Examining the Experiences of New Manager Coaches

The purpose of this study was to examine new managers\u27 experiences as they transitioned from an individual contributor and coachee to a manager and coach at Blue Sun Corporation (pseudonym). Understanding these experiences was essential to providing appropriate support to help new manager coaches acquire the coaching skills needed to consistently coach and develop their employees. This study\u27s results will guide the design of future new manager training and organizational support initiatives by providing a deeper understanding of new manager coaches\u27 experiences. A phenomenological research design was used for this study because it focused on understanding new manager coaches\u27 experiences as they transitioned into the role. Six new manager coaches from Blue Sun Corporation took part in this study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect data, using an interview protocol explicitly developed for this study. The researcher transcribed and analyzed the interview data using a seven-step method proposed by Colaizzi (1978). From the data analysis, five themes emerged from the study participants\u27 experiences: Anxiety, Challenges, Successes, Influences, and Beliefs. While five overarching themes were identified during the analysis, the researcher found variance in how each participant experienced some of the themes. Several additional findings also emerged from the analysis of these themes. From these findings and existing research, recommendations for practice were offered. These implications included setting proper role expectations, providing basic and personalized management skill training, hiring right-fit candidates, developing a structured onboarding plan, setting realistic performance expectations, and focusing on coaching beliefs