The relationship between personality traits, social support and training transfer: A study in manufacturing company

Training is the vital contributors to organizational success and will continue to
sustain the business. Every year, billions of dollars were invested in the training process, but the return of investment is not as expected. The main objective of this study is to identify the relationship between personality traits, social support and training transfer. The big five dimensions of personality traits are extraversion,
agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, and openness to experience, while social support dimensions supervisor support and peer support. To attain the objective, the quantitative method was used and data were collected through questionnaire among operators in a private MNC in Penang. A total of 191
questionnaires were distributed and only 87 questionnaires returned which constituted 39.5% response rate. Out of the 87 questionnaires, 11 were incomplete. Thus, only 76 questionnaires (34.5%) were coded for analysis. The study utilized reliability analysis, descriptive statistics, factor analysis, pearson correlation, and regression analysis to examine the relationship between variables. The results reveal that personality traits dimension of openness to experience have relationship with
training transfer. Meanwhile, social support influence training transfer. Further, social support indicated being a more significant factor than personality traits that influence training transfer. Thus, social support has high weightage in influencing employees' transfer of knowledge, skills, and ability to the job compared to personality traits. However, greater emphasis should to be taken by the organization to carry out personality check before the recruitment process and in the staffing and training needs of the employees. The training program should be given greater
emphasis to social support and personality traits to enhance employees' abilities and
competencies.