Dutch items. To check if the translation was done correctly, a native speaker of English reviewed them. Subsequently, six random employees were asked to fill in the questionnaire. They were asked if the questions were comprehensible, and if the set-up of the questionnaire was clear. As a result of the pilot, certain adjustments had to be done to a number of questions.

In addition, the questions that measure the training benefits and transfer-quality are converted from “experience” questions to “expectation” questions. Therefore, the formulations of the items are adjusted; every question starts with ‘I expect that’ and ends with ‘as a result of my participation in the workshop’.

3.1.1 Measures

Intention to participate in training was measured through 9 items; these

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deleted from the scale because they showed low inter-item correlation (<0.40; see table 3A in Appendix 3). The scale of the remaining 6 items appeared to be internally consistent (Cronbach’s Alpha: 0,829). An example of a question is ‘I intend to take on an active role in training’.

Two sorts of benefit scales measured the benefits of training. The first benefit was employee-related benefits and the second benefit was job-related benefits.

Employee-related benefits

Employee-related benefits were measured trough 10 items; these items were derived from six articles - Bulut and Culha (2010), Szabla (2007), Lim and Morris (2006), Noe (1986), Bahti (2007) and Xiao (1996). As the factor analysis shows, the scale of 10 items load on 4 components (table 1). It appears that 4 career perspective-items of the employee-related benefits form a group. The remaining items of the employee-related benefits scale are excluded from the study because they do not measure clearly the same thing (see also table 2). Hence, in this study the employee-related benefits have a limited meaning. The variable only consists of the 4 career perspective-items. The scale of the 4 career perspective-items appeared to be internally consistent (Cronbach’s Alpha: 0,874). An example of a question is ‘I expect that participating in a workshop will help my personal development’.

Job-related benefits

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consistent (Cronbach’s Alpha: 0,879). An example of a question is ‘I expect that participating in a workshop will help me perform my job better’.

Table 1: Factor Analysis – Employee- and Job-related benefits

Items _Component

1 2 3 4

Em: Own work more interesting ,226 ,272 ,558 ,462 Em: Training useful for self ,180 ,698 ,206 -,061 Em: Help personal development ,077 ,835 ,196 ,159 Em: Lead to more respect from

peers

,037 ,265 ,035 ,746

Em: Helps to network better w / employees

,519 ,239 ,578 ,117

Em: Increase chance getting promotion

,623 ,044 ,173 ,441

Em: Obtain salary increase ,545 ,060 ,035 ,576

Em: Opport. persue different career paths

,705 ,292 ,516 -,106

Em: Better idea what career path to persue

,840 ,270 ,214 ,022

Em: Help reach career objectives ,797 ,329 ,175 ,168 Job: New S&K useful for solving

problems

,246 ,386 ,736 ,087

Job: Training relevant for job ,206 ,069 ,878 ,128 Job: Improve way department

works

-,016 ,040 ,519 ,656

Job: Help perform job better ,150 ,598 ,559 ,344

Job: Help improve job ,544 ,313 ,212 ,506

Job: Help to stay up-to-date ,587 ,094 ,220 ,635 Job: Help get along better with

manager

,367 ,629 ,030 ,372

Job: Help get along better with colleagues

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Table 2: Factor Analysis – Employee- and Job-related benefits (items deleted)

1 2 3

Empl: Increase chance getting promotion ,690 ,089 ,254 Empl: Opport. persue different career paths ,711 ,542 ,163 Empl: Better idea what career path to persue ,880 ,251 ,147 Empl: Help reach career objectives ,799 ,228 ,360 Job: New S&K useful for solving problems ,191 ,842 ,353

Job: Training relevant for job ,248 ,883 ,017

Job: Help get along better with manager ,348 ,052 ,879 Job: Help get along better with colleagues ,208 ,272 ,887

The transfer-quality of training was measured by 3 independent variables.

