Relationships among the perceived and preferred coaching behaviors, job satisfaction, and adaptive work behaviors among employees of a South Korean organization with the quality of relationships with immediate supervisors as a mediating variable

To respond to rapidly changing business environments, organizations strive to enable their employees to carry out designated roles with adaptability, eventually resulting in better performance. Under such circumstances the manager as a coach has been popularized as a way of improving the competency and performance of employees. Managerial coaching also allows employees to experience job satisfaction and reciprocal relationships with their supervisors. Researchers have studied the relationships among managerial coaching, job satisfaction, adaptive work behaviors, and the quality of relationships with supervisors; however, the relationship between perceived and preferred managerial coaching behaviors and the meaning of the discrepancy between them are only partially understood. The conceptual framework from the perspective of human resource development suggested that the quality of the employees’ relationship with their immediate supervisor mediates the relationships among their perceived and preferred coaching behaviors, the discrepancy between perceived and preferred coaching behaviors, job satisfaction, and adaptive work behaviors. Thus, the current study explored the relationship between perceived and preferred coaching behaviors. This was followed by an analysis of the manner in which the quality of the relationship with the immediate supervisor was researched with three independent variables: perceived coaching behaviors, preferred coaching behaviors, and the discrepancy between them. The influences of the quality of the relationship with the immediate supervisor were examined with respect to two job-relevant outcomes: job satisfaction and adaptive work behaviors. The quality of the relationship with the immediate supervisor as a mediator was investigated with the three independent variables and the two job-relevant outcomes. A cross-sectional survey was adopted, and data were collected from 228 team members of a multinational company in South Korea; 220 samples were retained for analysis. A Pearson correlation showed no evidence that perceived and preferred coaching behaviors influence each other significantly. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to analyze the relationships among the three independent variables, mediator, and two outcomes. Perceived coaching behaviors had a significant influence on the quality of the relationship with the immediate supervisor, but the other two independent variables did not. Although relationship quality affected job satisfaction significantly, its effect on adaptive work behaviors was not significant. The quality of the relationship mediated perceived coaching behaviors’ effect on job satisfaction. Perceived coaching behaviors and the discrepancy between perceived and preferred coaching behaviors significantly influenced adaptive work behaviors. The additional paths were examined in this study. The discrepancy and adaptive work behaviors affected job satisfaction. Adaptive work behaviors mediated the influences of both perceived coaching behaviors and the discrepancy on job satisfaction. These findings are discussed based upon the literature and theoretical perspectives. The implications for HRD research and practice are considered, and recommendations for future studies are suggested to address the study’s limitations.LimitedAuthor requested closed access (OA after 2yrs) in Vireo ETD syste