Research Report: Training, Part II —: Changes in Understanding

Management training ranks among some of the most common approaches used to bring about organisational change and development. The goals of such training include improving organisational effectiveness and improving the lot of employees so that they become more satisfied, more productive and more affluent. Given its importance to both individual employees and the organisation, it is asserted that the impact of management training programmes should be assessed to determine whether the large expenditure of time and money invested in them is justified and to provide the basis for well‐informed decisions concerning their future improvement. According to writers like Hamblin, evaluation should be thought of as an integral part of the total training system and should include the measurement of outcomes at a number of levels, including trainees' reactions, immediate changes in knowledge, skills and attitudes, intermediate effects on job behaviour and ultimate level of organisational effectiveness outcomes. It may not be possible to measure all levels of training within a single study, but an attempt should be made to measure effects at least up to the intermediate job performance stage, and for this to occur, it is necessary to employ a longitudinal design with measurements taken before, and at several points after, training. In the report which follows, changes in knowledge or understanding following a management training course are assessed.