The purpose of this article is to analyse the mediating effects of perception of learning between occupational satisfaction, affective reactions, utility reactions and perceived training transfer.
The participants in the study were 185 Portuguese teachers who attended a professional training programme.
The results of this study show that occupational satisfaction, affective and utility reactions are associated with perception of learning and perceived training transfer. Furthermore, the results also reveal that perception of learning fully mediates the relationship between occupational satisfaction and perceived training transfer and partially mediates the relationship between affective reactions, utility reactions and perceived training transfer.
Results are based on self‐reported measures to evaluate training transfer.
Organisations interested in maximising their return on investment on training and development should regularly monitor the employees' level of satisfaction with their occupation and determine whether new actions need to be taken regarding human resources practices or the working conditions. To enhance training transfer, careful attention should be given to the training design in order to ensure that it reflects the trainees' needs previously identified and to guarantee that trainees acquire a good level of learning in the programme.
The present study extends the empirical literature about the predictors of training transfer, showing that learning can play a mediating role between some predictors and transfer.
