The impact of supervision on workplace coaches

A reassuring article appeared in Coaching: An International Journal of Theory, Research and Practice recently. The authors, Müller, Kotte and Möller, carried out an online survey of coaches working in Germany, Austria and Switzerland (110 in total; of whom 75% were self-employed.
The coaches were asked about different aspects of life satisfaction (concerning their job, financial situation, and leisure time) and work-related mental strain (i.e., cognitive and emotional strain). Compared to German population norm scores (including both employed and self-employed working individuals), coaches show higher satisfaction with their job and leisure time, and less work-related mental strain.

Particularly interesting though is the impact of coaching supervision on job satisfaction. For average levels of mental strain, job satisfaction is on an average level as well, whether with use of supervision or without. With increasing mental strain, however, coaches with supervision show significantly more job satisfaction than those without supervision.

Although it is hard to imagine, the implication of the research is that if a coach is working in an environment where they are not experiencing any mental strain at all, indeed life is going swimmingly well, then supervision can make them feel less satisfied!

(Ref: Müller, A. A., Kotte, S., & Möller, H. (2020). Coach and no regrets about it: On the life satisfaction, work-related mental strain, and use of supervision of workplace coaches. Coaching: An International Journal of Theory, Research and Practice, 13(1), 16–29. https://doi.org/10.1080/17521882.2019.1636841)

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