Developmental Experiences scale

Description

This measure, (Developmental Experiences) developed by Wayne, Shore, and Liden (1997), describes the formal and informal developmental experiences a job affords employees. The measure focuses on the extent to which an organization makes discre­tionary investments in formal and informal training and development of an employee.

Reliability 

Coefficient alpha was .87 (Wayne, Shore, & Liden, 1997).

Validity

In a factor analysis of the items used to measure developmental experiences, perceived organizational support, leader-member exchange (LMX), affec­tive commitment, intentions to quit, and employee favor-doing, the four items measuring development experiences loaded on a single factor by themselves. Development experiences were correlated positively with the number of promotions an employee has received, perceived organizational support, affective commitment to the organization, and organizational citi­zenship behavior (Wayne, Shore, & Liden, 1997).

Source

Items 

Responses for items 1 and 2 are obtained on a 7-point Likert-type scale where 1 = strongly disagree and 7 = strongly agree. Responses for items 3 and 4 are obtained on a 7-point scale where 1 = not at all and 7 = a very large extent.

1. In the positions that I have held at [company name], I have often been given additional challenging
2. In the positions that I have held at [company name], I have often been assigned projects that have enabled me to develop and strengthen new
3. Besides formal training and development opportunities, to what extent have your managers helped to develop your skills by providing you with challenging job assignments?
4. Regardless of [company’s name]’s policy on training and development, to what extent have your managers made a substantial investment in you by providing formal training and development opportunities?