Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / The key objective of this mixed method research study was to establish the influence of coaching on the work engagement and burnout levels of a corporate leadership group. Previous literature reviews support the importance and impact of work engagement and burnout on business performance, leadership success and continuity. Leaders are under increased pressure to grow business and deal with the diverse business challenges. A highly-engaged leadership team with low levels of burnout thus becomes critical to sustained and successful business. Work engagement and burnout levels in leadership need to be proactively managed and supported in order to remain competitive in business. The literature review of this study furthermore positions coaching, whether group or individual, as impactful leadership and change interventions. To eliminate the possibility of bias and add to the credibility of the study, triangulation was included in the quasi-experimental study. The study included an analysis of both quantitative and qualitative data on the impact of coaching on work engagement and burnout levels. Quantitative data was collected at three intervals over the period of a year, using a work engagement and burnout measurement instrument in the form of a self-administered questionnaire. Qualitative data was collected through in-depth individual interviews with all participants and coaches, which occurred after all interventions and measurements were completed. This study provides quantitative and qualitative supported insights into the influence of coaching on the work engagement and burnout levels of an executive leadership team in a specific service area of a corporate organisation. Insights were obtained about the variance of work engagement and burnout levels at a group level, after voluntary group and individual coaching interventions. These variances were compared to those of the work engagement and burnout levels of the control group, who received no coaching interventions. The study established that coaching has a statistically significant positive impact on the burnout levels of both the experimental and control groups, due to the ‘carry-over’ effect of the measurement and communication process. This positive impact on burnout can therefore not be solely ascribed to the coaching intervention. The study also established that coaching has a positive impact on leadership work engagement, but which is not statistically significant. Improvements to the measurement and coaching processes are required in order for the coaching support programme to become a sustainable and even more effective part of leadership support in the organisation. The study confirmed previous research on the existence of burnout and engagement challenges in leaders. It also confirmed research that positions coaching as an effective leadership support mechanism. The recommendations are that work engagement and burnout be measured continuously in the organisation as part of its business management cycle to ensure awareness, proactive support and management of work engagement and burnout in leaders. Coaching is recommended as an effective mechanism to assist leaders with their engagement and burnout challenges. Due to the study’s limited scope, recommendations for future research, such as comparative studies, extension studies with larger sub-samples, longitudinal studies and on-going practice in the field have been made.

As alternativas de programas de desenvolvimento de executivos, como o mentoring, o counseling e o coaching, crescem em popularidade nas organizações com vistas ao desenvolvimento destes profissionais. Entretanto, percebe-se ausência de congruência no entendimento dos autores e dos consultores sobre as diferenças conceituais entre as atividades, sobre seus propósitos e sobre os resultados esperados. A presente dissertação tem como objetivo verificar se há congruência na percepção dos envolvidos (i.e., a organização, o coachee e o coach) sobre os programas de coaching contratados por duas organizações; através de uma pesquisa exploratória e qualitativa com emprego de técnicas de análise de conteúdo. As análises buscam responder ao seguinte problema de pesquisa: Há congruência na percepção dos envolvidos sobre o programa de coaching contratado pela organização?. O resultado da pesquisa evidencia que: i) não há congruência sobre o propósito da contratação do programa de coaching: ii) não há, entre os envolvidos, congruência na percepção sobre o que caracteriza um programa de coaching, não o diferenciando do mentoring e, principalmente, do counseling; iii) não há congruência sobre a avaliação e o monitoramento dos resultados do programa de coaching contratado, assim como das etapas que o constituem; e iv) ao se analisarem, contudo, os programas separadamente, não há congruência entre os envolvidos no primeiro programa, mas há aparente congruência entre os envolvidos no segundo programa. / The popularity of developmental relationship programs, such as mentoring, counseling and coaching, has grown within the organizations as an alternative for the development of their executives. However, no common understanding is easily found among scholars and consultants as for conceptual differences involving such programs and their goals and expected results. Drawing on an exploratory study, through a qualitative research applying content analysis, this thesis aims at investigating patterns of perception reported by different stakeholders involved in two executive coaching programs, namely the firm ordering this service, the executive coachee and the external coach. Data analysis aims at providing answers to the research question \"Is it possible to find a pattern in the perception of all those involved in a coaching program?\" Results point out that: i) there is no congruence in the stakeholders\' perception of the aims of hiring a coaching program; ii) there is no congruence in the stakeholders\' perception of the typical features of a coaching program, participants reportedly equating coaching to mentoring and primarily to counseling activities; iii) there is no congruence in the reports of coaching stages as well of result assessment and monitoring; and iv) by analyzing the programs separately, there is no congruence in the stakeholders involved in one of the programs, whereas some patterns can be found among those involved in a second coaching program.

