The effect of workplace coaching on employee performance: the case of Tri An factory, Nestlé Vietnam

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY
--------------------oOo--------------------

PHAM HUU CHINH

THE EFFECT OF WORKPLACE COACHING
ON EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE: THE CASE OF
TRI AN FACTORY, NESTLÉ VIETNAM

EXECUTIVE MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

HO CHI MINH CITY – 2018


MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY
--------------------oOo--------------------

PHAM HUU CHINH

THE EFFECT OF WORKPLACE COACHING
ON EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE: THE CASE OF
TRI AN FACTORY, NESTLÉ VIETNAM

Major: Business Administration
(Executive Master of Business Administration)
Code: 8340101

ECONOMIC MASTER THESIS

SUPERVISOR:
Prof. NGUYEN DONG PHONG, Ph.D.

HO CHI MINH CITY – 2018


STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY
I confirm that this master thesis is based on my independent research. The
figures and results presented in this thesis are real data from survey conducted by
the author with assistance of employees of Tri An Factory (TAF), Nestlé Vietnam
Company.
Proposals, solutions and recommendations were drawn from this study based on
operation evaluation as well as on comments and advices of TAF Management
Board.
I am fully responsible for eventual errors or fault caused.

Author of the thesis

Pham Huu Chinh


TABLE OF CONTENT

LIST OF FIGURES
LIST OF TABLES
CHAPTER ONE ................................................................................................... 1
INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................. 1
1.1.

Introduction .............................................................................................................. 1

1.2.

About Nestlé Group, Nestlé Vietnam Company and Tri An Factory ............................. 3

1.3.

Problem statement ..................................................................................................... 5

1.4.

Objective of the study ................................................................................................ 6

1.5.

Research questions .................................................................................................... 7

1.6.

Subjects of the study ................................................................................................. 7

1.7.

Scope and limitation of the study ............................................................................... 7

1.8.

Framework of the study ............................................................................................. 8

1.9.

Research structure ..................................................................................................... 9

CHAPTER TWO ................................................................................................ 11
LITERATURE REVIEW .................................................................................... 11
2.1.

Introduction ............................................................................................................ 11

2.2.

Workplace Coaching ............................................................................................... 11

2.2.1.

The origin and concept of coaching ................................................................... 11

2.2.2.

Definitions and essential principles of coaching ................................................. 12

2.2.3.

Why workplace coaching? ................................................................................ 14

2.2.4.

Some key factors for coaching effectiveness ...................................................... 15

2.2.4.1. Building the trustworthy coach-coachee relationship........................... 15

2.2.4.2. Providing needed support to employees ............................................. 16
2.2.4.3. Enhancing employee awareness ....................................................... 17
2.2.4.4. Promoting employee motivation ....................................................... 19
2.3.

Employee performance ............................................................................................ 20

2.4.

Relationship between workplace coach and employee performance ............................ 22

2.5.

Summary ................................................................................................................ 23

CHAPTER THREE ............................................................................................. 25
RESEARCH METHODS..................................................................................... 25
3.1.

Introduction ............................................................................................................ 25

3.2.

Research Design ..................................................................................................... 25

3.3.

Target Population .................................................................................................... 25

3.4.

Sample Size and Sampling approach ........................................................................ 25

3.5.

Questionnaire ......................................................................................................... 26

3.5.1.

Common sources of error ................................................................................. 26

3.5.2.

Construction of the questionnaire ...................................................................... 27

3.5.3.

Pre-testing and validation ................................................................................. 28

3.6.

Validity .................................................................................................................. 28

3.7.

Reliability............................................................................................................... 28

3.8.

Data Collection Method ........................................................................................... 29

3.9.

Methods of Data Analysis ........................................................................................ 30

3.10. Ethical Considerations ............................................................................................. 31
3.11. Summary ................................................................................................................ 31

CHAPTER FOUR ............................................................................................... 32
ANALYSIS OF RESULTS................................................................................... 32
4.1.

Introduction ............................................................................................................ 32

4.2.

Sample Description ................................................................................................. 32

4.3.

Evaluate the reliability of measurement scales........................................................... 36

4.4.

Critical factors of the coaching effectiveness ............................................................. 37

4.4.1.

Coach – Coachee Relationship .......................................................................... 37

4.4.2.

Employee Awareness ....................................................................................... 39

4.4.3.

