Fostering Sound Skill Development: An Examination of Staff Training Methods as Means of Knowledge Transfer

Abstract

Although various studies cover staff training, no empirical study to date has investigated the effectiveness of various training methods in facilitating the transfer of knowledge. Hence, the study sought to shed light on the effectiveness of different employee training methods on knowledge transfer in the hospitality industry. The study employed a correlational research design and a quantitative approach. Using empirical data from 118 employees in five subsidiaries of a big-scale hospitality company in Zimbabwe, multi-regression analysis was used to assess the impact of each training method on knowledge transfer. While different training methods can transfer knowledge, the findings of this study indicated that mentoring and coaching were the most effective training methods for transferring knowledge. On the contrary, out of six key training methods at the workplace, role-play was found to be the least effective training method in facilitating knowledge transfer. Thus, the study yielded several policy‐relevant findings, particularly to inform training policies in the organisation. The primary limitation of this research is that it focused on organisations in Zimbabwe, hence the results may not be generalised to other nations unless they share similar setting.