There has been growing interest in the field of business management in developing methods to improve management competency. One popular management development method has been executive coaching, but because of the unique needs of business executives, executive coaches are constantly looking for new and more effective methods to work with business executives’ life, career, physical, and psychological problems. There has not been an agreed upon solution discovered to solve this problem. On the one hand, it was proposed that there is a need for executive coaches to employ psychotherapeutic methods in coaching to meet the psychological demands of business executives. But on the other hand, there are numerous issues related to standardizing executive coaching methods, qualifying executive coaches, and resolving ethical dilemmas. The author of this thesis views this issue as an over expectation of society of individuals in positions of power and responsibility. This thesis uses social theories to explore the expectations behind the high demands on the performance of business executives, and to illuminate the degree to which executive coaching engages psychotherapy. The findings of this study show that certain themes such as business skills, leadership, self-development, success, interpersonal skills, and achieve work-life balance dominates the advertisements of executive coaching professionals. These advertisements also use rhetorical devices to make these skills seem attractive and important to possess, which inevitably impacts on the view of self of executives and stimulates their desire to self- improve. It was also found that 21.26% of the advertised executive coaching services could be promoted by psychotherapists instead.

As alternativas de programas de desenvolvimento de executivos, como o mentoring, o counseling e o coaching, crescem em popularidade nas organizações com vistas ao desenvolvimento destes profissionais. Entretanto, percebe-se ausência de congruência no entendimento dos autores e dos consultores sobre as diferenças conceituais entre as atividades, sobre seus propósitos e sobre os resultados esperados. A presente dissertação tem como objetivo verificar se há congruência na percepção dos envolvidos (i.e., a organização, o coachee e o coach) sobre os programas de coaching contratados por duas organizações; através de uma pesquisa exploratória e qualitativa com emprego de técnicas de análise de conteúdo. As análises buscam responder ao seguinte problema de pesquisa: Há congruência na percepção dos envolvidos sobre o programa de coaching contratado pela organização?. O resultado da pesquisa evidencia que: i) não há congruência sobre o propósito da contratação do programa de coaching: ii) não há, entre os envolvidos, congruência na percepção sobre o que caracteriza um programa de coaching, não o diferenciando do mentoring e, principalmente, do counseling; iii) não há congruência sobre a avaliação e o monitoramento dos resultados do programa de coaching contratado, assim como das etapas que o constituem; e iv) ao se analisarem, contudo, os programas separadamente, não há congruência entre os envolvidos no primeiro programa, mas há aparente congruência entre os envolvidos no segundo programa. / The popularity of developmental relationship programs, such as mentoring, counseling and coaching, has grown within the organizations as an alternative for the development of their executives. However, no common understanding is easily found among scholars and consultants as for conceptual differences involving such programs and their goals and expected results. Drawing on an exploratory study, through a qualitative research applying content analysis, this thesis aims at investigating patterns of perception reported by different stakeholders involved in two executive coaching programs, namely the firm ordering this service, the executive coachee and the external coach. Data analysis aims at providing answers to the research question \"Is it possible to find a pattern in the perception of all those involved in a coaching program?\" Results point out that: i) there is no congruence in the stakeholders\' perception of the aims of hiring a coaching program; ii) there is no congruence in the stakeholders\' perception of the typical features of a coaching program, participants reportedly equating coaching to mentoring and primarily to counseling activities; iii) there is no congruence in the reports of coaching stages as well of result assessment and monitoring; and iv) by analyzing the programs separately, there is no congruence in the stakeholders involved in one of the programs, whereas some patterns can be found among those involved in a second coaching program.