Employee Motivation ....................................................................................... 41

4.4.4.

Support given to employees .............................................................................. 42

4.4.5.

Summary ........................................................................................................ 43

4.5.

The Effect of Workplace Coaching on Employee Performance................................... 44

4.5.1.

Employee performance .................................................................................... 44

4.5.2.

Correlation between workplace coaching effectiveness and employee performance ..
....................................................................................................................... 46

4.6.

Management discussion about the findings ............................................................... 49

4.7.

Summary ................................................................................................................ 51

CHAPTER FIVE................................................................................................. 53
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS .................................................... 53
5.1.

Conclusion of the study ........................................................................................... 53

5.2.

Recommendations ................................................................................................... 54

5.3.

Limitations and suggestions for future research ......................................................... 58

REFERENCES
APPENDICES


LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1.1: The relationship between dependent and independent variables............. 9
Figure 4.1: Role of employees in coaching practices at TAF .................................. 34
Figure 4.2: Status of employee training about coaching .......................................... 34

Figure 4.3: Response frequency about coach-coachee relationship ......................... 37
Figure 4.4: Employee responding to question CR2 .................................................. 38
Figure 4.5: Response frequency about employee awareness ................................... 39
Figure 4.6: Response frequency about employee motivation. ................................. 41
Figure 4.7: Response frequency about support given in coaching ........................... 42
Figure 4.8: Response frequency about employee performance ............................... 44


LIST OF TABLES
Table 4.1: Distribution of Demographic Information .............................................. 33
Table 4.2: Employees who haven’t joined the training about coaching .................. 35
Table 4.3: The reliability of measurement scales ..................................................... 36
Table 4.4: Detail results of relationship in coaching. ............................................... 38
Table 4.5: Detail results of employee awareness...................................................... 40
Table 4.6: Detail results of employee motivation. .................................................... 41
Table 4.7: Detail results of support given to employees in coaching. ..................... 43
Table 4.8: Employee performance results from coaching activities ........................ 45
Table 4.9: Key factors of workplace coaching effectiveness and employee
performance. .............................................................................................................. 46
Table 4.10: Different demographic groups impacting to coaching .......................... 47


ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to determine how the use of workplace coaching
as a human management and development tool can facilitate improvements to
employee performance and in turn providing a platform to increase the competitive
advantage of the organization. The study was carried out at Tri An Factory (TAF),
Nestlé Vietnam company and it comprises of a literature review, which includes the
concept and essential principles of coaching, some key drivers of effective
coaching, the employee performance and the correlation between workplace

coaching and employee performance. A quantitative research approach was used
for this study with the participation of 190 employees from all working positions
within TAF.
The findings of the study revealed that workplace coaching is an effective
human management and development tool at TAF and it has positive impacts on
employee performance. The key factors, which contributed to workplace coaching
effectiveness, were building trustful coach-coachee relationship, enhancing the
awareness and motivation of employees, and giving them the needed support. The
employee performance was determined by employee work productivity, product
quality and customer satisfaction. All were improved as the results of workplace
coaching.
Whilst the study proved the effectiveness of workplace coaching and its positive
impacts on employee performance, the findings also showed that there are
opportunities for further improvements to workplace coaching at TAF. The areas of
improvements identified are using appropriate approach for each individual/ group
based on their preference, promoting employee understanding about purposes and
benefits of coaching, spending more time to coach employees, building criteria and
using those to measure the effectiveness of coaching sessions.


1

CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION

1.1. Introduction
In the present business environment, organizations are subjected to increased
competition, fast-paced change, increased demands from customers and different
stakeholders. These factors are putting a huge pressure on organizations. To
compete and take the lead, companies are more conscious of their need of a