The degree of presence of the following independent variables measure together transfer-quality: colleagues’ support, supervisory support and feedback from supervisor and colleagues.

Support of colleagues

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Table 3: Factor Analysis – Support from colleagues

1 2

Discuss training experience ,002 ,897

Discuss problems related to use S&K ,423 ,712

Encourage to use new S&K ,831 ,249

Recognize use newly S&K ,902 ,217

Discuss value of training ,551 ,606

Recognize effectiveness use S&K ,892 ,112

Support of supervisor

A scale that consists of 9 items measured the support of supervisor. The items are derived from two articles - Cromwell (2000) and Saks and Belcourt (2006). Six questions were rewritten into supervisory support due to the fact that, initially, the questions were written to measure peer support. As the factor analysis shows (table 4), the items load on 2 components. It appears that the discuss-items and the stimulate-items form two separate groups. One item, concerning encouragement, also loads on the same component as the discuss-items. Therefore, this item is excluded (see table 5). The discuss scale appeared internal consistent (Cronbach’s Alpha: 0,816), as well as the stimulate scale (Cronbach’s Alpha: 0,925). An example of a question is ‘I expect that my manager provides me with support to help me use newly acquired skills and knowledge, as a result of my participation in the workshop’.

Table 4: Factor Analysis – Support from supervisor (all items incl.)

1 2

Encourage to use new S&K ,295 ,728

Recognize use newly S&K ,862 ,315

Provide help with use new S&K ,817 ,230

Opportunities to practice new S&K ,791 ,140

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Table 5: Factor Analysis – Support from supervisor (item deleted)

1 2

Recognize use newly S&K ,870 ,283

Provide help with use new S&K ,804 ,289

Opportunities to practice new S&K ,802 ,094

Praise or reward for using new S&K ,861 ,227

Feedback

For the independent variable feedback from supervisor and colleagues was 1 item derived from a questionnaire developed by Van den Bossche, Segers and Jansen (2010). The item is rewritten due to the fact that the item needed to measure the degree of presence of both feedback from colleagues and supervisor. As the factor analysis shows (table 6), the items load on one component. Therefore, these two variables are merged into one variable labelled ‘Feedback’. The 4 items together appeared internal consistent (Cronbach’s Alpha: 0,859). An example of a question is ‘I expect that I receive feedback from my colleagues if I do not use the newly acquired skills adequately, as a result of my participation in the workshop’.

Table 6: Factor Analysis – Feedback

Items Component

1 Feedback from supervisor

Receive feedback use S&K adequately ,870

Receive feedback use S&K not adequately _,851 Feedback from colleagues

Receive feedback use S&K adequately ,802

Receive feedback use S&K not adequately ,831

Organizational commitment was measured by 3 components of

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Affective commitment

A scale that consists of 6 items measured affective commitment. The items are selected from a questionnaire developed by Allen and Meyer (1990). One item is deleted from the scale because it showed low inter-item correlation (<0,40; see table 3B in Appendix 3). The remaining 6 items appeared internal consistent (Cronbach’s Alpha: 0,931). An example of a question is ‘This organization has a great deal of personal meaning for me’.

Continuance commitment

A scale that consists of 6 items measured continuance commitment. The items are selected from a questionnaire developed by Allen and Meyer (1990). Four items are deleted from the scale because they showed low inter-item correlation (<0,40; see table 3C in Appendix 3). The remaining 2 items appeared internal consistent (Cronbach’s Alpha: 0,822). An example of a question is ‘It would be very hard for me to leave my organization right now, even if I wanted to’.

Normative commitment

A scale that consists of 6 items measured normative commitment. The items are selected from a questionnaire developed by Allen and Meyer (1990). Two items are deleted from the scale because they showed low inter-item correlation (<0,40; see table 3D in Appendix). The remaining 4 items appeared internal consistent (Cronbach’s Alpha: 0,910). An example of a question is ‘If I got another offer for a better job elsewhere I would not feel it was right to leave my organization’.

