Training impact evaluation: individual and situational predictors

The objective of this study was to analyse the effects of training on the performance of professionals in the medical and paramedical fields. Also investigated were the relationships between antecedent variables, grouped in five categories (individual characteristics, training features, behaviour of entrance, learning and support of training transfer) and the criteria variable impact of training. The sample consisted of 263 professionals and 82 supervisors, all college graduates, belonging to hospital organisation specialised in the field of locomotor system rehabilitation, who had participated in courses administered during the third phase of the selective process - training, in 1996 and 1997. Data from 76 programs of short and medium-term duration were also analysed. The results revealed that the training had impacted on the performance of 73% of the trained professionals, taking into consideration the ensemble of the 12 used indicators. Analyses of regression was carried out in order to investigate the relationship between antecedent variables and criteria variables learning and impact. We could verify that the psyche-social conditions deployed a central role in the prediction of training transfer and conclude that the efficacy of training can be attained through the development of activities that ensure the quality of the instructional planning of the courses as well as the design of the post-training context.