Whilst the topic of leadership has been widely studied it remains little understood, particularly at the first-level line of leadership, especially as it relates to developing countries such as Kuwait. This study critically analyses and presents the needs, skills and capabilities of frontline leaders working in the Kuwait’s Oil and Gas Sector companies. It also examines how such needs and competencies can be developed so as to make these leaders more effective in leading functional units (teams) and to improve organisational performance overall. The study produces a frontline leadership needs and skills development framework that contributes to a better understanding of leadership in a Middle Eastern country (Kuwait), taking into account important contextual factors that influence leadership. Influenced by a social constructivist philosophy and based on qualitative evidence gathered from 42 Team Leaders, the essential leadership needs neglected by previous literature (and possibly lacking in Kuwait) were: business knowledge, technical skills, leadership and managerial skills, communication skills, decision-making skills and change management skills. These leadership needs reflected what the third line leaders understood and personally believed to be essential leadership dimensions for them to be effective and to competently undertake their work. These leadership needs constituted the foundation for their present and future leadership development in order to enhance their leadership capabilities. However, no single methodology was identified as a ‘one size fits all’ solution to meeting the development needs of the Team Leaders. Nevertheless, on the job-training was considered to be the most effective approach to develop these skills and capabilities. It is recommended that top management, and in particular human resources departments within the Oil and Gas Sector companies should continuously identify the needs of third-line leaders and focus on developing skills and competencies considered to be lacking and the most important by these frontline leaders, rather than offering a raft of seemingly unconnected development activities.

Executive coaching has been described as a multibillion dollar enterprise (Ennis, 2004) costing some organisations up to $15,000 (USD) a day (Berglas, 2002). Executive coaching has also been reported as the second fastest growth industry (Wasylyshyn, 2003). Despite these astounding figures, empirical executive coaching research is still limited, thus more randomised, controlled studies are required (Grant, 2005). There is a fundamental need for high quality research to demonstrate the effects of executive coaching and provide justification for the level of commitment expended. The current research program addressed this need through three studies which together provide empirical evidence as to the psychological and behavioural effects of executive coaching. In the first study, twenty-three leaders from a year long transformational leadership development program volunteered to participate in six sessions of executive coaching. The study examined the effects of executive coaching on leaders’ psychological states, specifically, their self-efficacy, developmental support, positive affect, openness to new behaviours and developmental planning. The study had an experimental design with random assignment of leaders to training and control groups which provided a rigorous basis to distinguish the effects of executive coaching from the effects of other leadership interventions in the program. Comparison of the training group (after six executive coaching sessions) with the control group (who had not received coaching) revealed that the training group reported significantly higher levels of self-efficacy, developmental support, openness to new behaviours, and developmental planning compared with the control group. No significant effects were observed for positive affect. Further analysis, however, revealed that the significant differences between the training group and the control group were due to a decrease in the control group before they commenced executive coaching, rather than because the training group increased on the psychological measures after participating in executive coaching. It was proposed that this pattern of results occurred because the pre-coaching measures were obtained at the end of a two day training workshop, when the psychological measures may have already been relatively high. Thus, the effect of executive coaching was to sustain the impact of the workshop for the training group. A longitudinal analysis was also carried out in Study One to examine whether the effects of executive coaching on the psychological variables were sustained over time. The pattern of change was examined at three time points: time one, prior to the commencement of executive coaching, time two, after the completion of six coaching sessions, and time three, six months after the completion of the six coaching sessions. This analysis was also affected by the training group’s high precoaching measures, but when the analyses were restricted to the control group (n=6) – who by this stage had received executive coaching, significant change over time was observed on all of the study measures, which was sustained up to six months after the completion of regular coaching sessions. However, because the control group sample was small, these findings were tested again in Study Two. The primary aim of Study Two though was to evaluate effects of executive coaching on transformational leadership behaviour, measured with self, supervisor and team member ratings. Twenty-seven leaders participated in this study. In the first instance, an experimental design was used to investigate whether leaders in the training group, who had been exposed to executive coaching, received higher ratings in transformational leadership behaviour compared with leaders in the control group. In the second instance this study examined whether there was change in transformational behaviour over time, observed in the area that was the focus of leaders’ developmental efforts. Both approaches yielded similar findings in that the team member feedback identified significant improvement in leaders’ transformational leadership behaviour after executive coaching. There were no significant changes in leaders’ self or supervisor