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

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.