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Abstract

Coaching encourages individuals to focus on their strengths instead of their weaknesses. The studies show that emphasizing the employees’ strengths can reduce turnover, increase productivity, and improve job satisfaction. This study investigated the effective coaching factors in operational managers of the Persian Gulf Petrochemical Company in motivation of human resources. The present study is practical and descriptive-correlational in terms of objective and data gathering, respectively. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was performed in SMART PLS to model the collected data. The statistical population included all the 340 operational managers of the Persian Gulf Petrochemical Company. 182 individuals were selected and evaluated from this statistical population. Questionnaires were used for data collection. The researcher-made questionnaire was extracted based on the model prepared in the previous stage using a grounded theory approach. The results showed that communication, organizational strategy and goals, legal requirements, motivation, organizational training, empowerment, teamwork, succession, organizational agility, job satisfaction, organizational structure, human resources management, organizational culture, participatory management, talent management, knowledge management, coaching, managers’ competencies, compensation system, job satisfaction, staff characteristics, organizational characteristics, and learning have significant impacts in motivation of human resources.

Keywords

Human resources management coaching motivation

Introduction

Coaching encourages individuals to focus on their strengths instead of focusing on their weaknesses. It has been well documented that emphasizing the employees’ strengths could reduce turnover rate, increase productivity, and improve job satisfaction. Accordingly, managers with an emphasis on coaching can assure the development and growth of employees. In this way, it is possible to create opportunities for maximizing the efficiency and effectiveness of the organization.¹ A manager as a coach assists employees believe they can have more effective, efficient, and innovative abilities.^2,3 Coaching of managers is defined as a strategy for human resources development and is a dynamic process that improves job performance.⁴ Therefore, nowadays organizations pay much attention to coaching and allocate much cost and human resources to coaching. For example, most of the world’s leading organizations and many large American organizations employ a variety of coaching styles to manage their staff.⁵ The prevalence of coaching in contemporary organizations can be due to rapid changes in the environment of organizations such as globalization, technological advancement, and the nature of work. Therefore, although coaching has become commonplace in organizations over the past two decades, there is little empirical evidence on its results.⁶ For managers interested in motivating and advancing staff in the organizations, coaching can be an effective process. There are at least six coaching principles accepted by all coaches. Individuals who are high on beliefs, relationships, self-esteem, development, and liaison insist on applying those principles that lead to profitability, motivation, job satisfaction, and commitment.⁷ The reasons for the increasing necessity of using the approach and philosophy of coaching in today’s organizations can be described as follows:

Increasing environmental complexity and thus increasing work problems and challenges

Failure of fixed capabilities of individuals in responding to dynamic and diverse environments

Expanding the service sector in businesses and creating varied working conditions concerning the characteristics of this field and the importance of paying constant attention to the quality of services

Need to benefit immediately from learning from workplace experiences to achieve optimal performance

Increasing the importance of knowledge management and implicit knowledge transfer to employees during business processes

Increasing employees’ willingness to enhance their skills in their preferred career path and the need for various methods to improve their knowledge and competencies.⁸

Motivating the staff has been one of the key concepts in human resources management. In this regard, several theoretical and empirical studies have been conducted to discuss the motivational techniques used by managers to improve the performance of individuals. Theorists consider effective human resources management as the key to the success of an organization. Despite the rapid growth of organizations toward technology and specialization, the role of human resources as a vital and strategic factor in the organization has been increasingly taken into consideration. Therefore, motivating and satisfying employees and increasing their interests in jobs and thus meeting organizational goals is of great importance.⁹ Moreover, it is worth mentioning that managerial and supportive behavior of managers in dealing with employees can enhance their motivation. In this way, if managers and supervisors use a coaching and supportive approach in dealing with team members in a work environment, employees’ motivation would improve.¹⁰ One of the main parts of the oil industry, petrochemical industries are among the most important industries in the country. Persian Gulf Petrochemical Company (Holding) is one of the first petrochemical industry holdings, which is currently recognized as one of the largest petrochemical holdings in the Middle East with owning about 20 production and service companies. The company has entered the global competition in this area with the vision of “the most profitable petrochemical holding in the country with a global reputation” and a general strategy of “sustainable profitability and development” in five perspectives of “growth and learning, stakeholders, processes, finance, and social responsibilities”. Initial surveys at the Company showed that in recent years, the motivation of its operational staff has been declining such that it has become an important issue in the human resources management of the company. Managers cannot force their employees to perform their tasks, but they can motivate them to do their jobs and appreciate them if they achieve their goals. This process is indeed the goal of a leader. One of the biggest challenges and achievements for today’s managers is to motivate their team members because this motivates employees to increase their productivity and make their efforts and seriousness more apparent. In most cases, a middle and operational manager will be more successful in motivating the subordinates than a senior manager because they do so by considering work content and experience.¹¹ Referring to motivation in the workplace, researchers say that people can motivate themselves by looking for and doing something that meets their needs and achieves their goals, but they can also be motivated by their managers through methods such as financial payment and monetary encouragements.¹² It is previously known that the economic incentive is one of the most used motivations to advance the firm performance. Concentrating on the relation between monetary motivations and employees’ performance, one of the most essential theories is Performance Related Pay (PRP) theory, derived from the principles of Weberian bureaucracy. Regarding a system that grants a bonus based on superiority, PRP is a mechanism able to rapidly rise work incentive and advance the performance of employees; actually employee’s work harder if they, appreciating the financial prizes, trust that those prizes are related to their increased efforts.¹³ Koschmann studied how coaching skill regulates extrinsic stimuli (salary and contracts) on player performance. Building on incentive and sports psychology theory, this study suggested that better coaches simplify higher paid players to execute. However, the author suggested that an increase in coaching skill deteriorates player performance when contracts are used as stimuli. Making this challenging is assessing player performance, particularly in unraveling the player’s performance from that of the team. Yet, increasing coaching skill damagingly regulates contractual motivations on player performance. The research concluded with implications and future research directions.¹⁴