3.2 Participants

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the accompanying e-mail) to the supervisors of ten selected departments of Aegon Leeuwarden. The supervisors forwarded the e-mail with the invitation to the employees, with the request to fill in the online questionnaire. In total, the ten departments had about 140 employees that were asked per e-mail to participate in the questionnaire. The respondents were given 3 weeks to complete the questionnaire and during the 3 weeks several reminders were send.

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3.3 Data analysis

Regression analyses were used in order to test the hypotheses. In addition to that, descriptive statistics like the mean and standard deviation of the variables were calculated. In table 7 the descriptive statistics are shown. These statistics are essential as it gives a first insight of the data and next to that, it helps to understand the data. Table 7 also shows the results of the Pearson correlations test. The correlations show which variables relate to other and whether this corresponds with the hypotheses.

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4. Results

Looking at the means of the dependent and independent variables, several conclusions can be drawn. The mean scores of intention to participate (M = 3.52), useful-items (M = 3.10) affective commitment (M = 3.25) and continuance commitment (M = 3.76) are the only scores that are slightly positive. This means that employees are on the average slightly positive about the intention to participate in training and they think that the training is to some extent useful during their work. With regard to affective commitment and continuance commitment, the slightly positive score means that employees are somewhat emotional attached to the organization but also feel slightly obligated to stay.

4.1. Correlations between dependent and independent variables

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Table 7: Mean, Standard Deviations and Correlations

Variables Mean S.D. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

1. Intention to participate 3.52 .69 -

The expected benefits of training

2. Employee-related 2.36 .84 ,362**

3. Job-related: Useful for work 3.10 .91 ,540** ,581**

4. Job-related: Improving relationship 2.43 .79 ,484** ,570** ,406**

Transfer-quality

5. Support of colleagues: discuss 2.83 .72 ,351* ,496** ,378** ,435**

6. Support of colleagues: stimulate 2.45 .89 ,323* ,430** ,404** ,447** ,571**

7. Support of supervisor: discuss 2.48 .71 ,004 ,552** ,133 ,349* ,578** ,522**

8. Support of supervisor: stimulate 2.97 .90 ,302* ,370** ,230 ,281* ,238 ,611** ,527**

9. Feedback 2.70 .80 ,244 ,363** ,229 ,407** ,278* ,637** ,484** ,802**

Organizational commitment

10. Affective commitment 3.25 .95 -,050 -,303* -,121 -,189 -,194 -,095 -,234 ,055 -,011

11. Continuance commitment 3.76 .98 ,180 -,282* -,159 -,235 -,023 -,223 -,186 -,012 -,192 ,350*

12. Normative commitment 2.72 1.05 ,096 -,237 -,208 ,159 -,250 -,305* -,304* -,124 ,011 ,145 ,121 -

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4.2 Results of regression analyses

Hypotheses 1a and 1b suggested that the expected employee-related

benefits and the expected job-related benefits positively affect the intention to participate in training. The results showed that only the two job-related benefits are positively affecting intention to participate. The results of the multiple regression analysis are displayed below (table 8).

Table 8: Intention to participate regressed on expected training benefits

Beta Sig.

Expected employee-related benefits -0,089 0,537

Expected job-related benefits (useful for work) 0,345 0,006 Expected job-related benefits (relationship) 0,360 0,027

R2 _0,382* * Significance: 0,000

Hypotheses 2a, 3a and 4a suggested that the expected support of

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Table 9: Expected employee-related benefits regressed on expected transfer-quality

Beta Sig.

Expected support from colleagues (discuss) 0,303 0,176 Expected support from colleagues (stimulate) 0,033 0,867 Expected support from supervisor (discuss) 0,375 0,097 Expected support from supervisor (stimulate) 0,071 0,755 Expected feedback from colleagues and supervisor 0,056 0,820

R2 _0,367*

* Significance: 0,004

Hypothesis 2b, 3b and 4b suggested that the expected support of colleagues,

the expected support of the supervisor and the expected feedback from colleagues and the supervisor positively affect the expected job-related benefits. The results showed that all five variables of transfer-quality can be considered, although not very strongly, as predictor of both groups of expected job-related benefits. The result of the multiple regression analysis is displayed below (table 10.1 and 10.2).

