Purpose

Practitioners’ literature on coaching has swelled as compared to the theoretical grounding and academic research on coaching, thereby questioning if coaching is a profession. Furthermore, the increasing investments in coaching seek a higher return on investments. These trends call for a deeper theoretical grounding of coaching and evolving innovative approaches that increase the effectiveness of coaching. Against this backdrop, this study aims to describe a process a coach can adopt for objectively and systemically understanding the context of the coachee at multiple levels (organizational, teams/dyadic and intrapersonal) to develop and execute an effective coaching intervention.

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses a radical humanistic paradigm, deploys ecosystems theory, develops a conceptual model and uses it for action researching in an Indian manufacturing organization. This study uses a non-experimental purposive sampling and makes use of a cross-sectional survey method for gathering data by using validated instruments. Guided by the ecosystems theory, data is gathered at three levels of nested systems – the microsystem (intrapersonal and direct reports of coachee), mesosystem (peers and manager of coachee) and the macrosystem (cultural) levels. Analysis of data helps the coach to design and execute an effective coaching intervention at multiple levels – intrapersonal, dyadic and organizational.

Findings

This study provides an alternative approach to systemically diagnose at three levels of the environment (microsystem, mesosystem and macrosystem) and uses validated instruments for assessing the areas of opportunity and concerns for carrying effective coaching. The use of employee strengths that conceives strengths as a dynamic interaction of personal attributes and contextual factors instead of the trait-based conceptualizations in extant literature leads to rich data for designing effective coaching interventions. Using the ecosystems theory for carrying out systemic coaching is an effective approach for professionalizing coaching and increasing the effectiveness of coaching.

Originality/value

The originality of this study lies in using the ecosystems theory for guiding the research, developing the conceptual model, collecting data by using validated instruments and in making use of data across multiple levels of systems (micro, meso and macro) for carrying out systemic coaching. The use of a new higher-order construct of employee strengths at work that conceives strengths as a dynamic interaction of personal traits and contextual factors is yet another originality of the research. Finally, this study identifies key systems variables and provides a proof of concept by executing a generalizable systemic coaching process in an organization.

中文翻译：

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系统的指导以提高效率

目的

与教练的理论基础和学术研究相比，从业者关于教练的文献激增，从而质疑教练是否是一种职业。此外，对教练的越来越多的投资寻求更高的投资回报率。这些趋势要求更深入的教练理论基础和不断发展的创新方法，以提高教练的效率。在此背景下，本研究旨在描述教练可以采用的一种过程，以客观，系统地了解多个级别（组织，团队/二进和个人内部）的受训者背景，以制定和执行有效的教练干预措施。

设计/方法/方法

这项研究使用了激进的人文范式，运用了生态系统理论，开发了概念模型，并将其用于印度制造组织的行动研究。本研究使用非实验性目的抽样，并采用横断面调查方法，通过使用经过验证的工具收集数据。在生态系统理论的指导下，数据在三个层次的嵌套系统中收集–微观系统（受训者的个人和直接报告），中观系统（受训者的同伴和管理者）和宏观系统（文化）。数据分析可帮助教练在个人，内部和组织两个层面上设计和执行有效的教练干预措施。

发现

这项研究提供了在三种环境水平（微系统，中观系统和宏观系统）上进行系统诊断的替代方法，并使用经过验证的工具评估进行有效教练的机会和关注领域。使用员工的优势将优势视为个人属性和上下文因素的动态交互，而不是现有文献中基于特征的概念化，可为设计有效的教练干预措施提供丰富的数据。利用生态系统理论进行系统指导是使指导专业化和提高指导效率的有效途径。

创意/价值

这项研究的独创性在于使用生态系统理论指导研究，开发概念模型，使用经过验证的工具收集数据以及利用跨多个系统级别（微观，中观和宏观）的数据进行系统指导。这项研究的另一个独创性是在工作中使用一种新的高阶员工力量结构，将力量视为个人特质和背景因素的动态相互作用。最后，这项研究确定了关键的系统变量，并通过在组织中执行通用的系统指导过程来提供概念证明。