Confirming the Impact of Training on Negotiators and Organizations

Abstract

This study seeks to determine the long-term impacts of training on negotiators and organizations. Although previous studies have linked training to negotiation outcomes, their findings have been based primarily on experimental data. This article analyzes survey data from business students who received negotiation training from the author over a period of ten years and were employed at the time of the survey. The survey sought to determine if respondents applied the skills learned in negotiation classes to their workplace. Data includes self-reported subjective and objective items confirming the impact of training on negotiators and the organizations in which they work. Over 80 percent of respondents reported using skills learned in the classroom in their work and 30 percent reported that the training impacted their pay or promotion. The study reports rates at which negotiation skills and behaviors were found and uses the Kirkpatrick Levels 3 and 4 to interpret the frequency of specific impacts on individuals and organizations. Negotiation educators should consider the high rate at which trainees put learned skills into action, especially as the individuals’ frequency of negotiating increased and their position of authority in the negotiation strengthened.