competent, motivated and productive workforce which is considered as a
distinctive and inimitable advantage.
Since the traditional employee development does not always deliver the desired
results, organizations often use coaching as a way to develop employee selfconfidence, self-efficacy, and contribute to actions that create results (Passmore and
Fillery-Travis, 2011). The reason behind this trend could be that coaching is about
helping people to improve their performance not by telling them what to do but by
enabling them to learn how to change, making coaching a widely recognized tool.
Coaching is a well-established practice that researchers have defined in different
ways. According to Smither (2011) coaching “is a one-to-one learning and
development intervention that uses a collaborative, reflective, goal-focused
relationship to achieve professional outcomes that are valued by the coachee”
(Smither, 2011, p.137). Grant (2001) defined coaching as a collaborative, solutionfocused, result-orientated systematic process, in which the coach facilitates the
enhancement of the coachee’s performance in various domains and fosters selfdirected learning, goal attainment and personal growth of the coachee.
From a different angle, coaching is a term often related to the sports industry.
Athletes often pay astronomical wages to the best individuals in their field to coach
them. In most of these cases, the coach does not manage them or tell them what to
do but rather tries to get the best out of them by transforming physical and
psychological strengths into competency. The coach’s job is to support, guide and
motivate the coachee to gain a better understanding of themselves in order to
enable them to reach the peak of their capabilities (Whitmore, 2004).


2

By applying this philosophy in workplace coaching, it can help individuals to
realize their strengths and weaknesses. Enabling them to find the answer to what
works better for them rather than giving them the answers ready on the plate.
Coaching aims to empower people and help them to discover their potential
abilities and talents instead of focusing on what they cannot do (Wright, 2005).
After all, coaching is about unlocking people’s potential with the intention to

improve/maximize their performance (Whitmore, 2004); a coach does not teach but
rather helps the coachee to learn. Coaching can be a challenging endeavor for the
coachee as well as the coach. It is essential for the coach to have a clear
understanding of their roles and responsibilities as well as being equipped with the
desired behaviors and characteristics that can enable all parties involved to gain the
best experience from the coaching sessions (Grant, 2006).
Success of a coaching process heavily depends on the trustful relationships
between the coach and the employee (Wu, Cheng and Huang, 2010). Thus while
using coaching method, the coach first understands the cultural diversity of the
individual employee (Serrat 2010). The cultural diversity such as religion, race,
color, belief systems, gender, and ethnicity among others may considerably affect
the coach and coachee relationships (Wilkesmann & Fischer, 2009). The outcome
of coaching for employees includes enhanced self-awareness, enhanced knowledge
and skills, greater motivation and morale, improved clarity about career direction,
increased innovation which all lead to improved performance (Stolmack and
Martin, 2011).
Despite the global popularity of coaching, there is a shortage in the number of
empirical studies exploring the effects of workplace coaching on employee
performance. More specifically, there is an absence of such studies in Vietnam,
especially in the manufacturing sector. The typical respondents being surveyed in
those researches were mainly managers or coaches who have delivered the
coaching sessions but not coachees who have received the coaching sessions.
Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine some key factors linking
workplace coaching to employee performance, through analyzing the perception of
coaches and coachees. The key factors investigated were the coach-coachee


3

relationship, the awareness and motivation of coachees (employees), and the

support given to them.
The conclusion provided would offer the recommendations on how to better
coach employees to enhance their performance.

1.2. About Nestlé Group, Nestlé Vietnam Company and Tri An Factory
Nestlé Group is a Swiss-based company specialized in manufacturing and
trading of processed dairy and foods with famous brands such as NAN, Nescafé
Milo, Maggi, and KitKat. The company was founded in 1866 by Henri Nestlé, a
Swiss pharmacist. Today, Nestlé has more than 10,000 different types of products
manufactured from nearly 500 plants in 130 countries and each day Nestlé sells out
more than 1 billion units worldwide.
Nestlé has its presence at Saigon since 1912 and stopped doing business in
Vietnam in 1972. In 1992, Lavie Company, a joint-venture between Perrier Vittel
of Nestlé and a Long An Trading Company was founded. In 1993, Nestlé officially
returned to Vietnam and opened a representative office in Ho Chi Minh City. In
1995, Nestlé Vietnam was born and the construction of its first manufacturing site
named Dong Nai Factory (DNF) started. Up to now, Nestlé Vietnam has four
factories, three in Dong Nai province and one in Hung Yen province.
Tri An Factory (TAF) as one of those, is located at Amata Industrial Zone, Bien
Hoa City, Dong Nai Province. The total investment of Nestlé to build TAF was
nearly 300 million USD. The factory started to be built in March 2011 and put in
commercial operation from December 2012 onwards. It is one of thirty-two Nestlé
coffee manufacturing plants worldwide and is the largest factory in Southeast Asia
with the most advanced technology in the world.
So far, TAF has two processing lines being operated - Pure Soluble Coffee
powder (PSC) and Decaffeinated Green Coffee bean (DGC), supplying semifinished products to other Nestlé factories in Vietnam as well as other markets all
over the world. The PSC line was put in commercial operation in 2012 and the
DGC line was commissioned in 2014. Currently the extension of TAF’s
manufacturing capacity is ongoing by including a Nescafé Dolce Gusto (NDG)
production line, which is put into commercial operation as of July 2018. The NDG