ratings after executive coaching. When the psychological effects of executive coaching were re-examined in Study Two, the expected differences were observed between the training and control groups. However, once again, the data from the training group failed to show the anticipated pattern of improvement over time. This failure was attributed to the small sample size and low statistical power. Consequently, a final analysis was conducted combining the data from leaders who participated in Study One and Study Two. This analysis measured change in leaders’ psychological states from pre-to post-executive coaching and confirmed that after executive coaching leaders experienced effects in the five psychological states measured. Thus, overall, the data from the two studies supported the psychological impact of executive coaching. In Study Three a qualitative approach was employed to triangulate the quantitative results from Study One and Study Two. Eight leaders were randomly identified from the Study One and Study Two samples, and interviews were carried out with these leaders, their supervisors, two team members and their coaches (a total of 40 interviews). The interview data confirmed the effect of executive coaching on the previously investigated psychological variables and also identified coaching as providing leaders with a sense of greater control. In terms of transformational leadership behaviours, all participants in the study identified improvements in leaders’ behaviour, particularly in communication, and the transformational leadership dimensions of intellectual stimulation, inspirational motivation and individualised consideration. One further aim of Study Three was to investigate the environmental conditions to determine the impact they had on the effectiveness of executive coaching. Constant change and high work load were most frequently identified as restricting participants’ ability to benefit from executive coaching. Overall, this program of research has demonstrated leadership development through executive coaching. The studies revealed that executive coaching positively enhanced the psychological states of self-efficacy, developmental support, positive affect, openness to new behaviours, and developmental planning. Impressively, the results also showed that executive coaching had sustained effects on some of the psychological states, and on team members’ perceptions of their leader’s transformational leadership behaviour. Practically, these findings justify the use of executive coaching in organisational settings. Theoretically, these outcomes augment the limited body of knowledge in this area.

Submitted by Adriana Amorim de Castro e Silva (adriana_aces@yahoo.com.br) on 2017-01-05T15:20:05Z No. of bitstreams: 1 DISSERT ADRIANA AMORIM_VF.pdf: 1774076 bytes, checksum: c6df63e051f55b576d488d40a8dc0933 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Janete de Oliveira Feitosa (janete.feitosa@fgv.br) on 2017-01-09T11:55:09Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 DISSERT ADRIANA AMORIM_VF.pdf: 1774076 bytes, checksum: c6df63e051f55b576d488d40a8dc0933 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-01-17T12:37:39Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 DISSERT ADRIANA AMORIM_VF.pdf: 1774076 bytes, checksum: c6df63e051f55b576d488d40a8dc0933 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-12-07 / Esta dissertação teve como problema de pesquisa 'como as empresas brasileiras, contratantes do serviço de coaching externo, avaliam e/ou medem os resultados do coaching executivo?' Os objetivos desta pesquisa referem-se a: entender como a avaliação e medição de resultados em coaching tem sido tratada na literatura dentro e fora do Brasil, quais modelos são discutidos, trazer novos insumos para a discussão sobre avaliação e medição de resultados em coaching por parte das empresas brasileiras que contratam este serviço, bem como dar visibilidade ao mercado de coaching sobre como as empresas aferem os resultados do coaching. A metodologia utilizada foi a pesquisa qualitativa, de caráter exploratório-descritivo, considerando uma amostragem não probabilística, usando a seleção por julgamento. Para isto foram realizadas entrevistas semiestruturadas em profundidade com nove profissionais de RH responsáveis pela cadeia de valor do coaching: contratação, acompanhamento e avaliação de resultados. A técnica de análise das entrevistas foi a análise de conteúdo à luz das seguintes categorias: acompanhamento, avaliação de resultados, novas formas e eficácia. Os resultados da pesquisa demonstraram que as empresas não possuem uma metodologia própria de avaliação de resultados de coaching e que utilizam as desenhadas pelas consultorias fornecedoras de coaching, embora haja controvérsias quanto à adoção destas. De maneira geral, as empresas desejam uma forma de avaliação que seja capaz de demonstrar os resultados, sejam eles comportamentais ou financeiros, de forma mais tangível. / This dissertation had as research problem 'how Brazilian companies, that hire the external coaching service, evaluate and/ or measure the results of executive coaching?' The objectives of this research refer to understand how the evaluation and measurement of results has been treated in literature in and out of Brazil; which models are discussed, bring new inputs to the discussion on evaluation and measurement in coaching results by Brazilian companies that hire this service and give visibility to the coaching market about how companies appraise coaching results. The methodology used was the qualitative research, exploratory and descriptive, considering non-probability sample, by judgment selection. For this purpose, were conducted in-depth semi-structured interviews with nine HR professionals responsible for coaching’s value chain: contracting, monitoring and evaluation of results. The interviews’ analysis technique was content analysis in light of the following categories: monitoring, results evaluation, new forms and effectiveness. The survey results showed that companies do not have an own methodology for evaluating coaching results and use the ones drawn by coaching supplying consulting, although there is controversy regarding the adoption of these. In general, companies want a form of evaluation that is able to demonstrate results, whether behavioral or financial, more tangibly.

