Work Environment Factors Affecting the Transfer of Training in Female Workers in the Apparel Sector of Sri Lanka

With the increased investment in training and development initiatives, the organizations wishing to enhance their return on investment must understand the factors that influence transfer of training. This research analyzes the impact of the work environment factors on the transfer of training. Data were garnered through a questionnaire from a sample of 100 female workers in an apparel manufacturing company in Sri Lanka. Partial least squares structural equations modeling was used to analyze the proposed model and it could achieve the coefficient of prediction (R2) of transfer of training as high as 82%, implying the significance of supervisor support, peer support, openness to change, and personal outcomes – positive on transfer of training, while feedback reported no significant impact. Further, positive personal outcomes had the strongest influence on transfer of training. Therefore, practitioners should take into account the contributions associated with each environmental factor and especially to ensure that training transfer outcomes are positive and valued by the employees.

The Effects of Perceived Role, Career, Goal, and Performance Uncertainty on Employee Performance

The aim of this chapter is to determine the effects of perceived role, career, goal, and performance uncertainty on employee task and contextual performance. The research model was constructed around four independent variables (role, career, goal, and performance uncertainty) and two dependent variables (task and contextual performance). Cronbach alphas for each survey were over 0.85. To determine the validity level of the surveys, confirmatory factor analysis was conducted and found that all surveys are between acceptable limits of goodness of fit index. Two hundred thirty-nine employees responded to the surveys. Principal components analysis (PCA) was used to create indices for uncertainty perception. PCA shows that the employees included in the study generally were in role, goal, career, and performance uncertainty. The results indicate that there is a statistically significant effect of role and goal uncertainty on employee task performance. The other main result is that there is a statistically significant effect of role and performance uncertainty on the employees' contextual performance.

Work-Life Balance and Its Impact on Upward Career Mobility of Women Employees in the Banking Sector

The proportion of women in decision making is very low, and only a small number of women are represented in the managerial positions in Sri Lanka. The emergence and determined survival of women in organizations depends on their own willingness to confront and fight barriers. A major barrier in work is work-life balance as family and society demands more from a woman than a man. The objective of this chapter is to investigate the impact work-life conflicts on upward career mobility of women employees in the banking sector. A sample of 120 women employees was used for gathering data. Primary data was collected through a self-administered questionnaire. The collected data was analyzed using correlation analysis, regression analysis, and descriptive analysis methods. There is a positive relationship between work-life balance and upward career mobility, and all the dimensions of work-life conflicts, namely, time balance, satisfaction balance, and involvement balance, were positively correlated with upward career mobility. The study provides recommendations and future directions for further studies.

The Impact of Coaching Leadership on Employees' Positive Outcomes

Leaders resort to a coaching leadership style—which relies heavily on listening, helping, supporting, developing, removing obstacles, and empowering others—to promote valuable work experiences and positive attitudinal and behavioral responses from employees. These employees' outcomes are an important part of organizational success. In this chapter, the authors examine the connection between coaching leadership style and employees' affective commitment, creativity, and customer orientation. A quantitative study was carried out based on the perceptions of 80 front office workers from different Portuguese organizations on their leaders and their own attitudes and behaviors. The results, consistent with existing literature, indicated that, when leaders adopt a coaching leadership style, their followers are more affectively committed, exhibit more creative behavior, and perform in a more customer-oriented way.

Perspectives on Executive Coaching, Mentoring, and Counselling From Indian Mythologies

The purpose of this chapter is to point towards how modern-day coaching can benefit from the ancient wisdom of the world's oldest surviving civilization extant in India. Drawing from academic literature, this chapter looks into one instance of mentoring and coaching from each of the two great Indian epics, Ramayana and Mahabharata, to define what constitutes coaching, the attributes of an effective coach, hallmarks of good coaching, and characteristics of a good coachee. With the insights and understanding offered in this chapter, coaches can quickly and effectively guide their coachees to achieve more confidence and motivation. This contributes both to the understanding and knowledge in the mechanism of coaching as well as to the practice and methodology of coaching.

Application of Equity Theory on Adult Learning

Learning is a complicated process, notwithstanding the fact that the individual learners, particularly adults, are complicated beings. Adult learning is a subject of ever-growing interest. With the changing demographic situation of the developed world, there has been a focus on the concept of lifelong learning. Studying adult learning theory is rapidly growing across the globe in the context of human resource development. The application of equity theory and its impacts are rarely considered in studies of adult learning and human resource development, and the link between the two theories are remains unclear. In fact, the role of equity theory and its impacts are rarely considered in studies of adult learning and human resource development. Hence, through the structured literature review, this chapter explores the role of equity theory in the context of adult learning theory and through that identifies the theoretical gaps and gives suggestions for future research.

Understanding the Perception of Training Comprehensiveness

Comprehensiveness of training programs is very crucial for the successful post-training performance levels. Although it is considered important, very few scholars have acknowledged and studied the conceptual basis of this variable. Therefore, this chapter attempts to draft the conceptualization of perception of training comprehensiveness. This chapter will explore the key aspects of perception and attitude towards training, trainer, and other important aspects of high performance HR practice (i.e., training comprehensiveness).