Aguinis_Kraiger_2009_

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Benets of Training andDevelopment for Individualsand Teams, Organizations,and SocietyHerman Aguinis1 and Kurt Kraiger21The Business School, University of Colorado Denver, Denver, Colorado 80217-3364;email: [email protected] of Psychology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523-1876;email: [email protected]

Annu. Rev. Psychol. 2009. 60:45174

The Annual Review of Psychology is online atpsych.annualreviews.org

This articles doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.60.110707.163505

Copyright c 2009 by Annual Reviews.All rights reserved

0066-4308/09/0110-0451$20.00

Key Words

training benets, training design, training delivery, training evaluation

AbstractThis article provides a review of the training and development literaturesince the year 2000. We review the literature focusing on the benets oftraining and development for individuals and teams, organizations, andsociety. We adopt a multidisciplinary, multilevel, and global perspectiveto demonstrate that training and development activities in work orga-nizations can produce important benets for each of these stakeholders.We also review the literature on needs assessment and pretraining states,training design and delivery, training evaluation, and transfer of train-ing to identify the conditions under which the benets of training anddevelopment are maximized. Finally, we identify research gaps and offerdirections for future research.

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Training: thesystematic approach toaffecting individualsknowledge, skills, andattitudes in order toimprove individual,team, andorganizationaleffectiveness

Development:systematic effortsaffecting individualsknowledge or skills forpurposes of personalgrowth or future jobsand/or roles

Contents

INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 452Organization and Overview . . . . . . . . 453

BENEFITS OF TRAINING FORINDIVIDUALS AND TEAMS . . . . 453Benets Related to Job

Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 453Other Benets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 455

BENEFITS OF TRAININGFOR ORGANIZATIONS . . . . . . . . . 457Benets Related to

Organizational Performance . . . . . 457Other Benets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 458

BENEFITS OF TRAININGFOR SOCIETY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 459

HOW TO MAXIMIZE THEBENEFITS OF TRAINING . . . . . . 460Needs Assessment and

Pretraining States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 461Training Design and Training

Delivery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 462Training Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 463Transfer of Training. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 464

CONCLUSIONS ANDSUGGESTIONS FORFUTURE RESEARCH. . . . . . . . . . . . 466Implications for Practice . . . . . . . . . . . 466Suggestions for Future Research . . . . 466

INTRODUCTION

As organizations strive to compete in theglobal economy, differentiation on the basisof the skills, knowledge, and motivation oftheir workforce takes on increasing impor-tance. According to a recent industry reportby the American Society for Training and De-velopment (ASTD), U.S. organizations alonespend more than $126 billion annually onemployee training and development (Paradise2007). Training refers to a systematic ap-proach to learning and development to improveindividual, team, and organizational effective-ness (Goldstein & Ford 2002). Alternatively,development refers to activities leading to theacquisition of new knowledge or skills for pur-

poses of personal growth. However, it is oftendifcult to ascertain whether a specic researchstudy addresses training, development, or both.In the remainder of this review, we use the termtraining to refer to both training and devel-opment efforts.

The importance of and scholarly interestin training in work organizations is reectedby the regular publication of training reviewsin the Annual Review of Psychology since 1971(Campbell 1971, Goldstein 1980, Wexley 1984,Latham 1988, Tannenbaum & Yukl 1992, Salas& Cannon-Bowers 2001). The present reviewcovers the training literature since January2000. We provide a review that is comprehen-sive though not exhaustive. Also, in contrast topreviously published Annual Review of Psychol-ogy articles, we readily acknowledge at the out-set that we take a point of view that trainingin work organizations produces clear benetsfor individuals and teams, organizations, andsociety. We believe that training in work or-ganizations is an area of applied psychologicalresearch that is particularly well suited for mak-ing a clear contribution to the enhancement ofhuman well-being and performance in organi-zational and work settings as well as in societyin general. Thus, in this review we rst describethe benets of training for various stakeholdersand then discuss how training can be designed,delivered, and evaluated so that these benetsare maximized.

