By: Dr Jesrina Ann Xavier and Dr Shan Moorthi
Nearly 100% of large organisations around the world have now deployed Artificial Intelligence (AI) in their businesses, while almost 73% of organisations worldwide have begun prioritising AI over other types of investments to improve operational resilience. Still, scant effort is put into managing the resilience of the workforce.
As Malaysia gears towards this disruptive yet enabling technological evolution, a big question arises; “How can organisations empower its most valuable asset – its workforce – through this evolution?”
Can coaching manage change and workforce resilience through this transition?
Approximately 40% of all Fortune 500 companies invest in coaching. CEOs such as Steve Jobs and Roger Enrico were known to be coached during their tenure. Studies show that 39% of CEOs in larger organisations have a coach, while 63% of organisations that provide coaching to their workforce have reported higher revenue and income growth than their competitors.
One way to understand and manage changes in organisations was developed by Kurt Lewin in the 1940s, which still holds today. Lewin’s model talks about the three-stage process known as Unfreeze, Change, and Refreeze. Lewin, a physicist and social scientist, explained this model through the use of a block of ice. What do you do when you have a large cube of ice, but you need a cone of ice? First, you melt the ice (unfreeze), then sculpt the ice into a cone (change), and finally solidify it into a cone (re-freeze).
Often organisations and their workforce go into change blindly, causing unnecessary mayhem and losses. This is where coaching comes into play. In the first ‘unfreeze’ stage, coaches listen attentively, empathise genuinely, and congruently facilitate the thinking process of the coachees to help them be aware of the present state as well as the intention to initiate change. Coaches also remain open to the concerns of the workforce while having meaningful and important conversations in a respectful manner and neutral posture. As soon as the coachees are aware and clear about the current reality, it is time for the second ‘change’ stage where coaches challenge coachees on new ways of looking at transitions and adjustments while discovering solutions to achieve their intended and desired state.
Change doesn’t happen overnight, and this is where coaches inspire the coachees to invite new possibilities and increase their self-confidence to embrace the transition with new mindsets and behaviours. Finally, in the ‘re-freeze’ stage, coaches enable the workforce to create and utilise a brand-new supportive and stable structure. Stability is important in ensuring a comfortable transition and prolonged accomplishment. It is at this stage that coaches can enable the workforce to celebrate the success of change.
Change should not be executed just for the sake of it. As aptly put by Lewin, “Motivation for change must be generated before the change can occur”. This is where coaching plays its role – through motivation, affirmation, expression, and creation. Therefore, the process of coaching, like Lewin’s model, can assist organisations in transitioning from ordinary to extraordinary.
Why do we need to have this coaching conversation now?
Coaching has become increasingly important as organisations embrace AI, maximise its benefits, and navigate challenges. As AI technologies are integrated into organisations, new skills must be acquired by the workforce. Coaching provides personalised sessions and systemic support to help develop these skills. Besides that, coaching can also help the workforce discover for themselves how they could employ AI effectively to improve performance while setting and achieving goals individually and collectively.
Implementation of AI often requires changes in workflow, processes, and culture. Personalised coaching provides a space for meaningful and inspiring conversations that spark creativity and innovation to navigate these changes by affecting support, addressing concerns, and fostering a positive approach toward the transition.
AI technologies are also notoriously known for their continuous and fast evolution, forcing organisations to adapt quickly to stay relevant and competitive. Coaching assists the workforce and organisations to stay agile through this evolution while ensuring organisations remain at the forefront of advancement.
Finally, and most importantly, coaching conversations can facilitate conflict resolutions through the transition as it provides a safe space for the workforce and management to address interpersonal issues, misunderstandings, and disagreements. Coaching will be able to help the workforce and management gain perspective, empathise different viewpoints, and find constructive solutions to conflicts.
Sir John Whitmore, a pre-eminent thinker in leadership development and organisational change fittingly states, “Coaching is unlocking people’s potential to maximise their performance. It is more often helping them to learn rather than teaching them.” And this is why coaching brings one from ordinary to extraordinary.
