The impact of training on the frequency of internal promotion of employees and managers (West 2010)

Study Profile What's in a study profile?
Causal Study Rating:
Low Causal Evidence
Study Type:
Causal Impact Analysis
Outcome Findings:
Employment: Low-No impacts
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 [Manager sample]

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Absence of conflict of interest.

Highlights

  • The study’s objective was to examine the relationship between formal training and promotion for 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 employees who were not 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 the National Organizations Survey.
  • The study found no statistically significant relationships between formal training and managers’ promotions.
  • The quality of causal evidence presented in this report is low because the author did not account for existing differences of managers in organizations that offered various hours of formal training. This means we would not be confident that the estimated effects would be attributable to formal training; other factors would have been likely to have contributed. The study did not, however, find statistically significant relationships.

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 managers.

The analysis included 118 organizations that reported offering formal training to their managers in the previous two years and that answered all the relevant questions in the survey. One individual in each organization completed the study. Hours of training represents the typical number of hours of formal training offered to managers at the organization in the previous two years; the average was 40.5 hours. Promotion was assessed by asking how often the organization filled manager 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 no statistically significant relationships between formal training and promotion frequency for managers.

Considerations for Interpreting the Findings

The author did not account for existing differences of managers in organizations that offered various hours of formal training. These existing differences—and not the formal training—could have explained observed differences in outcomes. The study did not, however, find statistically significant relationships.

Causal Evidence Rating

The quality of causal evidence presented in this report is low because the author did not account for existing differences of managers in organizations that offered various hours of formal training. This means we would not be confident that the estimated effects would be attributable to formal training; other factors would have been likely to have contributed. The study did not, however, find statistically significant relationships.

Reviewed by CLEAR: January 2020

Topic Area

Registered Apprenticeship and Work-Based Learning

Research Guidelines

Review Protocol: Employment and Training Review Protocol

Review Guidelines: Causal Evidence Guidelines