Editorial summary. This is our text summary of an article published by frontiers-orgpsych. Charts, figures, and the author’s full voice are at the original — read it there .
Editorial verdict
Methodologically rigorous two-study design with solid scale validation, but findings are only partially confirmatory — the motivational-volitional framework holds up well while several specific antecedent hypotheses were not fully supported; treat the integrated formal-informal learning model as promising but requiring replication.
Executive summary
This article addresses the underexplored intersection of formal training outcomes and informal workplace learning, specifically examining what predicts training transfer (applying learned skills on the job) and knowledge sharing (disseminating learned content to colleagues). The authors argue that these two post-training behaviors share common motivational and volitional mechanisms and can be understood within a unified antecedent framework spanning individual, training-related, and organizational factors. Across two studies — a German-speaking sample (N=537) for scale development and a U.S. longitudinal sample (N=507) for validation — the researchers employ confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling to test their hypotheses. Key findings confirm that motivation predicts volition, which predicts behavior, for both transfer and knowledge sharing. However, antecedent effects were selective: training reflection, goal clarity, peer support, and feedback predicted both motivational outcomes, while constructs such as transfer self-efficacy and opportunity to apply showed limited or unexpected effects. The study concludes that formal training can catalyze informal learning among colleagues, but sustainable impact requires coordinated support across multiple organizational levels. Limitations include a managerially skewed sample, reliance on self-report data, and separate rather than integrated structural models for each antecedent cluster.
Key insights
- 1Motivation and volition function as sequential mediators linking antecedents to both training transfer and knowledge sharing behaviors, with motivation also exerting a direct effect on behavior independent of volition.
- 2Training transfer and knowledge sharing share overlapping but distinct antecedent profiles: growth orientation, goal clarity, training reflection, peer support, and feedback predicted both motivational outcomes, while deficit orientation predicted only transfer motivation and supervisor support predicted only knowledge sharing motivation.
- 3Formal training can serve as a trigger for informal workplace learning when trained employees share acquired knowledge with untrained colleagues, suggesting these two learning modes are interconnected rather than isolated organizational phenomena.
- 4Opportunity to apply showed no significant effect on motivation for either process, implying its influence may operate at a later behavioral stage rather than at the motivational readiness level.
- 5Transfer self-efficacy unexpectedly showed a negative association with motivation to share knowledge, a finding the authors attribute to a possible individual-performance orientation that may conflict with dissemination behaviors.
Practical takeaways
- Systematic diagnostic assessment of antecedents across individual, training, and organizational levels can identify barriers to both training transfer and knowledge sharing before and after training programs.
- Peer support and feedback mechanisms within and after training consistently predicted motivational outcomes for both transfer and knowledge sharing, indicating these environmental features are associated with broader post-training learning engagement.
Frameworks mentioned
Rubicon Model
A motivational framework distinguishing pre-decisional (motivation) from post-decisional (volition) phases of goal pursuit, used here to model the motivation-volition-behavior sequence in training transfer and knowledge sharing.
Learning Transfer System Inventory
A validated instrument developed by Holton et al. for assessing factors that influence the transfer of training to the workplace, cited as a foundational reference in the study's antecedent framework.
References
- Colquitt et al. (2000).Meta-analytic path analysis of training motivation.
- Holton et al. (2000).Learning Transfer System Inventory.
- Cerasoli et al. (2017).Meta-analysis on informal learning.
- Ford et al. (2018).Review of training transfer.
- Seiberling and Kauffeld (2017).Motivation and volition to transfer model.
Source & Provenance
frontiers-orgpsych
Simone Kauffeld
July 27, 2026
Research Study
Multi-Region
Original source metadata is preserved. AI analysis is generated separately.
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