4

plant will produce and supply premium coffee capsule products for 13 countries in
Asia and Oceania (Australia and New Zealand), including Vietnam.
TAF has a total headcount of 248 people in which 19 persons are at Management
level and 229 persons are at Non-Management level. The educational background
of TAF workforce consists of 54% people graduated from University or higher
levels, 21% graduated from College and the rest graduated from Vocational School
or High School. Most of TAF employees are male, occupying 86% of the
workforce; only 14% of population is female mainly working in office environment
or as clerks.
After more than five years of operation, TAF employees have gained a lot of
knowledge and experiences. The factory has been spending a significant amount of
money, time and effort in training and developing its people. From 2013 up to
2017, TAF has provided 69,297 man-hours for training, creating a favorable
environment for people’s learning, working and development.
Beside the above traditional practices of human resource development,
workplace coaching has been applied from first days of TAF operation. Coaching is
one of the mandatory leadership competencies required for employees, especially
for managers and supervisors; and it is considered as a powerful tool in developing
people and promoting their performance. More than 80% of TAF employees have
been trained about basic coaching competency and therefore many of them have
been in the role of a coach or/ and a coachee during their daily routine.
Coaching is normally used during face-to-face, one-to-one discussion between a
coach and a coachee. Managers mainly use the tool to coach their subordinates in
order to motivate them doing their best in work and encourage them to actively
participate in changes.
Next to above points, coaching has been used to enhance self-awareness of

employees. Knowing their strengths and weaknesses, their potential capability
encourages them to be confident in taking challenges, and to find the improved
ways of doing things.
Last but not least, coaching is used to help employees seeing issues and
situations from different angles and have the widest view possible. This will enable
them to find the most suitable solution leading to enhanced business contribution.


5

During coaching sessions, coaches also feedback about the employees’ behavior
or performance. It is also a good opportunity to recognize them for good work
done, to listen and get feedbacks from employees about their work and any
difficulties they have. Based on this, the coach can build good relationship with
employees as well as support them to find solution for those difficulties.
There are also cases of employees coaching their colleagues to improve their
functional competencies. An example would be how to operate properly and
efficiently a specific machine or to solve a problem occurred in works.

1.3. Problem statement
Coaching has been applied at TAF for more than five years, starting from the
first days of its operation. However, coaching practices are still not fully utilized
and sustained on the daily routine. Managers struggle to reserve the time for
coaching of their subordinates and do not have yet clear criteria to measure the
effectiveness of coaching.
Besides that, from the strategy of Factory in year 2020 (F2020) introduced by
Nestlé Group from early 2018, the approach regarding performance was changed.
In the past, each division of the company had its own goal specifically to its nature
of operation. For example, Technical Division had the goal of Cost of Production
(COP) while Supply Chain Division had the goal of Cost of Delivery (COD) and

Commercial Divisions had the goal of Product Fixed Marketing Expenses (PFME).
With different goals for different divisions, they did not always support well the
goal of Total Delivery Cost (TDC) – the most important goal of the whole
organization.
By focusing on its own goal, the Technical Division may insistently ask Supply
Chain Division to have a long run for each product, which would help factories
lowering the COP. On the other hand, a long run can affect Supply Chain Division
by requiring more storage space and having high risk of write-off because products
could not be sold all out before getting expired. Financially speaking, a long run
can cause higher working capital and in addition from Marketing and Sale sides, a
negative impact regarding freshness of products and therefore a short remaining
shelf-life products for customers.


6

To conclude, while one division can have benefit of a solution, losses may be
suffered by other divisions and in overall, the organization could be negatively
impacted.
The new approach is that all divisions - Technical, Supply Chain, Human
Resource, Finance or Marketing and Sales, have a common goal of TDC. Silo
thinking and working will hinder the organization to achieve this goal. Thus, the
aim is to break all silo thinking and to work together as one team towards the same
goal.
All solutions and decisions are based on this common (TDC) goal of the
organization. Nestlé Group has cascaded the target to all markets to optimize the
operation and reduce 5% of TDC for each year from 2018 to 2020. It is a very
challenging target for all divisions of Nestlé Vietnam Company in general and for
TAF in particular as the coffee product category has experienced fierce competition
within local market as well as oversea.