Table 10.1: Expected job-related benefits (useful for work) regressed on expected transfer-quality

Beta Sig.

Expected support from colleagues (discuss) 0,452 0,092 Expected support from colleagues (stimulate) 0,279 0,241 Expected support from supervisor (discuss) -0,358 0,181 Expected support from supervisor (stimulate) 0,149 0,580 Expected feedback from colleagues and supervisor -0,031 0,916

R2 _0,236*

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Table 10.2: Expected job-related benefits (improving relationship) regressed on expected transfer-quality

Beta Sig.

Expected support from colleagues (discuss) 0,294 0,186 Expected support from colleagues (stimulate) 0,142 0,471 Expected support from supervisor (discuss) 0,040 0,856 Expected support from supervisor (stimulate) -0,177 0,433 Expected feedback from colleagues and supervisor 0,371 0,138

R2 _0,297*

* Significance: 0,022

Hypothesis 5a and 5b suggested that the expected employee-related benefits

and job-related benefits mediate the positive relation between expected support of colleagues and intention to participate in training. Employee-related benefits fall out as mediator as the benefits are not related with intention to participate. But the results showed that there is a mediation effect of expected support of colleagues on intention to participate in training, which is mediated by both groups of job-related benefits. The results of the regression analysis are displayed below (table 11).

Table 11: Results of regression analysis of expected support of colleagues on intention to participate with mediator expected training benefits.

Model 1 Model 2 Model 3

Beta Sig. Beta Sig. Beta Sig. Expected employee-related

benefits - career - - -0,109 0,537 -0,142 0,450 Expected job-related benefits

- useful for work - - 0,458 0,006 0,448 0,010 Expected job-related benefits

- improving relationship - - 0,360 0,027 0,340 0,048 Expected support of colleagues – Discuss 0,247 0,179 - - 0,111 0,518 Expected support of colleagues – Stimulate 0,182 0,319 - - -0,012 0,942 R² 0,145* 0,382** 0,390***

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and job-related benefits mediate the positive relation between expected support of supervisor and intention to participate in training. Employee-related benefits fall out as mediator as the benefits are not related with intention to participate. But the results showed that there is a mediation effect of expected support of supervisor on intention to participate in training, which is mediated by both groups of job-related benefits. The results of the regression analysis are displayed below (table 12).

Table 12: Results of regression analysis of expected support of supervisor on intention to participate with mediator expected training benefits.

benefits - career - - -0,109 0,537 0,032 0,874

Expected job-related benefits

- useful for work - - 0,458 0,006 0,355 0,032 Expected job-related benefits

- improving relationship - - 0,360 0,027 0,359 0,022 Expected support of supervisor – Discuss -0,216 0,228 - - -0,338 0,055 Expected support of supervisor – Stimulate 0,416 0,023 - - 0,286 0,059 R² 0,125* 0,382** 0,462***

* Significance: 0,074 ** Significance: 0,000 *** Significance: 0,000

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Table 13: Results of regression analysis of expected feedback from colleagues and supervisor on intention to participate with mediator expected training benefits.

benefits - career items -0,109 0,537 -0,117 0,519

Expected job-related benefits

- useful for work items 0,458 0,006 0,458 0,007 Expected job-related benefits

- improving relationship items 0,360 0,027 0,348 0,040 Expected feedback from

colleagues and supervisor 0,244 0,119 0,040 0,780

R2 _0,060* _0,382** _0,383***

* Significance: 0,119 ** Significance: 0,000 *** Significance: 0,001

Hypothesis 8a, hypothesis 9a and hypothesis 10a are excluded from the

moderation analyses. As table 8 shows, expected employee-related benefits are not related to intention to participate.

