ABSTRACT
In the late 1980s, the United States Air Force (USAF) Armstrong Laboratory, Human Resources Directorate (AL/HR) undertook a large scale program of research and development (R&D) on cross-job transferability of skills that followed from previous research on the success of USAF retraining policies (Skinner, 1981, 1982, 1983; Skinner & Alley, 1980, 1984). Cross-job transferability of skills has been defined as “the continuous use of acquired knowledge and abilities when moving from one job to another” (Fine, 1957, p. 938) or “the ease with which individuals trained to proficiency on one job can apply acquired knowledge and skills in learning another job” (Lance, Kavanagh, & Gould, 1993, p. 68). There are large bodies of literature concerning topics that are related to cross-job transferability of skills such as job skills learning and retention (e.g., Arthur, Bennett, Stanush, & McNelly, 1998; Ginzburg & Dar-El, 2000; Lance et al., 1998; Taylor, Russ- Eft, & Chan, 2005), transfer of training to on-the-job performance (e.g., Arthur, Bennett, Edens, & Bell, 2003; Baldwin & Ford, 1988; Cheng & Ho, 2001; Richman-Hirsch, 2001; Yamnill & McLean, 2001), newcomer socialization following job transfer (e.g., Chao, O'Leary-Kelly, Wolf, Klein, & Gardner, 1994; Feji, Whitely, Peiro, & Taris, 1995; Fischer, 1986; Wanous, 1992), human resource planning for staffing and training needs (e.g., Jackson & Schuler, 1990; Niehaus & Price, 1991; Rousseau, 1988), and organizational learning and knowledge management (e.g., Chiva & Alegre, 2005; Huber, 1991; Thomas, Sussman, & Henderson, 2001). However, there is surprisingly little literature related to the relative ease or difficulty with which individuals can transition laterally across different jobs, taking advantage of whatever relevant knowledge, skills, and abilities they may have acquired in the previous job to learn and become proficient in a new assignment.
