How do global crises affect employees’ psychological well-being and functioning? And can virtual coaching help employees maintain resilience, optimism, and functioning even during periods of uncertainty and crisis?
This study was conducted during the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic using a quasi-experimental pre-post design, with measurements taken before and after the onset of the crisis. The researchers compared 1,005 participants across two groups: employees who received individual virtual coaching through an online coaching platform and employees who did not receive coaching. Both groups completed assessment questionnaires before the outbreak of the pandemic and during the pandemic, with the aim of examining how measures of psychological well-being, social behavior, and work outcomes changed following the crisis, and whether virtual coaching influenced these changes.
The findings showed that employees who received virtual coaching coped better with the effects of the crisis compared with employees who did not receive coaching. While the control group experienced declines in optimism, life satisfaction, authenticity, and productivity, participants in the coaching group showed improvements in these measures. In addition, they demonstrated greater increases in psychological resilience and social connectedness compared with the group that did not receive coaching. In contrast, no significant difference was found between the groups in work engagement, with both groups showing a similar change in this measure.
The researchers conclude that virtual coaching can serve as an effective intervention to help employees cope with periods of crisis and change while buffering the negative effects on their well-being and functioning. The study’s main contribution is that it provides empirical evidence that virtual coaching during a crisis not only buffered declines in optimism, life satisfaction, authenticity, and productivity, but was also associated with greater growth in resilience and social connectedness.
Citation:
Auer, E. M., D. Hutchinson, E. Eatough, E. W. Carr, E. F. Sinar, and G. Kellerman. 2022. “The Buffering Effects of Virtual Coaching During Crisis: A Quasi-Experimental Study of Changes in Well-Being, Work, and Social Outcomes Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic.” International Journal of Evidence Based Coaching and Mentoring 20 (2): 3–19.