Coaching in the Leadership for Development-Oriented Work in Educational Organization in a Crisis Situation

Abstract

The crisis situation, the pandemic, with the closure of the educational space, has stimulated the integration of the virtual environment and digital technology into the educational space and has brought new leadership challenges. We investigated the experience of employees in the educational space (schools with adapted programmes, primary schools and secondary schools) during the pandemic. We found that employees experienced the negative aspect of facing the pandemic requirements for a virtual work environment. They were faced with the challenge of seeking help during the work process. They also had problems with remote work effectiveness, motivation and satisfaction. We were interested in the school leaders' response to work, the role of the leadership in the process of employee adaptation, and how to identify, understand and use the development tool of coaching when working in a virtual environment. A development tool is an aid to the work process, which enhances work performance. The study confirmed that a development-oriented work process depends on a higher utility value of coaching, from a positive employee response to the use of digital technologies in the work process and leaders' support in this. To the extent that employees were more open to using the Internet in the work process, they also reacted more positively to the new working conditions which required shifting online during the pandemic. A more positive response was also present in those where the leader's support was higher. We also detected a more positive response to the work process among employees who expressed an opinion about the higher useful value of coaching during the work process. We found that employees' response to online technologies was quite positive. Employees' response to the virtual work process was positive. Employees were open to the use of online technologies if the role of the employer was supportive. This leads to a better development-oriented work process.