The purposes and devices of workplace coaching

A goal of human resource managers is to capture the value of their organization’s workforce and maximize their contribution to its success. So any tool, which can help them achieve this mandate is in demand, and workplace coaching is reported to be one such tool. In this respect, to meet the organizations developmental needs is a key function of both human resource management and coaching alike and in theory will result in instrumental gains. Whilst there is a developing body of knowledge that focuses on individual constructs, there is a lack of empirical research about its instrumental value at an organizational level of analysis. Much of the individual level analysis focuses on investigating coaching from a humanistic perspective, and it appears to have some efficacy in helping organizations cater for the ‘human element’ of work, although there is still much more work to be done. However, a very significant question for the management coaching literature is how this translates into a more effective organization – the answer is not entirely clear. So, this study seeks to engage in an organizational level of analysis by exploring its key research problem: what are the purposes and devices of coaching in a management context? It adopts an interpretive and exploratory approach to the research design, utilizing multi-methods of data collection including in-depth interviews and open-ended qualitative surveys. Its key informants consisted of 35 workplace coaches comprising a unique combination, including 27 external coaches, 5 managers as coach, and 3 managers as coach in training. It identifies and explores one purpose and three devices of coaching, and in doing so suggests that organizational culture, systems, and coaching design are three devices that might explain how catering for the human element of work translates into organizational effectiveness. In doing so, it is hoped that this PhD provides some groundwork upon which to build a management theory of coaching and develop a future research agenda.