Work-Related Stress and Uncertainty Amid Change: Can Workplace Coaching Make a Difference?

Work-related stress, job insecurity and uncertain carer future are each detrimental to employee performance, productivity, behaviour, job satisfaction, and wellbeing. The literature provides evidence suggesting a relationship between organisational change and work-related stress. Whilst most existing research focus on positive aspects or negative consequences of change and restructure, this article goes further seeking to understand whether or not workplace coaching is perceived as helpful to reduce work-related stress in the face of change and uncertainty. Data were initially collected, as part of a larger study, in three sequential phases from Australian rail organisations. The results relevant to the current article are a subset of results from the larger study. Results had previously suggested that workplace coaching contributed towards positive behavioural shifts and increased employee motivation in the face of change. Results had also suggested that certain elements in a coaching relationship, including confidentiality and trust, were critical for the effectiveness of internal coaching. A subset of quantitative results reported in this paper provided further evidence suggesting that workplace coaching, possibly both internal and external forms of it, can potentially contribute to reduce work-related stress in the face of change and restructure.