Submitted by Ana Pliopas (analuisavieira@uol.com.br) on 2018-07-13T17:36:57Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese Ana Pliopas Final.pdf: 5918850 bytes, checksum: 095b485a22d53c9258dab0acec76ca83 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Debora Nunes Ferreira (debora.nunes@fgv.br) on 2018-07-16T15:20:24Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese Ana Pliopas Final.pdf: 5918850 bytes, checksum: 095b485a22d53c9258dab0acec76ca83 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Suzane Guimarães (suzane.guimaraes@fgv.br) on 2018-07-16T16:47:42Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese Ana Pliopas Final.pdf: 5918850 bytes, checksum: 095b485a22d53c9258dab0acec76ca83 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-07-16T16:47:42Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese Ana Pliopas Final.pdf: 5918850 bytes, checksum: 095b485a22d53c9258dab0acec76ca83 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-06-11 / Coaching é empregado por organizações para propiciar desenvolvimento a executivos, desde a década de oitenta, e seu uso aumenta desde então. A despeito da vasta utilização em organizações, os poucos estudos sobre as relações que se estabelecem entre o coachee, o coach e a organização evidenciam a complexidade dessas relações, em que há agendas múltiplas de jogos de poder. Há portanto oportunidade para o aprofundamento do entendimento de relações triangulares e diádicas em coaching executivo. Este estudo é relevante à medida que aprofunda o entendimento de uma prática organizacional frequentemente empregada, porém com poucos estudos sobre as relações entre coachees, coaches e organização. O estudo está fundamentado na perspectiva teórica do construcionismo social, que visa a entender como as pessoas dão sentidos ao mundo onde vivem e ao que fazem, ampliando assim as opções de entendimento de um fenômeno. A abordagem metodológica adotada foi a grounded theory, conduzida de maneira coerente com o construcionismo social. Os dados foram obtidos com entrevistas de 45 pessoas, sendo 16 coachees, 15 coaches e 14 profissionais de Administração de Recursos Humanos. Como resultado do estudo, três sentidos principais sobre as dinâmicas das relações entre o coachee, o coach e a organização foram elaborados. Primeiramente as relações triangulares e diádicas presentes em coaching executivo foram ressignificadas, com a sugestão de que as relações entre os diferentes atores em coaching executivo têm relevância e dinâmicas distintas. A relação entre o coach e o coachee é fundamental e a manutenção do sigilo do conteúdo das sessões de coaching primordial para a preservação de tal relação. Independentemente disso, a organização permeia a relação entre o coachee e e o coach, à medida que há expectativas de que contas sejam prestadas à organização. Também foi elaborado um contínuo no qual diferentes discursos de coaching foram posicionados. Esse contínuo chama atenção para um paradoxo de coaching executivo: quanto mais o processo de coaching se aproxima do discurso gerencial de coaching, dando mais atenção ao desenvolvimento de competências do executivo para atingir metas organizacionais, mais coaching assume um caráter instrumental, o que subtrai do coachee sua relevância no processo, com a potencialidade de tornar o processo de coaching inócuo. Finalmente há a proposição de uma dimensão vertical de coaching executivo acerca de temas que coaches e coachees percorrem em sessões de coaching. Esse sentido traz uma perspectiva integradora de coaching, no qual diferentes olhares permitem ao coachee elaborar sentidos sobre os temas de seu desenvolvimento. / Organizations have employed coaching to develop executives since the 1980s, and such practice has increased since then. Despite its wide use in organizations, there are few studies about the relationships established between the coachee, the coach and the organization, and such studies focus on the complexity of such relationships, in which there are multiple agendas of power games. Therefore, there is opportunity to deepen the understanding of triangular and dyadic relationships in executive coaching. This study is relevant as it deepens the understanding of a frequently employed organizational practice, but with few studies on the relationships between coachees, coaches and organization. The work is based on the social constructivist theoretical perspective, which aims to understand how people make sense of the world they live in and what they