The impact of required competencies and some selected variables on the quality of training among trainers in business and industry: a factor analytic approach

The investigation was designed to analyze the impact of two main issues namely: (1) the possession and application of the ASTD required competencies on the quality and effectiveness of training in business and industry; and (2) the importance of these competencies to the trainers;The survey research design was used and a questionnaire was developed by the researcher and administered to a random sample of 200 trainers and managers/supervisors in business and industry, who also hold membership in the Iowa Chapter of ASTD;The 31 competencies were subjected to a factor analysis for the importance and application variables. Using the mineigenvalue criterion, 11 factors were originally retained for both the importance and application variables. However, when the orthogonal (varimax) rotation was applied, one factor of importance variables, (leadership) and two factors of application variables, (managerial and analytical) were obtained;Findings indicate that no significant relationship was found between the application of the competencies and the reported quality of training. A significant relationship was found between educational level and the cluster of managerial application variables. A significant relationship was also found between the competencies applied by trainers when doing technical, clerical, line and staff, and other training and the managerial cluster of variables. However, no significant relationship was found between the importance attached to the competencies among trainers and their educational background. There was no significant difference between managers/supervisors and trainers on the criteria for measuring training effectiveness and purpose;These findings suggest that trainers with higher educational levels do apply more of the competencies to training; that different types of training may require different competencies; and that trainers from any academic discipline can be trained to be effective