Hypothesis 8b suggested that a high level of affective commitment amplifies

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Table 14.1: Results of moderation analyses of expected job-related benefits (useful for work) on intention to participate with moderator affective commitment.

Predictor Dependent variable: intention to participate

B SE t p R2 _{Model F Model p} Model Hypothesis 8b 0,356 13,134 0,000 Constant 3,542 0,099 35,869 0,000 Affective commitment 0,016 0,120 0,132 0,896 Expected job-related

benefits (useful for work) 0,352 0,137 2,573 0,014 Affective commitment X

expected job-related benefits (useful for work)

0,175 0,120 1,456 0,154

Moderator effect of affective commitment

B p 95%LCI 95%UCI

Low (M -1SD) 0,186 0,439 -0,295 0,667

Middle 0,352 0,014 0,075 0,629

High (M+1SD) 0,518 0,000 0,348 0,688

Table 14.2: Results of moderation analyses of expected job-related benefits (improving relationship) on intention to participate with moderator affective commitment.

B SE t p R2 _{Model F Model p} Model Hypothesis 8b 0,317 10,363 0,000 Constant 3,560 0,104 34,135 0,000 Affective commitment 0,054 0,118 0,460 0,648 Expected job-related benefits (improving relationship) 0,438 0,147 2,974 0,005 Affective commitment X Expected job-related benefits (improving relationship) 0,259 0,142 1,818 0,077

Moderator effect of affective commitment

B p 95%LCI 95%UCI

Low (M -1SD) 0,192 0,457 -0,324 0,708

Middle 0,438 0,005 0,140 0,736

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Hypothesis 9b suggested that a high level of continuance commitment

amplifies the positive relation between expected job-related benefits and intention to participate in training. Results of the moderation analyses show no interaction between continuance commitment and both groups of items of expected job-related benefits. Therefore, continuance commitment did not moderate in the relationships. The results of the moderation analyses are displayed below (tables 15.1 and 15.2)

Table 15.1: Results of moderation analyses of expected job-related benefits (useful for work) on intention to participate with moderator continuance commitment.

B SE t p R2 _{Model F Model p} Model Hypothesis 9b 0,343 7,463 0,000 Constant 3,537 0,094 37,752 0,000 Continuance commitment 0,130 0,123 1,053 0,299 Expected job-related

benefits (useful for work) 0,398 0,108 3,667 0,001 Continuance

commitment X Expected job-related benefits (useful for work)

0,099 0,142 0,696 0,491

Moderator effect of continuance commitment

B p 95%LCI 95%UCI

Low (M -1SD) 0,301 0,154 -0,118 0,721

Middle 0,398 0,001 0,178 0,618

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Table 15.2: Results of moderation analyses of expected job-related benefits (improving relationship) intention to participate with moderator continuance commitment.

B SE t p R2 _{Model F Model p} Model Hypothesis 9b 0,316 5,116 0,005 Constant 3,550 0,092 38,709 0,000 Continuance commitment 0,179 0,102 1,764 0,086 Expected job-related benefits (improving relationship) 0,466 0,144 3,236 0,003 Continuance commitment X Expected job-related benefits (improving relationship) 0,148 0,138 1,067 0,293

Moderator effect of continuance commitment

B p 95%LCI 95%UCI

Low (M -1SD) 0,322 0,080 -0,040 0,683

Middle 0,466 0,003 0,174 0,757

High (M+1SD) 0,610 0,007 0,175 1,045

Hypothesis 10b suggested that a high level of normative commitment

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Table 16.1: Results of moderation analyses of expected job-related benefits (useful for work) intention to participate with moderator normative commitment.