With this direction, TAF needs to sustain and further improve its operation to
ensure good quality products delivered while costs are optimized. To win this
challenge, TAF employees, as each individual and as a whole team, must find
better and smarter ways of working. More than ever, employees need to be fully
aware of the change and commit to it. The challenge is to enhance the awareness of
employees about this strategy, and to convince and motivate them to support this
change.
The Management Board of TAF has identified that coaching is the most
important tool to motivate and keep employees energized to perform their works
well. In order to deliver the expected results, coaching needs to be further promoted
and enhanced.
Therefore, this research is aimed to determine the coaching practices being
applied at TAF and the level of its impacts on the performance of employees.
Based on that, recommendations are proposed for further improvements.

1.4. Objective of the study
The success of an organization largely depends on its employees and the way
they perform their works. Enhancing coaching effectiveness can lead to


7

improvements of employee performance and it is vital to the success and
sustainability of both organization and the individual. Therefore, the main
objectives of this study are:
To explore the effectiveness of workplace coaching at TAF.
To determine the impacts of workplace coaching on employee performance
To evaluate the findings and identify the opportunities for improvement of
workplace coaching practices in order to further promote its effect on employee
performance.

1.5. Research questions
With the research objectives as a basis, the following questions were compiled to
ensure that there was an alignment between the research objectives and the study.
Is the coach building good relationship with coachee at TAF?
Is the employee awareness being enhanced as a result of coaching?
Is the motivation of employees being promoted as a result of coaching?
Does coach provide employees the needed support to help them perform
better?
Is work performance of employees improving as the results of coaching?

1.6. Subjects of the study
The study was conducted at TAF, Nestlé Vietnam Company. Employees from
all departments who have delivered coaching and/or been coached were the target
subjects of this research.

1.7. Scope and limitation of the study
There is a wide range of coaching types and the factors influencing the
effectiveness of coaching as well as the employee performance.
Within this study, the author will focus on:
-

One-to-one coaching at workplace delivered by internal coaches of TAF,

means from managers to their subordinates or from peer to peer.
-

For coaching effectiveness, the author focuses on evaluating the four key

factors which are:

8

The relationship built-up between coach and coachee,
The support that coach offers to coachees,
The enhancement of employee awareness (self-awareness and business
awareness),
And the motivation of employees
-

For employee performance, the author focuses on evaluating the impacts of

workplace coaching on:
Working productivity,
Product quality,
Customer satisfaction
The study did not re-test the causal relationship of coaching and key drivers
(coach-coachee relationship, awareness and motivation of employees, support
given to employees). The causal relationship of those key drivers and employee
performance were based on the findings of researches mentioned in the literature
review part and it was the foundation for this empirical study at TAF.

1.8. Framework of the study
The following variables have been identified and labeled as dependent variable
and independent variable.
Employee Performance
Employee performance is the dependent variable, which depends upon
workplace coaching effectiveness. Literature review also reveals that employee
performance is improved by providing effective workplace coaching.

Workplace Coaching
Workplace coaching is the independent variable in this research. The research
aims to explore the effects of workplace coaching on the performance of employees
at Tri An Factory, Nestlé Vietnam Company.
The research focuses in the four critical factors of workplace coaching
effectiveness, which are the coach-coachee relationship, the employees awareness,
the motivation of employees and the support given to employees.


9

Figure 1.1: The relationship between dependent and independent variables

Workplace Coaching

Employee Performance

1.9. Research structure
The research is organized in five chapters as following:
Chapter One: Introduction
This chapter commences with the environment in which organizations are doing
business - fierce competition and rapid changes. It highlights human capital as the
competitive advantage of organizations and coaching is an important development
tool to promote the employee performance through unlocking their potential. It
provides valuable details on the background and context within which the study
was conducted. The objectives and the outlines of the research are described in this
chapter.
Chapter Two: Literature review
This chapter presents literature on the concept of workplace coaching, the
essential principles of coaching and its impacts on employee performance. The

literature also focuses on four key factors of workplace coaching effectiveness that
are the coach-coachee relationship, the employee awareness, the motivation of
employees and the support given to them. The literature in this chapter highlights
the causal relationship between workplace coaching and employee performance.
Chapter Three: Research methods
This chapter details the research method used in this study. It provides valuable
insights into the research design, the sampling approach, the research instrument
and the process of data collection used. The method for the statistical analysis of
the data will be detailed in this chapter. This chapter concludes with a discussion on
the ethical considerations relevant to this study.
Chapter Four: Analysis of results
In this chapter, the research findings of the study are presented in various
graphical formats, namely figures and tables. The research findings are interpreted


