Absence of conflict of interest.
Citation
West, L. S. (2010). The impact of training on the frequency of internal promotion of employees and managers. (Doctoral dissertation). University of North Texas Digital Library. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc30526/m2/1/high_res_d/dissertation.pdf [Employee sample]
Highlights
- The study’s objective was to examine the relationship between formal training and promotion for employees who were not managers. The author investigated similar research questions in another study, the profile of which is available [here]. The other study examined the relationship between formal training and promotion for managers.
- The author used statistical methods in a nonexperimental analysis to estimate impacts of hours of formal training, drawing on archival survey data from the 1996–1997 National Organizations Survey.
- The study found a statistically significant and positive relationship between typical hours of formal training and the frequency of promotions for employees.
- The quality of causal evidence presented in this report is low because the author did not account for existing differences of employees in organizations that offered various hours of formal training. This means we are not confident that the estimated effects are attributable to formal training; other factors are likely to have contributed.
Intervention Examined
The formal training
Features of the Study
Drawing on archival survey data from the 1996–1997 the National Organizations Survey, the study used statistical analyses to estimate the relationship between the number of hours of training offered at organizations to the frequency of promotions for employees.
The National Organizations Survey sample included 1,835 organizations selected through random sampling from 15 million organizations in the United States. The analysis included 130 organizations that reported offering formal training to their employees in the previous two years and that answered all the relevant questions in the survey. One individual in each organization completed the survey. Hours of training represents the typical number of hours of formal training offered to employees at the organization in the previous two years; the average was 35.5 hours. Promotion was assessed by asking how often the organization filled employee vacancies with people already employed at the organization—never, rarely, often, or very often—but did not specify whether these different positions represented a promotion.
Findings
Employment
- The study found a statistically significant positive relationship between typical hours of training and frequency of promotion among organizations that offered formal training to employees in the previous two years.
Considerations for Interpreting the Findings
The author did not account for existing differences of employees in organizations that offered various hours of formal training. These existing differences—and not the formal training—could explain the observed differences in outcomes.
Causal Evidence Rating
The quality of causal evidence presented in this report is low because the author did not account for existing differences of employees in organizations that offered various hours of formal training. This means we are not confident that the estimated effects are attributable to formal training; other factors are likely to have contributed.