Executive coaching during organisational change: a qualitative study of executives and coaches perspectives

ABSTRACT

The aim of this qualitative interview study was to explore the change-coaching process as perceived by middle management executives and coaches using an inductive approach. We interviewed both executives and coaches about their experience of organisational change, and the role of coaching as a developmental tool for executives when managing change initiatives. Thematic analysis revealed distinct perceptions of coaching across the stages of the coaching process, including pre-coaching (phase 1), during coaching (phase 2) and post-coaching (phase 3). Pertaining to the pre-coaching phase, executives spoke of their demands during change and the benefits of coaching for meeting their goals, which motivated the choice to engage in coaching. During coaching, executives’ expectations for coaching focused on their reactions to change and their need to engage in leadership behaviour. Referring to the post-coaching phase executives anticipated outcomes of the change-coaching process included both organisational (implementing change) and social (managing others through change) outcomes. Coaches spoke of their role in facilitating the executive to develop behaviours and coping skills to manage the change process (self-management). From the findings, we developed a conceptual model of change-coaching (C-C) across the three phases, which will serve as a guide for future research.

KEYWORDS:

• Change management
• coach
• executive
• executive coaching
• organisational change
• qualitative interview study

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Katrin Bickerich, psychologist, is currently a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Work and Organizational Psychology at the University of Heidelberg, Germany. Her research interests focus on the design of executive coaching during organisational changes. She has written co-authored book-chapters on coaching topic and has presented her work at conferences. She is also practitioner and works in the HR development department of the Heidelberg University Hospital and as an executive coach for young professionals. She is a member of the German Psychological Society (DGPs).

Alexandra Michel is Scientific Director at the Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and Associate Professor for Work and Organizational Psychology at the University of Heidelberg, Germany. Besides being an academic, she is a practitioner with experiences as a Human Resources and Change Manager as well as a Coach. She is co-editor of the book The psychology of organizational change: Viewing change from the employee’s perspective and has published her research in several peer-reviewed journals including Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Journal of Organizational and Occupational Psychology and European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, amongst others. Her primary research interests refer to resource-oriented interventions at work, organisational change, coaching and occupational health.

Deirdre O'Shea is a Lecturer (Above the Bar) and Registered Work and Organisational Psychologist in the Department of Personnel and Employment Relations, Kemmy Business School, University of Limerick. Her research interests include psychological resource-based interventions, work motivation, emotions and emotion regulation, and occupational health psychology, among others. She is currently involved in a number of national and international collaborative research projects investigating these topics and has received research funding from the Irish Research Council (2014), Enterprise Ireland (2008, 2009) and European Association of Work and Organisational Psychology (2013), among others. Her research has been published in various peer-reviewed publications including Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, Journal fo Vocational Behaviour, Applied Psychology: An International Review, the Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, and European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, amongst others.

Notes

1 For more details, additional interview quotations are available for research on request addressed to the authors.