B SE t p R2 _{Model F Model p} Model Hypothesis 10b 0,339 7,222 0,001 Constant 3,531 0,092 38,514 0,000 Normative commitment 0,141 0,124 1,132 0,265 Expected job-related

benefits (useful for work) 0,448 0,106 4,216 0,000 Normative commitment

X Expected job-related benefits (useful for work)

0,037 0,150 0,245 0,808

Moderator effect of normative commitment

B p 95%LCI 95%UCI

Low (M -1SD) 0,409 0,016 0,081 0,738

Middle 0,448 0,000 0,233 0,663

High (M+1SD) 0,486 0,028 0,055 0,917

Table 16.2: Results of moderation analyses of expected job-related benefits (improving relationship) intention to participate with moderator normative commitment.

B SE t p R2 _{Model F Model p} Model Hypothesis 10b 0,268 4,878 0,006 Constant 3,506 0,102 34,414 0,000 Normative commitment 0,013 0,119 0,106 0,916 Expected job-related benefits (improving relationship) 0,452 0,141 3,213 0,003 Normative commitment X Expected job-related benefits (improving relationship) 0,141 0,134 1,052 0,299

Moderator effect of normative commitment

B p 95%LCI 95%UCI

Low (M -1SD) 0,305 0,153 -0,118 0,729

Middle 0,452 0,003 0,167 0,737

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5. Discussion

Organizing training is not simple for an organization, as an instructor and the location of training are crucial but not the decisive and convincing factors to let employees consider participating in training. For an organization it is important to have the knowledge why employees do or do not have the intention to participate in training to make it a success. Therefore, this study investigates the intention to participate in training of employees. More specifically, it investigates the relationships between the expected transfer-quality of training, the expected benefits of training and organizational commitment on the one hand, and intention to participate in training on the other hand.

Primary, a short overview will be given of the results of the hypotheses testing. First, multiple regression analyses were executed. First was tested if the expected benefits of training were positively affecting intention to participate in training. The two job-related benefits of training were together and separately positively affecting intention to participate. Employee-related benefits were not significantly related to intention to participate.

Next, regression analyses were executed to test the relationship between expected transfer-quality and expected training benefits. It is very difficult to assign certain variables of expected transfer-quality as predictors of expected training benefits but two variables stand out. The first variable is expected support from supervisor (discuss-items) as predictor of expected employee-related benefits. The second variable is expected support from colleagues (discuss-items) as predictor of expected job-related benefits (useful for work-items). In conclusion, the group of five variables of transfer-quality can be considered as predictor of expected training benefits as they are all, although not very strongly, related with the three variables of expected training benefits.

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they are not correlated with intention to participate. And one variable of the expected transfer-quality, feedback from colleagues and supervisor, fall out as predictor as it is not significant related with intention to participate. In conclusion, the mediator analyses show that there is a mediating effect of both groups of job related-benefits in the positive relation of expected colleagues support and expected support of supervisor and intention to participate in training.

Lastly, moderator analyses were executed. The moderator analyses were conducted to test the moderator effect of the three components of organizational commitment in the positive relation of expected training benefits on intention to participate in training. The expected employee-related benefits are excluded from the moderator analyses, as these benefits do not have a significant relationship with intention to participate in training. The hypotheses concerning the expected job-related benefits are supported, but only with one component of organizational commitment as moderator – affective commitment. To be more precise, affective commitment has a moderator effect in the positive relation of both groups of expected job-related benefits (useful for work and improving relationship) on intention to participate in training. In the case of the predictor variable expected job-related benefit (improving relationship) the moderator effect is significantly positive. In case of the other predictor variable, expected job-related benefit (useful for work), the moderator effect is near-to significantly positive.

Next, the theoretical implications of these results will be discussed.

5.1 Theoretical implications

The above-mentioned results give important theoretical implications. This study examined to what extent expected transfer-quality, expected training benefits and organizational commitment influences the decision of employees to be intended to participate in training.