In this regard, the managers of the Persian Gulf Petrochemical Company have been trying different methods to improve human resources’ productivity in the last year. These methods include training, organizational restructuring, knowledge management, performance management, teamwork, coaching, succession, and compensation system. It is of note that through the compensation system, the subsidiaries were requested to implement standard 34000 as an integrated model. Furthermore, interested collaborators in the organization were invited to find the challenges and priorities of that organization at Level 4 (advanced) to be familiar with using coaching approaches in the company. They believe that implementing such an approach at the level of operational managers will increase the motivations and commitments of the employees. However, the main issue in the Persian Gulf Petrochemical Company is the lack of accurate knowledge of the managers in different aspects of the managerial approach and the unknown process model of this phenomenon in this company. Therefore, designing a coaching model for the Persian Gulf Petrochemical Company’s operational managers is one of the research priorities of the company. Survey the effective coaching factors in operational managers of Persian Gulf Petrochemical Company in order to motivation of human resources, The answer to this key question lies in providing the managers of the company with insights into what and how to look for managerial approaches and behaviors. In the following section, an overview of the research literature and assumptions is presented. In the next section, the collected information was analyzed. Finally, the concluding remarks are presented.

Literature review

Coaching is growing in popularity as a campaign to achieve project success.^15,16 Studies confirm the effective relationship between coaching and successful project management.¹⁶ Organizations around the world spend about two billion USD annually to provide coaching services.¹⁷ Recently, executive coaching has been established to perform day-to-day operations to create organizational effectiveness and efficiency.¹⁸ Thus, coaching has emerged as the most popular business approach to develop coaching and business sustainability.¹⁹ According to Kampa-Kokesch and Anderson,¹⁹ executive coaching operations emerged in the late 1940s. This operation began as an affiliate with the profession of counseling and psychology. Thus, literature review for investigating the history of coaching intervention led to the discovery of six important themes:1) definitions and interpretations; 2) goals; 3) methods; 4) relation with psychology; 5) treatment and coaching skills; 6) user salaries and benefits.²⁰ The literature shows the necessity to provide a theoretical explanation of coaching and the theories associated with it to provide an empirical and scientific view of coaching operations. Coaching has attracted the attention of scientific researchers worldwide such that extensive studies have been conducted with different theoretical approaches to analyze and explain the complexity of coaching operations.²¹ Coaching is a kind of interactive relationship that assists individuals identify, guide, and accomplish personal and business goals faster than their capability. Moreover, it enhances communication skills, problem-solving, teamwork and personal empowerment, leading to the development of core job competencies.²⁰ Coaching is the process of continuous companionship and individual support to stay consistent in goals and commitments and means finding a shortcut to overcome fear and highlight important core traits. In other words, the art of coaching is to facilitate the execution of activities, learning process and development of individuals, and continually focus on development processes and growth of individuals.²² Elkins²³ stated that managers with more cognitive coaching skills perform more efficiently when managing multiple complex projects. Kouzes and Posner²⁴ stressed the importance of increasing decision-making and coaching mindset, which are key capabilities for senior managers. Nowadays, in every organization, new individuals are hired, promoted, or moved from a position to another one. In any organization, individuals need development and advancement for professional growth. Moreover, publishing the results of Harbinson’s studies and development of HRM theory put emphasis on training human resources as a key issue of organizational development. In addition, they consider this as the top priority in organizational planning and management. Accordingly, the interest and investment of governments and organizations in education and research activities over the past half-century has been expanding over the centuries. Education has always been regarded as a reliable tool for improving quality, performance, and problem-solving, and its absence is one of the most pressing issues of any organization.²⁵ Discovering and realizing the potentials of companies has been inevitable for some reason such as the rapid development and change of various technologies, globalization, increasing competition, and the demand to reduce costs and increase production. Although the importance of human resources is not new, attitude to discover and grow human talent in the workplace with coaching and coaching is a new issue that still has a long way to go, especially developing countries such as Iran. Many managers have experienced years of inefficiency and failure in traditional ways of developing and managing human resources. These managers believe that to exploit the enormous capacities that are wasted at different levels of their organization, they must think of a new solution by changing attitudes and approaches.²⁶ In this regard, organizations today spend substantial amounts of money on staff development programs and strive to utilize innovative and effective training strategies and methods. One of these methods and strategies is coaching. Organizations are seeking to enhance their human resources and improve their individual and organizational performance and gain competitive advantage.