1.
Moving from classroom training to job performance
PROFESSIONAL
Excellence

2.
Presentation Overview
This presentation is designed for:
 Supervisors
 Administrators
 Field Program Specialists
 Training coordinators

3.
Presentation Overview
The purpose of this presentation is to help
managers enhance their ability to:
 promote staff members’ readiness to learn
 create and sustain a constructive learning environment
in their work unit
 use transfer of learning strategies to promote staff
members’ job performance

4.
Presentation Overview
This presentation includes the following topics:
 Transfer of learning definition
 Key players in the transfer of learning process and
their roles
 Supervisory responses that promote transfer of
learning
 Strategies to promote transfer of learning

5.
Transfer of Learning
"That almost magical link between
classroom performance and something
which is supposed to happen in the real
world"
- J. M. Swinney.

6.
What is Transfer of Learning?
 Transfer of learning is the application of knowledge, skills,
and attitudes acquired in a training setting to the job. This
encompasses what happens in agencies, before, during and
after staff attend training to either support or undermine
the likelihood that what is learned will actually be applied
and result in improved job performance.
With practice on the job, the level of an individual’s skill
will increase beyond the level demonstrated at the end
of training.

7.
Organizations expend a large amount of staff time and
money on formal training programs every year. In
order to maximize the investment in training,
everyone involved in the training process and the
entire organization needs to be concerned
about the transfer issue.

8.
As a supervisor/manager you play a major role in helping
to promote the transfer of learning. Your responses to
the trainee and your attitude about the training can
either help or hurt this process.

9.
Supervisory Responses
In order for transfer of
learning to be
successful, supervisors
must assume an
"encouraging" and a
"requiring” response
to staff development
activities.
Encouraging response:
• Discuss the training course with the case
manager before he/she goes to the class
• Attempt to create a readiness to learn
• Encourage the case manager to apply
learning upon returning to the job
Requiring response:
• Know what the staff member learned
• Design activities to promote transfer
• Provide coaching and feedback
• Assess achievement

10.
Taking a “preventing,”
“discouraging” or
even “neutral”
position to
professional
development activities
results in barriers to
the transfer of learning
process.
Preventing response:
“I know what you learned in
training, but we don’t do it
like that.”
Discouraging response:
“That’s good information, but
it’s not realistic.”
Neutral response:
“Whatever makes you happy
as long as you get your work
done."

11.
Training Partnership
The three primary players in the transfer of learning
effort are the trainees, the trainer, and management.
This is referred to as the training partnership.
Management includes
direct supervisors,
administrators, Field
Program Specialists,
and Training
Coordinators.
Trainers includes
curriculum
designers, subject
matter experts, and
the instructor who
actually delivers the
training.

12.
Each of the primary partners has a specific role to play
and actions to take, or not take, before, during, and after
training occurs. These actions will affect the likelihood
that transfer will occur.
In fact, as a result of research, we can rank the
significance of each combination of role player and time
period on a scale of 1 to 9.

13.
Transfer of Learning Matrix
Before During After
Supervisor/
Management
? ? ?
Trainer/
Curriculum
Developer
? ? ?
Trainee ? ? ?
Which combination of role player and time period do you think is the
most significant in promoting learning transfer? (Take a minute to think
about this before going to the next slide).
1 = most significant/powerful in promoting transfer
9= least significant/powerful in promoting transfer

14.
Before During After
Supervisor/
Management
Trainer/Curriculum
Developer
Trainee
9
6
3
8
4
5
1
2
7
The most powerful factor in promoting the transfer of learning is what
the supervisor does BEFORE the training even occurs. Notice that
the supervisor/management occupies two of the top three positions in
the matrix.

15.
Transfer of Learning Strategies
So, what are some things that management (supervisors,
administrators, Field Program Specialists, and Training
Coordinators) can do to promote transfer of learning?
Let’s look at strategies for before, during, and after
training.

16.
Management Actions BEFORE Training
Make a plan with case managers to cover caseloads while they
are in training. Explain that you do not expect them to take phone
calls or answer Email during the training day.
Meet with staff members before they go to class. Discuss what the
course is about, why it’s important, and your expectations of them
as learners. Send the message that you believe in their ability to
learn and to improve their practice.
Encourage case managers to go to training with specific cases in
mind. This will allow staff to actively apply what they are learning to
the identified case.
Send co-workers to training together. Inform them they will be
required to jointly report on the training when they return. Consider
having them work collaboratively to improve their performance in the
areas explored in training.

17.
Management Actions DURING Training
Establish and follow a policy that no interruptions will be allowed
during training sessions. This includes interruptions from you too!
Holding training sessions away from the worksite, when possible, will
help to support this policy.
Communicate your support for the training program. How do you
send this message? Attend the training session with your staff and
actively participate in the class; express your support for the use of
new knowledge and skills; be a good model and demonstrate the
desired new behaviors.
Monitor attendance and attention to training. If you can’t attend
training sessions with your staff, try dropping in for brief periods of
time. Make arrangements to share this task with other supervisors
who also have staff attending the training. This can help to alert
trainees that their supervisors support and value the potential
learning.

18.
Management Actions AFTER Training
Meet with staff after training to debrief. Discuss any barriers to
transfer that need to be addressed, explore possibilities for use of
the training material, and convey your support for their efforts to
learn and apply new skills on the job.
Provide opportunities for staff to apply the skills they learned. This
includes giving them the time and space they need and providing
positive reinforcement when they are successful.
Consider pairing a newly trained staff member with an experienced
staff member who clearly demonstrates the desired skills. This person
can serve as a peer coach who can provide guidance, model good
practice, and provide immediate correction, if needed.

19.
False
Transfer of learning is relevant to all kinds of
knowledge and skills.
Learning is important--
but performance is the ultimate goal

20.
Mostly False
It’s true that we can’t force people to use new
learning, but what is the point of organization-
sponsored development, if the organization can’t
expect to receive a return on its training investment?
We can’t force, but we can motivate and
create the proper environment….and we can
hold people accountable for their
performance.

21.
True or False?
If participants are happy or satisfied at the end of a
training course, it usually means that they will use the
skills that they’ve learned.
Go to the next slide for the
correct answer
What do you think – true or false?

22.
False
We have to be deliberate and strategic about transfer of learning and
not assume that a “good” training will automatically result in
improved performance. It’s not just the learning of new skills that
produces better outcomes, it is the transfer of that learning into more
effective and efficient performance that ensures success.