A psycho-educational programme for team coaches to facilitate the mental health of managers

The aim of the research was to develop a psychoeducational programme for team coaches to facilitate the mental health of managers. Preventing managerial degeneration has become a corporate priority. Without support and intervention, executives and managers can degenerate personally or derail careerwise at enormous cost to themselves, their companies and the economy. Personal degeneration may include selfneglect, ignoring families, marriages, friends, personal interests and their own physical and mental health as they chase their corporate and career objectives. Business managers are subjected to more pressure than ever to produce results, yet they are often promoted through job specific expertise without the emotional intelligence and worklife balance skills necessary to sustain them. Research has revealed an across the board consensus that coaching is one of the most powerful strategic and tactical weapons open to business today because of its ability to enhance areas of proficiency that are already high and to establish skills that were previously absent or weak. Business coaching provides the gateway to intellectual and emotional support and develops managers, thus avoiding managerial derailment and preparing individuals to meet the increasingly complex requirements of today’s business environment. Business and team coaching is distinct from other types of coaching and calls for additional competencies and expertise as specialisation areas. The coaching industry in Southern Africa is in its infancy and as such there are currently no barriers to entry. There is a lack of descriptive and accepted standards, agreed upon core competencies and accredited team coaching programmes that offer depth in terms of knowledge, skills, values and business acumen. In light of the above challenges the following research question arose: · What should a programme for team coaches consist of in order to facilitate the mental health of managers? A qualitative, explorative, descriptive and contextual research design was followed including autoethnography as a strategy. The research took place in four phases. Phase 1: A situation analysis was done in order to explore and describe what a programme for team coaches should consist of in order to facilitate the mental health of managers. This involved the identification of key stakeholders. Focus groups and interviews were conducted and individual naïve sketches collected from individuals who were are not available for interviews. A literature control was conducted in order to verify findings. Phase 2: Based on the abovementioned results, the research progressed to phase two, which involved the development of a programme. During this phase a conceptual framework was described that included an approach to the programme. Phase 3: This phase presented a description of the programme as well as guidelines for the implementation of the programme. Phase 4: The programme was evaluated and possible limitations were highlighted. Recommendations regarding possible further research were made. The researcher believes that business and team coaching will continue to thrive and gain increased status as a profession. With an empirically sound programme in place, business and team coaching is set to flourish and managers have a means to manage and maintain optimum mental health.Prof. Marie Poggenpoel Prof. Chris Myburg