EFFECT OF REGULATORY FOCUS ON PERFORMANCE AND EVALUATION OF TRAINING IN ORGANIZATIONS CONTEXT

Training programs are not always successful in achieving desired goals. In order to address this issue, the present research examined the extent to which performance and satisfaction in a language training task could change as a function of regulatory focus for task coping. The approach with which employees from a large company addressed the training task was subtly manipulated, creating three types of instructions: promotion approach, prevention approach, and control group. The influence of this independent variable (regulatory focus) was evaluated with regard to employees' performance and perceptions. Results showed that regulatory focus affected satisfaction and perceived performance, but not objective performance. This work reveals that the training effect in an organizational context varies as a function of motivational focus.