²⁷ Coaching is one of the methods of staff training used like other training methods for the growth and development of human resources. Coaching as an effective way to promote learning can have a positive impact on the profit and loss of the organization. Moreover, it can bring considerable benefits to individuals and organizations. In the last decade, the coaching tool has gained significant popularity among leaders, staff, and organizations. As a result, organizations and their employees pay close attention to coaching and allocate vast material, financial, and human resources to it. Today, at least half of the world’s top 1000 leading companies provide coaching to their employees in many ways.²⁸ A review of management literature showed that since the 1970s, it has been attempted to incorporate the principles of coaching into management.²⁹ During the 1980s and 1990s, utilizing coaching in management was supported.³⁰ Consequently, this view of coaching has facilitated career development and team performance³¹ and coaching had enhanced organizational productivity.³ Therefore, a new paradigm has emerged in management as “manager as coach” or “managerial coaching”.³² Coaching managers have specific behaviors that include enabler, developer, and facilitator of learning, emotion manager, talent manager, responsive, participatory, pragmatic, supportive, problematic, facilitator, and opportunity maker.³³ Several internal and external studies have been conducted for this purpose. Hugill et al.²⁰ investigated team coaching as a framework for promoting organizational health and team performance. They showed that adopting a coaching approach by nurse supervisors can improve the relationship between supervisor and subordinate, improve nurses’ work motivation, and enhance organizational health. Ismail et al.¹⁰ studied managerial coaching in promoting employee motivation. According to their results, managerial and supportive behavior of managers in dealing with employees can enhance their motivation. SuJin³⁴ conducted a study on facilitating the process of employee socialization through coaching. They revealed that coaching and consulting behaviors of managers and supervisors facilitate the process of socialization of employees and improve the quality of organizational relationships. Hartman et al.³⁵ reviewed coaching records and answered the question “Is Multifaceted Job Satisfaction and Organizational Commitment Important?” They showed that individuals’ behaviors, individualism, and tendency to coach, as a conceptual issue, are not well shared among predecessors. Having coaching backgrounds is a strong predictor of serving as a coach. They found that managers who are more willing to coach assist psychoanalytic and role modeling supporters. The findings raise concerns about the application of organizational citizenship theory as a framework for understanding why coaches are employees. Nur Syafiqah et al.³⁶ examined the role of operational managers in creating a coaching culture in Malaysia. According to this study, operational managers have a very important role in creating and promoting coaching culture in their organizations that the growth of this culture can lead to employee development and motivation. Sehhat and Khosravi³⁷ studied the effective organizational relationship in coaching and showed that the overall atmosphere during coaching should be pleasant to enhance the understanding of employees. Effective communication behavior is a goal, but it must be a means of achieving the goal. Therefore, a manager-coach using this efficient tool gives employees motivation and spirit to increase their problem-solving ability. This will improve staff skills, increase job satisfaction and productivity, as well as incorporating the effectiveness of the coaching process. Sangari and Purvali⁶ examined the effect of managers’ coaching behavior on staff performance. They reported that the conceptual model of the hypotheses fitted well the experimental data obtained from the sample study. Reviews show that the manager’s coaching behavior has a direct effect on job satisfaction and role clarity. Also, they showed that the mediation of job satisfaction has an indirect positive effect on professional commitment and organizational commitment of employees. Furthermore, by mediating role clarity as one of the direct outcomes of managerial coaching, it has a positive effect on employees’ job performance. Moghli et al.³⁸ conducted a study to identify the factors effective in creating a coaching organization. They revealed that the development of the concept of coaching and introducing indigenous coaching roots (such as sportsmanship, mysticism, Sufism, and Islamic education) and some religious learning methods (such as self-taught, critical, and experimental styles) provided specific organizational paradigm. This paradigm, contrary to some common viewpoints, considers coaching not merely as an instructional tool such as a master-student but as a strategy for the simultaneous development of wisdom in employees and organizations. According to the researcher’s searches, almost all domestic and most foreign studies have evaluated the effectiveness of coaching approaches on education, learning, job satisfaction, performance, and empowerment of human resources (mostly in the medicine and health fields). It could be mentioned that the effectiveness of coaching approaches on the attitude of staff in petrochemical companies and engineering and commercial fields has been to a great extent overlooked. Therefore, the evaluation of the research background confirmed an apparent study vacuum in terms of the relationship between coaching approaches and the motivation of employees. Preliminary studies at the Persian Gulf Petrochemical Company show that in recent years, the motivation of the company’s operational staff has been declining, and this problem has become an important issue in the field of human resource management of the company. Managers cannot force their employees to be motivated to do things, but they can strengthen them in mastering their tasks and appreciate them when appropriate if they achieve their goals. One of the biggest challenges and achievements for managers today is to motivate the members of the work teams under their leadership, because this motivation increases the work efficiency of employees and reveals their greater effort and seriousness. As such, the present study was a research innovation in the field of human resources of Persian Gulf Petrochemical Company and could be considered as a basis for the development of theoretical and applied knowledge regarding human resources and their abilities in petrochemical companies and engineering and commercial fields.

