Exploring the Nexus Between One-on-One Coaching and Coaching Culture: Examining How Employee Experiences of Coaching in the Workplace May Lead to Cultural Change

Abstract

One-on-one coaching in the workplace is intensive; and the type of widespread coaching sometimes said to lead to coaching culture represents a significant investment. However, coaching’s returns on investment beyond the individual level are difficult to ascertain. I conducted this qualitative case study to add to our understanding of those returns and of the potential for the development of coaching culture as a result of those returns.

The case for this study was a coaching program established by a United States federal government agency in 2019. Since then, one-on-one coaching and other forms of coaching have been made widely available to agency employees. I interviewed employee program managers, coaches, and coachees to examine how they described the extent to which one-on-one coaching has changed their behaviors and their perceptions regarding working with their teammates at the organization.

The study results suggest that leaders can expect positive results when deploying one-on-one coaching in their organizations to support the personal and professional development of the individual members of their organizations, and to improve the relationships and collaboration among those individuals. The results of the study also suggest, however, that leaders should not expect that the mere accumulation of individual effects from one-on-one coaching and other elements of a coaching program will somehow automatically create organizational culture change. Leaders deploying widespread coaching to change their organizational cultures should instead intentionally reinforce the effects of coaching in the same ways that other cultural change must be reinforced, with key organizational change interventions, along with other leadership and communication initiatives that go beyond coaching. This is especially critical with large, dynamic, and dispersed organizations, which will require the accumulation of effects well beyond just a few relationships.

As a qualitative case study, this study focused on generating new understanding rather than validating facts, causes and effects, or theory. The paper concludes by contributing recommendations related to theory, practice, and future research.