A study on job specific training to determine if increases in employee understanding can be linked back to planned intervention

The advanced electrical maintenance class at Southern Management's corporate university was investigated for this study. The pretest posttest evaluation study sought to determine if test scores would increase from pre to posttest dramatically enough to deem the class worthwhile. An ancillary purpose was to determine whether or not the class increased employees' attitudes toward their jobs and if the program helped Southern to save money, increase employee retention and provide a positive return on investment. The null hypothesis stated there would be no statistically significant improvement between pretest and posttest scores after the intervention of the Maintenance Academy training program in advanced electrical skills. The data was analyzed using a t-test to determine if the improvement occurred and if it was statistically significant enough. The test scores improved enough for the researcher to say that the improvement was statistically significant enough. The researcher therefore rejected the null hypothesis. Qualitative findings from surveys also helped the researcher to feel that the advanced electrical class was helping to allow Southern Management to have a well motivated and educated work-force. The researcher felt that all classes should go to pre and post testing procedures as well as surveying employees after classes.