Research method

This research was done in two stages. In the first stage, the model was designed based on the data strategy of the foundation. Using a qualitative method, a total of 18 experts, including senior managers and human resources managers of Persian Gulf Petrochemical Company, and faculty members or university lecturers, who met the inclusion criteria (e.g., availability, experience, appropriateness of the field of study, doctoral degree, teaching at the university, a history of research and authorship in the field of human resource management and knowledge of the status and conditions of human resources in the Persian Gulf Petrochemical Company), were selected non-randomly (purposive sampling method based on theoretical saturation criterion using the sampling technique of key people [experts]). Following unstructured interviews with the participants, open, axial, and selective coding of the interviews was carried out through a grounded theory approach using MAXQDA software. According to the results, 145 initial codes were extracted from 805 concepts, divided into 23 categories, including axial, causal, contextual, and interfering conditions, as well as strategies and consequences. In the selective coding stage, the main categories were selected based on the results of steps before the coding process and were related to the other categories in a systematic way. In addition, the relations were validated and categories that required further refinement and development were improved. It is notable that the mentioned steps were carried out in a back and forth process. Therefore, the selective coding steps are not clearly separated from each other and are carried out through an interactive process along with open and axial coding. At this stage, several experts were asked to provide feedback on the model development process and final model, the majority of whom approved the model. However, some of them provided corrective feedback, which was applied to the model in a back and forth process, and the final opinion of experts confirming the model was achieved. To integrate and present the final model of the organizational coaching model, after identifying the axial category and relating other categories in the form of the systematic paradigm of the data-oriented theory was refined by designing the model and fostering the main elements.

The final model of the research, as shown in Table 1, is as follows:

Table 1.

Coaching model of operational managers of Persian Gulf Petrochemical Company in order to motivate human resources.

Impacts	Strategies		Category	Casual conditions
Manpower motivation Teamwork Job satisfaction Learning Empowerment	Organizational training Succession Managers’ competencies Compensation system		Attitude Coaching	Communication Organizational goals and strategies Human resource management performance Organizational culture
	Interfering conditions	Backgrounds
	Legal requirements Organizational Structure Organizational agility	Job characteristics Staff characteristics Time characteristics Talent management Participatory management Knowledge management

The assessment method by research members, theoretical foundation and research background were used to confirm the accuracy of the data. To this end, the researcher first assessed the theoretical foundations and research background. Afterwards, the opinions and instructions of a number of experts were obtained. In this regard, the experts were asked to confirm the results of the analysis and categorization obtained from interviewees. Theoretical saturation techniques were used to determine the external validity (transferability) of the findings. Accordingly, all points that may affect transferability and increase the ability to generalize results to other areas were emphasized. The important point is that in the above paradigm model, the variables appear in the selective coding stage according to the interpretation of the data and the interaction that occurs between the analyst and the data, for example, knowledge management in the context and communication as causal conditions. In the second stage, which was done quantitatively, these factors were investigated according to the following method. The present research is practical and descriptive-correlational in terms of objective and data collecting, respectively. The analyses were performed using the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) in the SMART PLS. The statistical population includes all 340 members of the operational managers of the Persian Gulf Petrochemical Company. These managers have executive and operational responsibilities and are at the lowest organizational level. In fact, they are responsible for the tasks of others, guiding and managing non-managers in the organization, in contrast to other managerial ranks. Therefore, they have the closest managerial rank to execution and operations regarding the activities and tasks in the workshop or the working circle and report to the middle manager. In addition, they work with operators of various occupations of a particular unit of the organization directly, in-person, and without intermediaries and have a direct relationship with the overall efficiency and productivity of the organization. The sample size was estimated at 180 using the Cochran formula. However, a total of 200 questionnaires were distributed in the target community in a randomly stratified (Table 2) manner of which, and 182 questionnaires were collected and evaluated. Data collection tools were some data-oriented questionnaires extracted from the previous step. This category in the organizational basis column in this holding is based on the rank of the interviewed manager. The company ranks its employees and managers based on the organizational chart. Inclusion in this ranking depends on the level of education, age and mainly the work experience of the manager or employee interviewed. In fact, the rank and organizational position of the person, causes him to be placed in one of these categories.

