The impact of supervisory support and employees' motivation to transfer on the perceptions of training transfer in Melaka's manufacturing companies

Abstract

The ability to transfer knowledge from training program has became a core issue in organizations. There are many factors that affect the process of knowledge transfer from training. Supervisory support and motivation to transfer are known as factors that influence the effectiveness of trainings. Without supervisory support and motivation to transfer, transfer of training can be hindered. However, there are inadequate and inconsistent findings from past studies on the impact of supervisory support and motivation to transfer training. For instance, past researches on motivation to transfer did not study all dimensions of Vroom’s Expectancy theory, which might affect the validity of their findings. In addition, there is a dearth of research that examines the impact of supervisory support and motivation to transfer simultaneously. Therefore, this study investigated the influence of supervisory support and motivation to transfer on the perceived training transfer. Two hundred and fifty five employees in Melaka’s manufacturing companies were chosen through multi-stage sampling method. This study applied a quantitative approach by using questionnaire to gather the data. Data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 23.0. Descriptive statistics were applied to measure the level of each variables. While, Pearson Correlation was used to ascertain the relationship between the variables. Additionally, Linear Regression analysis was used to evaluate the impact of supervisory support and motivation to transfer onto the perceived training transfer. Findings indicated that supervisory support, motivation to transfer, and perceived training transfer were high among respondents. Findings also showed that supervisory support has moderate relationship with no significant impact onto perceived training transfer. However, motivation to transfer was found to have strong relationship with significant impact onto perceived training transfer. This study showed that motivation to transfer is the major predictor of perceived training transfer. This study provided some theoretical contributions in terms of providing additional dimensions to Vroom’s Expectancy Theory. It is revealed that expectancy is the major dimension that affects perceived training transfer. Vroom’s Expectancy Theory is proven reliable in this study. It is recommended that organizations to adopt this approach to improve employees’ motivations to transfer training by implementing cafeteria-style benefit plans.