It Takes Time: A Stages of Change Perspective on the Adoption of Workplace Coaching Skills

Abstract

Although many managers receive training in workplace coaching skills in order to enhance employees' performance and facilitate organizational change, little is known about managers' perceptions of the costs and benefits of adopting workplace coaching behaviors. This study explored the relationships between workplace coaching skills and the perceived costs and benefits of adopting coaching skills from a Stages of Change perspective. This is the first study to examine these issues. Participants were 99 executives and managers from a range of occupations. Findings were broadly as predicated by the Transtheoretical Model of Change. Individuals in the early stages of adopting coaching behaviors had lower self-efficacy and lower coaching skills than those in the latter stages. The perceived benefits of adopting coaching behaviors did not differ across different stages of change. The perceived costs of adopting coaching behaviors were significantly lower in the latter stages of change, but findings suggest that it takes about six months before the perceived benefits of adopting coaching behaviors outweigh the perceived costs. Disaffected managers held higher perceptions of the benefits of coaching, and there was no relationship between coaching behaviors and workplace wellbeing. It is recommended that managers of coach training programs explicitly address ways to overcome barriers to adopting coaching behaviors, rather than primarily promoting the benefits of workplace coaching. Organizations should give ongoing learning support to those who have recently completed workplace coaching training, in order to help them persevere through the initial adjustment period as they consolidate and develop their coaching skills.

Desvendando o Coaching: uma Revisão sob a Ótica da Psicologia

“…Com relação ao coaching, já foi mencionado o aparente descompasso entre a teoria e a prática, porém, tem havido um aumento de iniciativas de pesquisa no âmbito internacional nos últimos anos. Isto pode ser eviden-ciado por Grant (2010), cujo levantamento constata que entre 2000 e 2009, 425 estudos sobre coaching foram publicados. Já entre 1937 e 1999, apenas 93 estudos foram publicados, o que demonstra um crescimento exponencial da área a partir do início do século XXI.…”

“…Esta proporção de referências em português comparada à de referências em inglês indica um desacordo lógico entre os dados mostrados anteriormente, quando se analisa o estágio de desenvolvimento do coaching no Brasil. Considerando que a América do Norte conta com 425 publicações sobre o tema entre os anos de (Grant, 2010), contra 48 no Brasil entre 2000 e 2015, seria de se esperar um número maior de referências em inglês do que em português. Pode-se levantar hipóteses quanto a razão deste dado: o não domínio da língua inglesa pelos pesquisadores brasileiros, o acesso restrito aos periódicos internacionais ou até mesmo uma possível diferença entre o coaching brasileiro e o estrangeiro.…”

“…Desenhos de pesquisa quantitativos e, eventualmente, experimentais também poderiam agregar ao desenvolvimento da área, uma vez que a maior parte da produção no campo ainda é qualitativa e descritiva (Grant, 2010). Adicionalmente, a comparação entre os vários tipos de coaching, a combinação de métodos e o desenvolvimento de ferramentas para a comprovação da efetividade do coaching nos diferentes campos de aplicação e nas abordagens seria de grande contribuição.…”

Managerial coaching: challenges, opportunities and training

“…Companies also need to be aware that it takes time to embed coaching in the daily routine, and that support is needed during this phase (Grant 2010). Coaching has been found to greatly increase the application in the workplace of what is learned in a training program (Geissler 2009;Olivero et al 1997).…”

“…As our understanding of coaching is still evolving, few companies yet have approaches in place to prevent line managers slipping back into their old non-coaching behaviours or provide supervision for internal coaches (Clutterbuck 2009). However, companies with more mature coaching cultures do provide a range of mechanisms such as communities of practice, peer supervision and support from human resources or learning development professionals (Ali et al 2010;Grant 2010). …”