Table 2.

Random stratified sampling method based on organizational basis.

Organizational basis	Total community size	Selected sample	Questionnaire collected	Percentage	The cumulative percentage
Base 15 and lower	41	24	22	12.1%	12.1%
Base 16 to 17	95	56	51	28.0%	40.1%
Base A and higher	204	120	109	59.9%	100.0%
Total	340	200	182	100%	100.0%

Preparing a questionnaire

In order to evaluate the factors affecting coaching of operational managers of Persian Gulf Petrochemical Company in line with the motivation of human resources (designed in Figure 1), a researcher-made questionnaire congruent with the categories of the model was prepared following the analysis of interviews and in consultation with honorable management professors and managers of the organization. The questionnaire included an introduction, questions for a survey of respondents (e.g., gender, age, level of education, organizational background and work experience), as well as 126 specialized questions scored based on a five-point Likert scale (very low, low, moderate, high, very high). Since in the present study, the questionnaire is the best tool for collecting information and measuring variables, so measuring the validity of the questionnaire is also of particular importance; because the validity of the research shows the compatibility of the questionnaire with the objectives of the research. First, an extensive study was conducted in the field of subject literature. Then, the main and important sources in the field of auditing were identified and studied more carefully so that while extracting important concepts and variables, how to measure them in the organization is also clear and appropriate questions are designed. After clarifying the dimensions of the research, according to the studies, questions appropriate to the subject, objectives and variables of the research were prepared and designed. The initial questionnaire was given to respected professors and advisors to be corrected and approved. Regarding the content of the questionnaire, the first step is to determine the boundaries for the research. Therefore, after the approval of the questionnaire by the professors, for more assurance, the questionnaire was again approved by several professors of the organization in order to raise the necessary issues in the questionnaire. The questions were designed briefly and tried to use as clear and unambiguous expressions as possible. In designing the questions, an attempt was made to design the questions more objectively, observing the principle of openness.

Figure 1.

Paradigm model of designing and explaining the coaching pattern of the operational managers of the Persian Gulf Petrochemical Company in the context of HRM.

Descriptive analysis of research variables

Kolmogorov-Smirnov test: In order to check the normality of the data, the null hypothesis is based on the fact that the data distribution is normal. This test is tested at an error level of 5%. If a significant value greater than the error level 0.05 is obtained, there will be no reason to reject the null hypothesis. Therefore, the data distribution will be normal. To test the normality of the data, the statistical assumptions are set as follows:

H₀: The distribution of data related to variables is normal

H₁: The distribution of data related to variables is not normal

It is known based on the data in Table 3.

Table 3.

Descriptive statistics of research variables and data normality test (Kolmogorov-Smirnov).

Variables	Average	Standard deviation	Kolmogorov–Smirnov test	P-value	Variables	Average	Standard deviation	Kolmogorov–Smirnov test	P-value
Communication	3.919	0.519	0.090	0.001	Knowledge management	4.009	0.643	0.181	0.000
Organizational strategies and goals	4.059	0.621	0.144	0.000	Participatory management	3.970	0.533	0.105	0.000
Legal requirements	3.615	0.594	0.079	0.008	Coaching	3.929	0.660	0.137	0.000
Organizational training	4.064	0.519	0.115	0.000	Managers’ competencies	3.421	0.761	0.115	0.000
Motivation	3.988	0.561	0.113	0.000	Compensation system	3.813	0.671	0.095	0.000
Empowerment	3.963	0.529	0.094	0.000	Job characteristics	3.777	0.610	0.092	0.001
Teamwork	3.916	0.639	0.140	0.000	Staff characteristics	3.918	0.540	0.075	0.014
Succession	4.000	0.617	0.181	0.000	Organizational characteristics	3.848	0.564	0.092	0.001
Organizational agility	3.821	0.715	0.160	0.000	Learning	4.102	0.551	0.136	0.000
Job satisfaction	4.024	0.615	0.136	0.000	Casual conditions	3.987	0.415	0.042	0.200
Organizational structure	3.677	0.646	0.111	0.000	Strategies	3.825	0.514	0.086	0.002
HRM performance	3.871	0.541	0.103	0.000	Background conditions	3.917	0.445	0.059	0.200
Organizational culture	4.099	0.571	0.157	0.000	Intervening conditions	3.704	0.506	0.043	0.200
Talent management	3.981	0.657	0.248	0.000	Consequences	3.998	0.405	0.059	0.200

The average score of the variables was between 3.421 to 4.102, among which learning has the highest average.

The variable of managers’ skills and competencies with a score of 3.42 has the highest dispersion in terms of standard deviation index.

