Enhancing Employees’ Motivation to Learn and Motivation to Transfer: Does Religiosity Play Any Role?

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of religiosity on employee motivation to learn and motivation to transfer in the context of the public sector in Malaysia. The data of this study was collected through a survey at two points of time. The respondents are 306 public sector employees in Malaysia, who attended a specific training program. The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The findings reveal both religiosity and motivation to learn were significant predictors of motivation to transfer, with motivation to learn recording a higher effect than the religiosity. In addition, religiosity did significantly predict motivation to learn. The result from data analysis also reveals that the motivation to learn partially mediates the effects of religiosity on motivation to transfer. It means, the religiosity has both direct and indirect (thorough motivation to learn) effect on motivation to transfer. This study extends the literature by providing empirical evidence that religiosity of employees has a positive impact on employee motivation to learn and motivation to transfer. This study also provides empirical evidence that motivation to learn has a mediating effect on the relationship between religiosity and motivation to transfer.