A Reflection on the Attitudes, Strategies and Behaviors of Educational Transfer Leaders (Findings of a Qualitative Study)

Today, human resources are known as the only sustainable competitive advantage for organizations, and organizations make significant investments in the field of education due to the intense competition they have with each other. However, the effectiveness of training depends on whether the skills learned by employees are transferred to the real work environment or not. Among the various factors that directly or indirectly affect the transfer of education, the support of the supervisor (direct manager) as a work environment variable has various relationships with the transfer. If employees receive support from their supervisor, they will be more motivated to learn and master the learning content and can create a proper transfer of training.

Design/ methodology/ approach: 

 In this research, 16 semi-structured interviews were conducted with managers of brokerage companies using a targeted sampling method. The method used in this research, among the qualitative methods, was directed content analysis.

The sequential review of interviews and continuous comparison of data led to the identification and classification of three themes of attitude, strategy and behavior, eight sub-themes and 41 symptoms of the guideline. The results indicated that the attitudes, strategies and behaviors used by managers towards their employees are very important in the transfer of training and its implementation in the organization and prevents the wastage of huge financial and non-financial resources.

Limitations & Consequences: 

The sample examined in this research belongs to the brokerage industry, the obtained results should undoubtedly represent the financial intermediation companies in Iran, but cross-population research raises the question of whether it is possible to adopt the same measures in different fields and can the results obtained in other countries and industries be used?

Practical Consequences: 

This research presents a new configuration of support for middle managers (direct supervisors) or the leaders of training transfer to facilitate learning in the workplace. Managers use strategies based on their attitudes towards in-service training and finally based on general strategies, which can be implemented either with the help of senior managers of the organization or at the level of the manager himself (direct supervisor). They are implemented, behaviors are used in 4 instrumental, informational, evaluation and emotional dimensions to improve the transfer environment for their employees.

Innovation or value of the Article: 

The researches carried out in the field of education transfer have raised the issue of manager's support as a part of organizational support, and none of them have addressed in detail the dimensions of managers' attitudes, behaviors and strategies.