The significance value of most variables is less than the error level (0.05) according to the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. Therefore, the null hypothesis is rejected and the data distribution is not normal at all. Insensitivity to the default of normal data is a feature of Smart PLS software. Thus, in such situations it is the best structural equation software to run the model.

The research model was tested using the partial least squares (PLS) technique. In general, the PLS includes two measurement and structural models, and model variables are divided into two categories of latent and explicit variables.

The measurement model (confirmatory factor analysis) in PLS shows the relationships between latent and explicit variables. In this study, the measurement model was assessed using reliability tests (Cronbach’s alpha and composite reliability) (Table 6) and convergent validity tests (confirmatory validity and extracted mean index) (Tables 4 and 5) and Fornell-Larcker criterion test (Table 7).

The structural model (path analysis) in PLS evaluates the relationship between latent variables. The quality or credibility of the model was assessed using CV Com and CV Red, and the research hypotheses were tested applying the PLS.

There are significantly important points in the PLS technique:

A significant test should be carried out after identifying the correlation of variables. The significance of the correlations observed was evaluated using bootstrap or jackknife cross-cutting. In this study, the bootstrap method was applied to obtain the t-statistic (Tables 6 and 7).

The magnitude of the relationship between the factors (hidden variables) and the observed variable is represented by the load factor. The load factor is a value between 0 and 1. If the load factor is less than 0.3, the relationship is considered weak and will be ignored. A load factor between 0.3 and 0.6 is acceptable and more than 0.6 is highly desirable. It can be seen in Table 5 that all load factors of the variables have values greater than 0.5, confirming the acceptable reliability of the measurement model.

Table 4.

Load factors and research variables.

Direction	Load factor	T statistics	Direction	Load factor	T statistics	Direction	Load factor	T statistics
q001 ← communication	0.896	63.909	q043 ← Organizational Agility	0.855	48.501	q085 ← Managers’ competencies	0.684	24.615
q002 ← communication	0.913	94.945	q044 ← Organizational Agility	0.803	24.267	q086 ← Managers’ competencies	0.707	21.531
q003 ← communication	0.502	10.762	q045 ← Job Satisfaction	0.81	40.362	q087 ← Managers’ competencies	0.683	25.293
q004 ← communication	0.629	20.038	q046 ← Job Satisfaction	0.875	68.202	q088 ← Managers’ competencies	0.477	9.252
q005 ← communication	0.92	99.136	q047 ← Job Satisfaction	0.824	41.272	q089 ← Managers’ competencies	0.837	44.335
q006 ← communication	0.59	14.365	q048 ← Organizational Structure	0.704	25.073	q090 ← Managers’ competencies	0.86	50.071
q007 ← communication	0.583	16.062	q049 ← Organizational Structure	0.82	45.286	q091 ← Managers’ competencies	0.86	51.598
q008 ← Strategy and goals of the organization	0.795	34.001	q050 ← Organizational Structure	0.845	57.863	q092 ← Managers’ competencies	0.861	52.935
q009 ← Strategy and goals of the organization	0.874	66.719	q051 ← Organizational Structure	0.655	17.147	q093 ← Managers’ competencies	0.703	22.734
q010 ← Strategy and goals of the organization	0.865	55.05	q052 ← HRM Performance	0.617	15.584	q094 ← Managers’ competencies	0.564	14.67
q011 ← Legal Requirements	0.649	18.815	q053 ← HRM performance	0.68	21.416	q095 ← Managers’ competencies	0.867	55.926
q012 ← Legal Requirements	0.767	26.514	q054 ← HRM performance	0.77	31.617	q096 ← Compensation system	0.772	28.06
q013 ← Legal Requirements	0.698	23.765	q055 ← HRM performance	0.632	17.016	q097 ← Compensation system	0.805	44.306
q014 ← Legal Requirements	0.699	21.029	q056 ← HRM performance	0.723	19.734	q098 ← Compensation system	0.823	42.929
q015 ← legal requirements	0.67	20.642	q057 ← HRM performance	0.764	29.124	q099 ← compensation system	0.73	19.238
q016 ← legal requirements	0.754	31.178	q058 ← HRM performance	0.808	37.586	q100 ← job characteristics	0.645	17.103
q017 ← organizational training	0.696	26.443	q059 ← HRM performance	0.679	19.415	q101 ← job characteristics	0.804	38.118
q018 ← organizational training	0.786	30.725	q060 ← organizational culture	0.813	34.089	q102 ← job characteristics	0.814	53.156
q019 ← organizational training	0.728	24.196	q061 ← organizational culture	0.803	31.49	q103 ← job characteristics	0.809	49.142
q020 ← organizational training	0.734	27.332	q062 ← organizational culture	0.814	34.846	q104 ← job characteristics	0.52	10.223
q021 ← organizational training	0.735	25.793	q063 ← talent management	0.914	88.36	q105 ← job characteristics	0.765	30.613
q022 ← motivation	0.837	54.738	q064 ← talent management	0.91	85.877	q106 ← job characteristics	0.725	26.512
q023 ← motivation	0.621	16.081	q065 ← talent management	0.876	71.82	q107 ← job characteristics	0.691	26.474
q024 ← motivation	0.632	15.07	q066 ← talent management	0.882	41.78	q108 ← staff characteristics	0.669	24.261
q025 ← motivation	0.858	66.991	q067 ← talent management	0.842	51.896	q109 ← staff characteristics	0.701	20.808
q026 ← motivation	0.671	21.403	q068 ← participatory management	0.62	16.847	q110 ← staff characteristics	0.769	33.209
q027 ← motivation	0.713	23.301	q069 ← participatory management	0.734	29.599	q111 ← staff characteristics	0.766	31.381
q028 ← motivation	0.73	25.028	q070 ← participatory management	0.765	34.096	q112 ← staff characteristics	0.684	23.25
q029 ← empowerment	0.881	63.802	q071 ← participatory management	0.808	39.637	q113 ← staff characteristics	0.764	32.537
q030 ← empowerment	0.545	12.257	q072 ← participatory management	0.717	24.177	q114 ← staff characteristics	0.651	17.91
q031 ← empowerment	0.873	61.904	q073 ← participatory management	0.707	20.341	q115 ← staff characteristics	0.762	36.67
q032 ← empowerment	0.636	19.352	q074 ← coaching	0.837	37.547	q116 ← staff characteristics	0.716	26.325
q033 ← empowerment	0.626	17.314	q075 ← coaching	0.868	60.88	q117 ← staff characteristics	0.704	27.004
q034 ← empowerment	0.901	84.451	q076 ← coaching	0.795	43.712	q118 ← organizational characteristics	0.757	35.527
q035 ←teamwork	0.821	44.875	q077 ← managers’ competencies	0.486	9.978	q119 ← organizational characteristics	0.833	53.062
q036 ← teamwork	0.822	36.81	q078 ← managers’ competencies	0.844	38.648	q120 ← organizational characteristics	0.806	41.982
q037 ← teamwork	0.856	58.698	q079 ← managers’ competencies	0.755	32.015	q121 ← organizational characteristics	0.639	17.965
q038 ← teamwork	0.846	54.124	q080 ← managers’ competencies	0.699	20.5	q122 ← organizational characteristics	0.588	13.135
q039 ← succession	0.81	34.576	q081 ← managers’ competencies	0.562	10.706	q123 ← learning	0.768	30.974
q040 ← succession	0.867	59.661	q082 ← managers’ competencies	0.692	16.053	q124 ← learning	0.797	36.155
q041 ← succession	0.864	61.662	q083 ← managers’ competencies	0.604	16.592	q125 ← learning	0.825	48.83
q042 ← organization agility	0.852	52.117	q084 ← managers’ competencies	0.867	51.338	q126 ← learning	0.792	30.552

