Purpose: The present study seeks to examine the efficacy of different training modalities on increasing workplace learning, representatives' intent to transfer what they learned into their work, and importantly how training impacts actual work performance. These relationships are tested in the context of a Chinese division of a multinational pharmaceutical company, where pharmaceutical representatives are tasked with relaying relevant efficacy and safety information on pharmaceutical products to health care professionals who prescribe them to patients. Methods: The present study employed a three-group between-subjects experimental design. Representatives received varying forms of training (instruction only, instruction plus reflection, and instruction, reflection, plus direct feedback; Gibbs, 1981; Gibbs & Simpson, 2005) based on experimental conditions. After three training sessions over the course of six weeks,

Purpose Drawing on self-determination theory (Deci and Ryan, 2012) and Hew’s (2016) five-factor model, our study aimed to investigate the impact of two online training design factors (instructor accessibility and active learning) on learner’s self-efficacy and learning outcome amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approach A randomized pretest-posttest control group field experiment was designed to assess participants’ self-efficacy and learning outcome of an online training program - territory business management plan, under three conditions: instructor accessibility, active learning, and controlled. Participants (N=87) were medical sales representatives from a Fortune-Global 500 pharmaceutical company’s subsidiary office in China. Data was analyzed with 2 (time) x 3 (group) MANOVA with time (pretest and posttest) as a repeated measure to investigate differences in changes in self-efficacy and learning outcome between three groups. Findings Overall, participants’ self-efficacy and learning outcome were significantly improved via the online training program for all three groups. Specifically, the impact of the training on learning outcome was the strongest for the active learning group, less strong for the instructor accessibility group, and the least strong for the control group. Originality/value Our research contributes towards understandings of the effectiveness of online talent training programs by examining two critical instructional design factors during a time of crisis. Our findings suggest that active learning (interactions with the training materials by purposeful self-reflection) might be a stronger predictor for increasing learning outcome than instructor accessibility (receiving feedback and tutoring sessions from the instructor) for online training programs.

Purpose The study examined the impact of feedback types through a learning management system (LMS) on employees’ training performance. The purpose of this study is to establish effective feedback on advanced technologies for promoting corporate training. Design/methodology/approach A total of 148 trainees were recruited from a multinational medical company. Employees were randomly assigned to receive feedback from shallow to more constructive details on their learning performance with LMS. Data sources included are employees’ goal setting (GS) performance evaluated by the experts and their posttest scores obtained from the LMS. A series of statistical analyses were performed to investigate the impact of feedback intervention on employees’ GS and their impacts on corporate training results. Findings GS has a significant impact on learning outcomes. Employees who set greater specific goals attained higher scores. Furthermore, feedback with more formative evaluation and constructive developmental advice resulted in the most significant positive influence on the relationship between participants’ GS and learning outcomes. Practical implications Organizations can benefit from delivering appropriate feedback using LMS to enhance employees’ GS and learning efficacy in corporate training. Originality/value This study is one of the first to examine the moderating effect of feedback provided by LMS on GS and online learning performance in corporate training. This study contributes to GS theory for practical application and proposes a viable method for remote learning. The current study’s findings can be used to provide educational psychological insights for training and learning in industrial contexts.