{
  "title": "Training transfer: what is decided after the room",
  "url": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog/transfert-de-formation-ce-qui-se-joue-apres-la-salle-en",
  "language": "en",
  "datePublished": "2026-09-20",
  "publisher": {
    "name": "SHR — Swiss Human Resources",
    "url": "https://www.shr.swiss",
    "address": "Esplanade de Pont-Rouge 9A, 1212 Lancy, Suisse"
  },
  "summary": "A well-received training course does not mechanically change practice. What the transfer literature establishes, and what it shifts onto the work environment.",
  "section": "Research",
  "topic": "Frontline Management",
  "place": {
    "name": "Lausanne",
    "region": "Vaud",
    "country": "CH"
  },
  "keyPoints": [
    {
      "heading": "The founding framework",
      "point": "Timothy Baldwin and Kevin Ford (1988, Personnel Psychology) proposed the reference model: transfer depends on three families of factors — participant characteristics, training design, and the work environment."
    },
    {
      "heading": "What the meta-analysis specifies",
      "point": "Brian Blume, Kevin Ford, Timothy Baldwin and Jason Huang (2010, Journal of Management) showed that supervisor support and transfer climate are associated with maintaining learned behaviours, particularly for so-called open skills whose application is not prescribed."
    },
    {
      "heading": "The misleading measure",
      "point": "George Alliger and Elizabeth Janak (1989, Personnel Psychology) had already shown that the evaluation levels popularised by Kirkpatrick do not form a causal chain: satisfaction does not predict learning, and learning does not mechanically predict behaviour."
    },
    {
      "heading": "What follows for front-line management",
      "point": "The direct manager is not a communication relay; in this model, they are the variable closest to transfer."
    },
    {
      "heading": "One practical implication, testable internally",
      "point": "A check that needs no instrumentation: among last year's training courses, how many led to an explicit conversation between participant and manager within thirty days, about one specific practice to change."
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "authors": "Ford",
      "year": "1988",
      "source": "Personnel Psychology"
    },
    {
      "authors": "Huang",
      "year": "2010",
      "source": "Journal of Management"
    },
    {
      "authors": "Janak",
      "year": "1989",
      "source": "Personnel Psychology"
    }
  ],
  "wordCount": 305,
  "image": "https://www.shr.swiss/img/blog-editorial-2026-09-20-en.jpg?v=4",
  "translations": {
    "fr": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog/transfert-de-formation-ce-qui-se-joue-apres-la-salle",
    "en": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog/transfert-de-formation-ce-qui-se-joue-apres-la-salle-en",
    "de": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog/transfert-de-formation-ce-qui-se-joue-apres-la-salle-de",
    "it": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog/transfert-de-formation-ce-qui-se-joue-apres-la-salle-it"
  },
  "relatedPages": {
    "programme": "https://www.shr.swiss/formation/management-de-proximite/lausanne",
    "city": "https://www.shr.swiss/formations-ville/lausanne",
    "blog": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog"
  },
  "citationPolicy": "Citation autorisée avec mention « SHR — Swiss Human Resources » et lien vers l'article."
}