Table 5.

Convergence reliability and validity of research model variables.

Variables	Cronbach’s alpha	Compound reliability (CR)	AVE	variables	Cronbach’s alpha	Compound reliability (CR)	AVE
Coaching	0.781	0.873	0.696	Organizational culture	0.739	0.851	0.656
Compensation system	0.789	0.864	0.613	Strategies and objectives of organization	0.799	0.882	0.715
Empowerment	0.839	0.886	0.574	Organizational structure	0.752	0.844	0.578
HRM Performance	0.859	0.891	0.507	Organizational training	0.788	0.855	0.542
Job satisfaction	0.785	0.875	0.7	Participatory management	0.82	0.87	0.529
Learning	0.807	0.874	0.634	Staff characteristics	0.896	0.915	0.518
Legal requirements	0.799	0.857	0.501	Succession	0.804	0.884	0.719
Managers’ competencies	0.948	0.954	0.53	Communication	0.848	0.888	0.545
Motivation	0.849	0.886	0.531	Job characteristics	0.87	0.899	0.53
Organizational agility	0.786	0.875	0.701	Knowledge management	0.834	0.9	0.751
Organizational characteristics	0.776	0.849	0.534	Talent management	0.798	0.908	0.832
Teamwork	0.858	0.903	0.7

Cronbach’s alpha for all variables was greater than 0.7, so all variables were reliable. The extracted AVE value is always greater than 0.5, so convergent validity is also confirmed.

Table 6.

Divergent validity of the Fornell and Larcker reflective elements test.

