Want training to stick? Help your employees develop large, diverse networks in your company

Associate Professor of management Giacomo Laffranchini and colleagues investigated the importance of networks in  employee “transfer of training” – that is, an employee transferring to their coworkers the knowledge, skills, and attitudes they gained in job training.  They found that firms may get more mileage out of their training when they systematically promote social interaction and collaboration among employees.  This is because these practices can help to create and strengthen social networks within the firm – and large, diverse social networks are associated with improved transfer of training.

Laffranchini and his colleagues collected data from a group of professional analysts from a multinational organization. They found that large network size along with high competitiveness and high organizational support are associated with an increase in perceptions of transfer of training. In addition, high network diversity along with high competitiveness and high organizational support are associated with an increase in perceptions of transfer of training. However, contrary to expectations, they found that transfer of training was high in the presence of high network diversity, high competitiveness, and low organizational support. Why would this be? The researchers suspect that diversity within the employees’ network may substitute for organizational support. That is, a large, diverse network of colleagues can provide support when the organization does not.

Wagstaff, M. F., Gore, E., Laffranchini, G., García, M. L., & Ruiz, M. (2022). Perceptions of transfer of training: interaction of a continuous learning culture with network diversity, network strength, and network size. Human Resource Development International, 1-22. https://doi.org/10.1080/13678868.2022.2060166