On becoming a coach: a pilot intervention study with managers in long-term care

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Leadership Development
• Organizational Psychology

Background:

• Healthcare leaders emphasize communication and leadership skills for improved manager-employee relationships, job satisfaction, and quality care.
• Frontline care managers in residential long-term care (LTC) settings require enhanced coaching abilities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To pilot a 2-day coaching workshop (
• Coaching for Impressive CARE
• ") as a leadership development strategy for LTC managers.", "To assess the workshop
• s influence on managers
• coaching practices, perceptions, intentions, and implementation of skills.

Main Methods:

• Exploratory/descriptive design utilizing pre-/post-workshop surveys and focus groups.
• 21 residential long-term care (LTC) managers participated in the 2-day coaching workshop.
• Data collected on coaching practices, implementation challenges, and employee responses.

Main Results:

• Managers' attitudes and intentions to coach employee performance significantly increased post-workshop.
• Participants reported increased use of specific coaching skills, such as planning for performance change.
• Focus groups provided qualitative examples of skill application (e.g., communicating empathy) and staff responses.

Conclusions:

• The
• Coaching for Impressive CARE
• " workshop is a feasible and well-received leadership development strategy for LTC managers.", "The workshop positively influenced managers
• willingness to adopt coaching behaviors and demonstrated some impact on their daily practice.
• Coaching skills essential for improving staff performance in LTC settings can be effectively learned and implemented by managers.