10

and discussed; the research questions and objectives are verified through the key
findings of the study.
Chapter Five: Conclusion and recommendations
This

chapter

highlights

the

conclusions

drawn

and

the

practical

recommendations offered. Limitations of the study and suggestions for further
research are discussed and proposed at the last part of this chapter.

The following chapter presents the literature review about workplace coaching
and employee performance to support this study.


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CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1. Introduction
The aim of this chapter is to present a comprehensive review of research
materials related to coaching at workplace and its correlation to employee
performance. The main sources used for this literature review comprised of
researches, books, journal articles and the internet.
The scope of this chapter covers:
The origin and concept of coaching,
The definition and essential principles of coaching,
The key factors contributing to workplace coaching effectiveness: The
coach-coachee relationship, the awareness and motivation of coachees
(employees), and the support given to employees

The theories about employee performance
The

relationship

between

workplace

coaching

and

employee

performance.

2.2. Workplace Coaching
2.2.1.

The origin and concept of coaching

Before trying to define coaching as it is today, let us refer to the origin of the
word and the concept of coaching. The word “Coach” came from “Kocs”, a
Hungarian village where high quality horse-drawn carriages were made. That
particular style of carriage became so popular that the term “Kocs” was soon used
for all carriages (O’Connor and Lages, 2007). In the 19th century, English
university students began to use this word as slang for tutors of such excellence that
their students felt as if they were carried through their academic career in the
carriage driven by their tutor (Wilson, 2004).

During the 1880s, the term “Coach” was mainly used to describe a sport coach.
Given that coaching has its roots in the area of sports, it also dates back to ancient
Greece where coaches trained many of the athletes for Olympic Games (American
Management Association, 2008).


12

The concept of coaching can also be traced back to Socrates, the famous Greek
philosopher, who believed that individuals have their own answers to the questions
raised and learn best when they have ownership of their situation. In this way, he
stimulated critical thinking and passed responsibility on the individual, with the
latter being the fundamental principle of coaching (O’Connor and Lages, 2007) – “I
cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think!”

2.2.2.

Definitions and essential principles of coaching

Coaching can be defined in many different ways depending on the “how” and
the “why” of its implementation, as well as on the “way” it is perceived by scholars
and practitioners.
According to Smither (2011), coaching “is a one-to-one learning and
development intervention that uses a collaborative, reflective, goal-focused
relationship to achieve professional outcomes that are valued by the coachee”
(Smither, 2011, p.137). Grant (2001) defined coaching as a collaborative, solutionfocused, result-orientated systematic process, in which the coach facilitates the
enhancement of the coachee’s performance in various domains and fosters selfdirected learning, goal attainment and personal growth of the coachee.
Furthermore, Antonioni (2000) argued that coaching is a kind of partnership
between the coachee (employee) and the coach, who usually is employee’s
manager, and who aims at developing this employee’s skills and enhancing his full

potential. Besides, Whitmore (2004, p.8) stated that coaching is “unlocking a
person’s potential to maximize their performance”.
From the definitions that have been presented, coaching is not merely a process,
a technique, a dialogue, or a partnership but it is a way of managing and treating
people, a way of thinking, a way of being (Whitmore, 2004), while Rosinski
considered it an art (Rosinski, 2003).
Coaching usually involves two parties, the coach and the coachee, i.e. the
individual being coached, and is usually a one-to-one relationship. It is probably the
only non-therapeutic kind of relationship where the coachee has nothing to worry
about regarding the other parties. The sole interest in the conversation and the only
focus is the coachee, not the coach. It is generally used for development and