We acknowledge three unique characteris-tics of the present review that also differentiateit from previous Annual Review of Psychology arti-cles on the same topic. First, because the train-ing eld has grown exponentially in the pastdecade, we cannot rely on the psychological lit-erature to be the only or even main source ofknowledge that has been generated. In prepar-ing to write this article, we reviewed about600 articles, books, and chapters publishedin psychology as well as in related elds in-cluding human resource management, instruc-tional design, human resource development,human factors, and knowledge management.We believe this multidisciplinary approach isneeded given the increasing fragmentation of

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knowledge generated by researchers in varioustraining subelds. Second, although psychol-ogy research on training has been a topic tradi-tionally studied at the individual level of analysisand more recently at the team level of analysis,this review also includes organization and soci-ety levels of analysis. The present article goesbeyond the traditional levels of analysis because,as noted by Kaufman & Guerra (2001), wehave entered a new era in which both achiev-ing useful results and proving that they addvalue to the organization and our shared soci-ety are required (p. 319). Third, thanks in partto the availability of cheaper and faster waysto send and receive information using the In-ternet, human resource management interven-tions and training efforts in particular are takingplace at a global level (Cascio & Aguinis 2008).Thus, a review of the training literature cannotlimit itself to research conducted only in theUnited States. Accordingly, this review includesnumerous studies conducted outside of NorthAmerica. In short, we approached our literaturereview from a fundamentally necessary multi-disciplinary, multilevel, and global perspective.

Organization and Overview

The present review is organized as follows. Inthe rst section, we describe benets of train-ing activities. First, we focus on benets for in-dividuals and teams, separating these benetsinto job performance and factors related to jobperformance (e.g., tacit skills, innovation, com-munication), and other benets (e.g., empow-erment, self-efcacy). Second, we describe ben-ets for organizations. We also separate thesebenets into organizational performance, fac-tors related to organizational performance (e.g.,effectiveness, protability, sales), and otherbenets (e.g., employee and customer satis-faction, improved organizational reputation).Third, we describe benets for society. Overall,a review of this body of literature leads to theconclusion that training activities provide ben-ets for individuals, teams, and organizationsthat improve a nations human capital, which inturn contributes to a nations economic growth.

Human capital: thecollective set ofperformance-relevantknowledge, skills, andattitudes within aworkforce (at anorganizational orsocietal level)

Training evaluation:the systematicinvestigation ofwhether a trainingprogram resulted inknowledge, skills, oraffective changes inlearners

The second section reviews research ad-dressing how to maximize the benets of train-ing activities at the individual and team, orga-nizational, and societal levels. First, we focuson the activities that take place before train-ing is implementedneeds assessment and pre-training states. Then, we focus on training de-sign and delivery, followed by a discussion oftraining evaluation. We review research regard-ing transfer of skills and knowledge acquired intraining to work settings. In the third and -nal section, we address conclusions, includingimplications for practice, and suggestions forfuture research.

BENEFITS OF TRAINING FORINDIVIDUALS AND TEAMS

There is documented evidence that training ac-tivities have a positive impact on the perfor-mance of individuals and teams. Training ac-tivities can also be benecial regarding otheroutcomes at both the individual and team level(e.g., attitudes, motivation, and empowerment).We rst review performance-related benets.

Benefits Related to Job Performance

Training-related changes should result in im-proved job performance and other positivechanges (e.g., acquisition of new skills; Hill& Lent 2006, Sattereld & Hughes 2007)that serve as antecedents of job performance(Kraiger 2002). Reassuringly, Arthur et al.(2003) conducted a meta-analysis of 1152 ef-fect sizes from 165 sources and ascertained thatin comparison with no-training or pretrainingstates, training had an overall positive effect onjob-related behaviors or performance (mean ef-fect size or d = 0.62). However, although dif-ferences in terms of effect sizes were not large,the effectiveness of training varied dependingon the training delivery method and the skillor task being trained. For example, the mosteffective training programs were those includ-ing both cognitive and interpersonal skills, fol-lowed by those including psychomotor skills ortasks. Next, we describe studies to exemplify,

www.annualreviews.org Benefits of Training and Development 453

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as well as go beyond, the general ndings re-ported by Arthur et al. (2003). We emphasizethat results from meta-analytic reviews shouldgenerally be given more weight than individ-ual (i.e., primary-level) studies because they aremore reliable (Aguinis et al. 2008).

Training effects on performance may besubtle (though measurable). In a qualitativestudy involving mechanics in Northern India,Barber (2004) found that on-the-job trainingled to greater innovation and tacit skills. Tacitskills are behaviors acquired through informallearning that are useful for effective perfor-mance. Regarding innovation, trained mechan-ics learned to build two Jeep bodies using onlya homemade hammer, chisel, and oxyacetylenewelder. Regarding tacit skills, Barber noted thatthe job of a mechanic requires feel to be suc-cessful. Specically, trained mechanics devel-oped an intuitive feel when removing dentsacomplex process particularly when the fender isbadly crumpled. As a result of informal training,one of the mechanics had a good feeling of howto hit the metal at the exact spot so the work pro-gresses in a systematic fashion (Barber 2004,p. 134). This type of tacit skill was particularlyuseful in the Indian context because, althoughmost shops in developed nations would not evenattempt to repair a fender that was damaged sobadly, this type of repair is common practice inthe developing world (Barber 2004).

