Motivating Training Transfer and Enhancing Work Outcomes: Does Supervisor’s Training Support Matter?

In today’s fast-paced global economy, organisations are increasingly investing in continuing education to upskill and reskill employees to enhance workplace productivity and meet evolving business demands. The effectiveness of these efforts largely depends on workplace support, particularly from supervisors. Understanding the critical role supervisors play in facilitating training transfer and enhancing employee effectiveness is vital. This study examined employees’ perception of their supervisors’ training support and its relationships with their training transfer motivation, training transfer, change readiness, and job satisfaction. Using a convenience sample of 297 working individuals who attended continuing education courses in Singapore, the study employed path analysis to examine these relationships. Results revealed that perceived supervisor’s training support directly and positively predicted training transfer motivation and job satisfaction. Training transfer motivation, in turn, directly and positively predicted training transfer, change readiness, and job satisfaction. This also indicated that training transfer motivation acted as a mediator, fully mediating the relationships between perceived supervisor’s training support and both training transfer and change readiness, while partially mediating its relationship with job satisfaction. The findings of this study highlighted the pivotal role of supervisor support in enhancing employees’ motivation and ability to transfer training into the workplace. It is therefore crucial to equip supervisors with the skills and resources needed to effectively engage employees in training and facilitate training transfer to drive both individual and organisational growth.