13

growth, to improve performance and to achieve goals pertaining either to personal
or professional subjects.
Given that all individuals have the native potential to find solutions to their own
problems, the principal purpose of every coaching interaction is to build the
coachee’s awareness, self-belief and responsibility. These elements are crucial in
their entirety in order to unlock the human potential and set the base toward change
and goal realization. Awareness is just as much about understanding and clarifying
their own thoughts, emotions and actions as it is about other people and the
environment around them. Coaches help them broaden the limits of their views and
see what is no longer necessary, what might be rearranged and to identify possible
gaps that need to be filled (Wilson, 2007). By taking responsibility and ownership
of their personal decisions, the individual has an opportunity to learn and develop,
and increases their will and engagement toward their goals. This, in turn, helps the
coachee to build confidence, which is a key to unleash potential and growth.
Moving forward, some other key principles of coaching are blame-free, solution

focus, challenge and action. The coach is not there to form any kind of opinion on
the coachee’s actions, behaviors or thinking, but instead to remain an external
neutral and objective “eye” of the individual who then will challenge them to look
for new perspectives in a supportive way (Wilson, 2007). It is important to
remember that a coach is neither an expert nor a mentor but rather someone who
manages to show the coachee the way to explore their own experiences and
resources and facilitates them to generate their own solutions and answers
(McGovern et al., 2001). Throughout the coaching dialogue, a solution-focused
mindset governs; a good coach will support, listen and direct the coachee’s focus to
resolving the problems they face. Dwelling on the problem is certainly not useful
and it is the coach’s job to shift the focus of the individual to the solution and
toward the future. At the end of the coaching session, the coachee should feel ready
to make the changes needed and proceed to action, considering that he has set new,
clear goals and has gained insight of the situation (Wilson, 2007).
On the whole, the above mentioned principles and key elements of coaching
create an environment in which the individual will learn and behave differently,
thus resulting in enhancing that person’s capability of performing or realizing long


14

and short-term goals (Miller and Homan, 2002). The process is 100 percent
coachee-led, with the coachee setting the content and agenda and the coach
managing and facilitating it.
In the next section, we are going to focus on workplace coaching and some
factors, which are critical for coaching effectiveness.

2.2.3.

Why workplace coaching?

Coaching has grown tremendously over the past few decades, and business
environments were a catalyst in this. Coaching opportunities and applications in the
workplace are numerous, and so within corporations, workplace coaching found
rich soil to grow and flourish.
Literature strongly suggests that workplace coaching can both play a key role in
improving individual and organizational performance and assisting individuals to
reach their full potential through learning and development processes (Grant,
2006).
We are living in an era of continuous rapid changes wherein the only constant is
the change itself. By nature, all humans are reluctant to change; coaching helps
people accept and promote it. Moreover, given that coaching focuses on the
individual and we live and work in a fairly complex system as Grant states, a
change in the individual could result in changing the organization (Greene and
Grant, 2003). Furthermore, corporate uncertainty has increased the level of pressure
and stress. In addition to the increased pace in which work is conducted and the
long working hours, managers are expected to coach their people to adapt, learn
quickly and be effective. Coaching is the only way they can achieve this (Miller
and Homan, 2002). Another point is that flat organizations have created the need
for a broad spectrum of managerial skills and competencies (especially those of
coaching), the development of which can be enhanced by their own individual
coaching, as a learning process (O’Connor and Lages, 2007). Finally, the social
capital of the organization is nowadays its most competitive advantage. Therefore,
supervision is no longer enough as a managerial skill. Cooperation, inclusion,
empowerment and motivation are of high importance. People need relationships of
trust and open communication with managers and peers in order to fulfill their


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needs and increase their performance. Once again, coaching is the means to that
end.

2.2.4.

Some key factors for coaching effectiveness

Coaching may not deliver its expected results and not have any value to the
organization if it is applied wrongly. For coaching to work effectively, there are
many critical factors that could hinder or foster its results. In this study, the author
focused on the following four factors affecting the coaching effectiveness: the
coach-coachee relationship, the supports given to coachees (employees), the
awareness of employee and the motivation of employee. These factors will be
assessed critically in the following part of literature review.

2.2.4.1.

