Background
Positive psychology coaching is receiving increasing attention within the organizational field because of the potential benefits for employees’ development and wellbeing (Passmore & Oades, 2014). Research is also interested on shorter versions of coaching and its efficacy (Theeboom et al., 2014) in addition to its impact on non-executive employees’ personal resources and positive work-related outcomes (Peláez et al., 2019).
Hypotheses/Research Questions
The aim of this study is to examine the effects of positive psychology micro-coaching on employees’ psychological capital, and the influence of specific self-efficacy for achieving goals on goal attainment during the coaching process.
Sample Characteristics and Sample Size
Sixty non-executive employees (35 in the experimental group and 25 in the waiting-list control group) were involved in this research project. Participants’ mean age was 36 years (SD = 7.5), and 70% were male.
Design
Following a control trial design, 60 non-executive employees participated in a positive psychology micro-coaching program over a period of five weeks. The program consisted of a group session, three individual coaching sessions, and individual inter-session monitoring. The methodology was based on the identification of positive attributes and strengths for achieving a specific work-related goal. Pre, post, and four months follow-up measurements were held to assess the impact on the aforementioned variables.
Results
Findings indicated that psychological capital significantly increased at post and follow up times compared to baseline levels. In addition, results confirmed that self-efficacy predicted goal attainment during the coaching process.
Scientific Contribution
Practical implications suggest that short-term positive psychology coaching is a valuable method for developing personal resources on non-executive employees in order to reach work-related goals. Overall, the approach may prove to be a useful platform for organizations to develop happy and productive workers.