Expected training benefits and intention to participate in training

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shows, all three expected benefits of training are correlated with intention to participate in training. But the regression analysis shows that only the two groups of expected job-related benefits convince employees to participate in training and not the expected employee-related benefits. Apparently, if employees only expect employee-related benefits, this is not the decisive factor to persuade employees to attend in training. Only when employees also expect job-related benefits, employees are intended to participate in training. As possible explanation for this finding is that it seems that employees are rather expecting different measures or tools for acquiring employee-related benefits than from participating in training, even if this training acquires them employee-related benefits.

Expected transfer-quality variables and intention to participate in training As anticipated, the findings of this study show that the five expected transfer-quality variables are related to all three benefits of training. This implies that employees who are feeling supported by their work-environment comprehend the advantages of training.

As expected, employees who feel supported by their work-environment and expect benefits from training are intended to participate in training. This is confirmed by the results of the mediator analyses. The results of these analyses demonstrate that both item-groups of job-related benefits have a mediating effect in the positive relation of expected colleagues support and expected support of supervisor on intention to participate. Hence, this study highlights the importance that an organization needs to create an work-environment that supports training participation. More specifically, employees need to feel to be supported by both colleagues and supervisor.

Organizational commitment and intention to participate in training

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benefits what leads to intention to participate in training. This is not the case with continuance and normative commitment- they are not influenced by the expected job-related benefits to participate in training.

A possible explanation for these insignificant relationships is the difference between the three components of organizational commitment. Continuance and normative commitment are both positive but insignificant correlated with intention to participate in training. Continuance commitment stands for employees who have no other option than to stay at the organization and perceive withdrawal from the organization that incur costs. Possibly, employees with this feeling of commitment towards the organization are not satisfied with their job, but the costs (losing pension, salary, fringe benefits etc.) of leaving the organization are too high and they have no other alternative employment. These employees are more interested in employee-related benefits as the significant and positive correlation show in table 7. Perhaps employees are feeling ‘locked’ in the organization because the costs reduces the freedom of the employee in his or her future activity and therefore they are more attracted to benefits that are beneficial for themselves and not for their jobs at this organization.

Normative commitment stands for employees who are feeling obligated to stay because they feel it is the moral thing to do, not necessarily because they want to. Also, employees who have feelings of normative commitment do not have the need to associate with the organization’s goals or missions (Clugston, 2000). This could explain why employees with normative commitment are not influenced by the job-related benefits what leads to intention in participate in training. Possibly, the job-related benefits of the training do not associate with the interests, goals or missions of the employee.

Next, the limitations and suggestions for future research will be discussed.

5.2 Limitations and suggestions for future research

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that not all departments are represented. Future researchers are recommended to do research with a larger and more diverse sample size.

A second limitation to this research is the response rate. This was very low as only 42 employees out of 140 employees filled in the questionnaire. The main reason for this low response rate is the excessive workload. But also the amount of other questionnaires that were distributed in the company had influence on the response rate. Future researchers are recommended to do research with a larger sample size to generate a higher response rate.

The third and most important limitation to this research is the little amount of time that the employees had available to make the training their own or the fact that not every employee did participate in the examined training but did fill in the questionnaire. This study is about voluntary workshop training and during the research of the training the employees experienced excessive workload. As a result, a lot of employees have chosen not to participate in this training. Hence, it was problematic for trainees to clarify if the training was beneficial for them or if the transfer-quality was appropriate. Therefore, the employees were asked to indicate to what extent they expect the training is beneficial for them and if they expect that they will receive feedback and support from their supervisor or colleagues. Future researchers are recommended to do a longitudinal study for a longer period of time as employees have a larger timeframe to participate in training and to make the training their own.

Next, the practical implications of the results will be discussed.

5.3 Practical implications

The results of this study suggest three implications for practice. First, organizations have to ensure that training yields job-related benefits for employees. This study demonstrates that employees, who expect job-related training benefits, are convinced to participate in training.

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Organizational training: exploring employees’ intention to participate