Building the trustworthy coach-coachee relationship

An effective coach will need to have skills to establish rapport, consolidate trust
from coachees (Gwyther-Jones, 2011). A number of researchers have cited the
essential role of trust in the success of coaching relationships (Hunt & Weintraub,
2002; Gyllensten & Palmer, 2007; Grant, 2014). Gyllensten and Palmer (2007)
identified a coach’s ability to imbue trust into the coaching relationship is one of
the main factors to predict coaching success. Building the mutual trust is one of the
primary steps involved in the coaching process. Similarly, Hunt and Weintraub
(2002) stated that trust in the coach-coachee relationship is “probably the most
important element” of a context for coaching. In other words, a trusting relationship
between the coach and coachee is an important foundation or precursor for
effective coaching.

Coaches need to work on creating effective relationships with their coachees by
using the various tools and techniques. They will ask questions, listen carefully,
and make the coachees feel that they are the center of the attention. In this way, the
coachee will feel valued, relaxed and confident. By being open, friendly and
approachable, the coach can win over the coachee and help them to open up and
share their personal experiences. Furthermore, the coach must recognize that every
coachee is a unique individual (and should be seen as such). Therefore, although
one approach could be appropriate for this coachee, it might not be effective for


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others. Thus, coaches need to be flexible in their approaches and to be adaptable to
various situations that might arise in different sessions.

2.2.4.2.

Providing needed support to employees

Along with building trustworthy relationship as mentioned above, giving
employees the support is important to coaching effectiveness (Wilson, 2007; Grant,
2014). Effective coaches start by ensuring that their employees are properly
supported so that they can perform effectively (Longenecker, 2010). An effective
leader will ensure that their employees have all facilities, information, authority
and/or sanction they need to get the job done. All of these factors set the stage for
employee performance and are the primary responsibility of any manager who is
serious about improving the performance of their employees. Starting here is
critical because it proves to employees that their leader is willing to equip them to
do their work and sends a message that the manager is serious about the success of
the employee. Equipping people to succeed just might be a coach’s most important

job that is not always given the attention that it deserves.
Research indicates that coaching outcomes can be predicted by five key
coaching behaviors and one of those is giving the support to coachees (employees)
(Grant, 2014). Coaches support in transferring intended change into practice
through techniques such as rehearsal of specific actions within the coaching
session, shadowing or accompanying the coachee whilst they perform intended
actions or behavior changes in the workplace (Grant, 2014)
By active listening, the coach ensures that the coachee feels comfortable and
motivated to talk about their issues, feelings and problems. A good coach is a good
listener and they remember to look at things from the coachee’s point of view
rather than just trying to force their own views and opinions.
Additionally, asking the coachee to share some things that they feel proud of in
their career can be very beneficial, especially when the coachee is somehow
negative towards coaching. By asking them to discuss positive things regarding
their career often will make them less guarded, less negative or suspicious about
coaching. This can make them feel more comfortable which would consequently
mean that they will more engage in the coaching process.


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However, challenging is also very important in coaching process. The coach
should challenge the coachee to think critically and find opportunities for further
improvement rather than just leave them in their comfort zone to talk about the
things that they are doing well. Follow up questions that challenge the coachee can
be equally important. Such questions can be for example: How did you achieve
success in these 2-3 things and how can you use what you learnt now? How can
you make the situation you are facing now also a success? How can you use your
strengths? What help/support do you need? These challenging questions can help
the coachee to consider different perspectives and options that they did not consider

before. The intention is not to draw their attention to the negative parts of their
work but to help them understand their abilities and competencies which they could
use and explore further in their role.
It is important to understand that there is no right or wrong answer and that
different people have different backgrounds, experiences, values and expectations.
The coach needs to learn how to cope with them and how to deal with them rather
than judging them. Sometimes when there is a perceived weakness in a person you
can use that weakness to create a success. For example, if you are dealing with a
person that changes their mind all the time, rather than consider it as a disadvantage
for that person, why not view it from the perspective that the person is creative. A
good coach understands that some people adjust quicker than others and the coach
should always keep this in mind. By being supportive and patient, it can allow the
coachee to take his/her time to modify their behavior without discouraging them by
being too critical.
In summary, coaching is all about helping/ supporting employees to unlock their
potential (Whitmore, 2004). To promote the coaching effectiveness, it is very
important for coaches to show their full support to employees mentally and
physically. To create a safe environment in which employees can feel comfortable
taking the risks necessary to learn and develop.
2.2.4.3.

Enhancing employee awareness

The notion of awareness is embedded in the organizational literature. In this
study, the author focuses on two concepts of awareness: employee self-awareness
and business awareness.