Antecedents and Consequences of Coaching Behavior

Abstract

Proponents of the learning organization acknowledge that leaders and managers must assume roles as coaches in organizations that aspire to become learning organizations. The concept of the manager as coach is becoming increasingly popular as a way to facilitate learning and improve employee performance. Yet, despite the research that has been done on coaching, studies generally focus on characteristics of good coaches, requisite coaching skills, and employees' perceptions of the improvement in managers' coaching skills following such training programs. This article describes some of the findings from a larger qualitative critical incident study. Specifically, the triggers for coaching and the outcomes of coaching interventions for the individual employee, manager, and organization are examined and reported here. This study identifies gaps and discrepancies, political, and developmental issues as the primary triggers for coaching. Additionally, this study suggests that managers' commitment to coaching has the potential to impact performance at the individual employee, manager, and organizational level.

Work Situations Triggering Participation in Informal Learning in the Workplace: A Case Study of Public School Teachers

“…In the present study, three types of work situations were found to precipitate participation in informal learning: new teaching tasks, new leadership roles, and adherence to policies and procedures. These findings corroborate, in part, previous studies that found new work assignments to be important triggers to informal learning (Ellinger, 1999).…”

“…While previous studies of informal learning have focused predominantly on the identification of knowledge and skills that individuals seek to obtain through informal learning and the types of learning activities in which they engage (Daley, 1997;Kozlowski, 1995;Lohman, 2000), two relatively unexamined areas of investigation concern the types of work situations that trigger participation in informal learning activities and the types of personal characteristics that enhance a person's motivation to engage in such activities (Ellinger, 1999). Greater understanding of these aspects of informal learning could provide insights for reconsidering the design of workplace learning initiatives and the design of work environments, with the ultimate goal of helping professionals deal with challenging work situations in a timely and effective manner.…”

Line managers and workplace learning: Learning from the voluntary sector

“…Mumford, 1993;Bevan and Hayday, 1994;Heraty and Morley, 1995;de Jong et al, 1999;Ellinger, 2003). However, until very recently, there has been limited research into what managers do as facilitators of learning (Mumford, 1993;Horowitz, 1999).…”

“…Although there is an extensive literature on developmental roles that managers may play, such as mentor and coach, much of this literature is prescriptive and rhetorical, and there appear to be relatively few examples of substantive research and empirical studies focusing on managerial behaviours (Horowitz, 1999;Ellinger, 2003;Ellinger et al, 2005), although MacNeil (2003) has undertaken interesting work exploring the roles of supervisors as facilitators of learning. Horowitz acknowledges that the notion of line managers having responsibility for development is valid; however, he concludes that the 'HRD literature and practice fails to address satisfactorily how this should occur' (Horowitz, 1999, pp.…”

Managerial coaching of frontline employees: The moderating role of gender

“…Scholars identified a number of variables that promote managerial use of coaching (Anderson, ; Gilley, Gilley, & Kouider, ; Turner & McCarthy, ) and realized that developing the required skills takes time as well as a deliberate process (Grant, ; Grant & Hartley, ). Other antecedents that facilitate the use of coaching on organizational behaviors are the organization's focus on long‐ or short‐term goals (Pousa & Mathieu, ), organizational climate (A. E. Ellinger, Ellinger, & Keller, ), and the existence of gaps and learning opportunities (A. D. Ellinger, ).…”