do, broadening, this way, the options for understanding a phenomenon. The methodological approach adopted was grounded theory, conducted in a manner consistent with social constructionism. Data were obtained with interviews of 45 people, being 16 coachees, 15 coaches and 14 professionals of Human Resources Administration. As result of the study, three main meanings on the dynamics of the relationships between the coachee, the coach and the organization were elaborated. Firstly, the triangular and dyadic relationships present in executive coaching were re-signified, suggesting that the relationships between the different actors in executive coaching have different dynamics and relevance. The relationship between the coach and the coachee is fundamental, and the maintenance of the confidentiality of the coaching sessions content, essential for preserving such relationship. Despite the importance of such relationship, the organization permeates the relationship between the coachee and the coach, since it is expected that coach and coachee will also comply with the interest of the organization. Another result elaborated from the study was a continuum, in which different coaching discourses were positioned. This continuum highlights a paradox present in executive coaching: the closer the coaching process is to the managerial discourse of coaching, prioritizing skills development to achieve organizational goals, the more coaching may assume an instrumental quality, subtracting the coachee’s relevance from the process. This has the potential to make the coaching process innocuous. Finally, a vertical dimension of executive coaching is proposed, which address topics that coaches and coachees go through during coaching sessions. This meaning offers an integrative perspective of coaching, in which different perspectives allow coachees to make meaning about their development.

No description available.

Legislators are placing increased pressure on mining companies to improve their safety performance. The importance of safety leadership is highlighted by its role in safety culture and improving safety performance. The aim of this study was to develop and evaluate the impact of a coaching program on safety leadership. The main constructs namely safety culture, safety leadership and coaching was conceptualised along the humanistic paradigm, with theoretical definitions and models. In this study, safety culture is employees’ shared attitudes, beliefs, perceptions and values about safety that affect their behaviour in the workplace. Safety leadership is the interpersonal influence that a leader exercises to achieve the organisation’s safety performance goals. Coaching is an interpersonal interaction that aims to improve individual performance through increased selfawareness and action plans. A theoretical model was developed to explain the elements that constitute effective safety leadership. A coaching program was developed based on executive coaching and leadership development principles. The empirical investigation was conducted in an organisation in the South African mining industry. A nested mixed methods design was followed. In the quantitative study, a 360 degree survey was employed to assess the ratings of a purposive sample (n=54) along eight dimensions before and after the coaching. Data was analysed with descriptive and inferential analysis. Results showed statistically significant improvements on accountability, collaboration, and feedback and recognition after the coaching. The results reflected differences in 360 degree ratings according to gender, race, job level, age and geographical location. The most significant improvements were for females, Africans, management, age 51-60 years, and site 2. In the qualitative study, a semi-structured interview was employed to study four cases to investigate managers’ personal experiences and changes in attitude toward safety. Data was analysed utilising thematic analysis. The findings revealed that coaching was a positive experience and contributed to changing managers’ attitudes toward safety. The research added to the field of organisational behaviour by presenting a theoretical model that enhances the understanding of safety leadership, the development of a coaching program and providing empirical evidence that the principles of coaching and leadership development can be applied to improve safety leadership. / Industrial & Organisational Psychology / D. Admin. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)