Benets of training are also documented fortechnical skills. For example, Davis & Yi (2004)conducted two experiments with nearly 300participants using behavior-modeling trainingand were able to improve computer skills sub-stantially. Although behavior-modeling train-ing has a rich history of success (e.g., Decker &Nathan 1985, Robertson 1990), a unique aspectof this research was that training was found toaffect changes in worker skills through a changein trainees knowledge structures or mentalmodels (see also Marks et al. 2002 for an ex-amination of mental models at the team level).Specically, mentally rehearsing tasks allowedtrainees to increase declarative knowledge andtask performance, each measured 10 days af-ter the training was completed. More recently,

Taylor et al. (2005) conducted a meta-analysisincluding 117 behavior-modeling trainingstudies. They ascertained that the largest ef-fects were for declarative and procedural knowl-edge (ds around 1.0 resulting from comparingtraining versus a no-training or pretest con-dition). Declarative knowledge is knowledgeabout what (e.g., facts, meaning of terms),whereas procedural knowledge is knowledgeabout how (i.e., how to perform skilled behav-ior) (see Aguinis 2009, Kraiger et al. 1993). Theoverall mean effect on changes in job behaviorwas d = 0.27. However, Taylor et al. (2005) re-ported substantial variance in the distributionof effect sizes, indicating the need to inves-tigate moderators of the relationship betweenbehavior-modeling training and outcomes. Weaddress the issue of moderators below in theSuggestions for Future Research section.

Training not only may affect declarativeknowledge or procedural knowledge, but alsomay enhance strategic knowledge, dened asknowing when to apply a specic knowledgeor skill (Kozlowski et al. 2001, Kraiger et al.1993). Smith et al. (1997) refer to this astraining for adaptive expertise (see also Ford& Schmidt 2000). In addition, training mayenable consistency in performance acrossconditions. For example, Driskell et al. (2001)conducted a study including 79 U.S. Navytechnical school trainees who performed acomputer-based task. Trainees participated in astress-exposure training session. This trainingexposes trainees to information regardingstressors (e.g., noise, time urgency), to thestressors, and how these stressors are likelyto affect performance. Results showed thattraining was benecial in that trainees per-formed well under a novel stressor and whenperforming a novel task. Thus, stress traininghelps maintain performance consistency.

Performance consistency may also resultfrom enhancing trainees self-efcacy or self-management skills. Frayne & Geringer (2000)conducted a eld experiment in which theyadministered self-management training (lec-tures, group discussions, and case studies) to30 salespeople in the life insurance industry.

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Results showed that salespeople who partici-pated in the training program demonstratedhigher self-efcacy, outcome expectancy (e.g.,I will increase my sense of accomplishment),and objective outcomes (e.g., number of newpolicies sold) as well as subjective job perfor-mance (i.e., sales managers ratings of eachsalespersons performance). Training-relatedperformance improvement was sustained overa 12-month period after training ended.

There are also documented benets of train-ing for managers and leaders. Collins & Holton(2004) conducted a meta-analysis of the bene-ts of managerial leadership development pro-grams including 83 studies published between1982 and 2001 (see also Cullen & Turnbull2005). They found that mean ds (comparingtraining with no training) ranged from 0.96to 1.37 for knowledge outcomes and from0.35 to 1.01 for expertise/behavioral outcomes.Knowledge was dened as principles, facts, at-titudes, and skills measured using both subjec-tive (e.g., self-reports) and objective (e.g., stan-dardized tests) measures. Expertise/behavioraloutcomes were dened as changes in on-the-job behavior and were also assessed using bothsubjective (e.g., peer ratings) and objective (e.g.,behavioral) measures.

A nal illustration of training benets re-lated to performance is cross-cultural training,in which employees are trained to perform theirjobs in a different culture and/or adjust psy-chologically to living in that culture (Bhawuk& Brislin 2000, Lievens et al. 2003). Morris &Robie (2001) conducted a meta-analysis of theeffects of cross-cultural training on expatriateperformance and adjustment. Their meta-analysis included 16 studies that investigatedadjustment and 25 studies that investigated jobperformance as the focal dependent variable.The mean correlation for the relationshipbetween training and adjustment was 0.12 ( p