	Coaching	Compensation system	Empowerment	HRM performance	Job satisfaction	Learning	Legal requirement	Managers’ competencies	Motivation	Organizational agility	Organizational characteristics	Organizational culture	Organizational strategies and goals	Organizational structure	Organizational training	Participatory management	Staff characteristics	Succession	Communication	Job characteristics	Knowledge management	Talent management	Teamwork
Coaching	0.834
Compensation system	0.345	0.783
Empowerment	0.443	0.331	0.758
HRM performance	0.495	0.377	0.572	0.712
Job satisfaction	0.377	0.372	0.307	0.488	0.837
Learning	0.421	0.264	0.382	0.460	0.261	0.796
Legal requirements	0.274	0.423	0.370	0.431	0.279	0.237	0.708
Managers’ competencies	0.238	0.390	0.371	0.252	0.227	0.354	0.172	0.728
Motivation	0.482	0.363	0.459	0.553	0.446	0.371	0.375	0.431	0.728
Organizational agility	0.295	0.258	0.337	0.387	0.267	0.208	0.392	0.205	0.236	0.837
Organizational characteristics	0.352	0.451	0.400	0.515	0.316	0.349	0.476	0.182	0.406	0.447	0.731
Organizational culture	0.346	0.334	0.392	0.496	0.301	0.362	0.285	0.152	0.387	0.256	0.479	0.810
Organizational strategies and goals	0.378	0.353	0.403	0.385	0.388	0.292	0.383	0.202	0.496	0.268	0.413	0.224	0.845
Organizational structure	0.310	0.437	0.327	0.393	0.320	0.240	0.448	0.241	0.329	0.385	0.473	0.209	0.313	0.760
Organizational training	0.341	0.603	0.456	0.340	0.298	0.233	0.359	0.457	0.369	0.198	0.395	0.313	0.416	0.345	0.736
Participatory management	0.326	0.436	0.402	0.496	0.288	0.266	0.491	0.212	0.321	0.463	0.576	0.335	0.325	0.489	0.417	0.728
Staff characteristics	0.406	0.377	0.482	0.584	0.445	0.324	0.480	0.135	0.443	0.406	0.590	0.349	0.361	0.484	0.343	0.564	0.720
Succession	0.320	0.605	0.386	0.322	0.340	0.216	0.266	0.487	0.298	0.316	0.340	0.206	0.369	0.445	0.671	0.436	0.285	0.848
Communication	0.407	0.258	0.454	0.446	0.375	0.352	0.307	0.174	0.437	0.226	0.314	0.282	0.534	0.287	0.272	0.332	0.404	0.184	0.738
Job characteristics	0.381	0.412	0.419	0.445	0.420	0.317	0.418	0.207	0.443	0.457	0.564	0.260	0.323	0.486	0.308	0.579	0.679	0.316	0.350	0.728
Knowledge management	0.363	0.308	0.300	0.324	0.238	0.247	0.401	0.246	0.381	0.316	0.413	0.297	0.278	0.446	0.382	0.396	0.407	0.303	0.288	0.323	0.866
Talent management	0.302	0.273	0.326	0.334	0.255	0.100	0.356	0.162	0.333	0.387	0.542	0.377	0.251	0.395	0.398	0.406	0.433	0.214	0.233	0.332	0.538	0.912
Teamwork	0.413	0.299	0.433	0.565	0.365	0.268	0.337	0.206	0.356	0.306	0.385	0.395	0.432	0.266	0.333	0.330	0.426	0.261	0.349	0.380	0.288	0.244	0.836

Table 7.

Path coefficients.

Path	Path Coefficients	T statistics	Path	Path Coefficients	T statistics
Casual conditions → coaching	0.557	15.591	Intervening conditions→ Organizational Agility	0.702	20.812
Casual conditions → HRM performance	0.841	41.639	Intervening conditions → Organizational structure	0.774	31.523
Casual conditions→ Organizational culture	0.586	16.535	Intervening conditions→ strategies	0.238	3.837
Casual conditions→ Organizational strategies and goals	0.673	21.093	Strategies →compensation system	0.661	17.081
Casual conditions → communication	0.808	42.868	Strategies→ Managers’ competencies	0.914	75.260
coaching→ strategies	0.188	3.64	Strategies→ Organization Training	0.728	21.141
Background conditions→ Organizational characteristics	0.788	41.844	Strategies→ Succession	0.734	24.919
Background conditions→ Participatory management	0.779	35.251	Strategies→ Consequences	0.569	15.980
Background conditions→ Staff characteristics	0.88	38.825	Consequences → Empowerment	0.779	32.033
Background conditions→ strategies	0.147	2.109	Consequences → Job satisfaction	0.614	18.637
Background conditions→ job characteristics	0.833	51.456	Consequences→ Learning	0.610	14.752
Background conditions→ Knowledge management	0.577	12.980	Consequences→ Motivation	0.804	32.926
Background conditions→ talent management	0.603	17.457	Consequences→ Teamwork	0.667	19.715
Intervening conditions → Legal requirements	0.845	45.076

Then, the reliability of the research variables was calculated by Cronbach’s Alpha indices with a standard deviation above 0.7.³⁹ Also, the average variance (AVE) with a high standard deviation of 0.5⁴⁰ using Smart-PL was applied for this objective. It can be seen in Table 3 that the research variables have convergent reliability and validity.

Divergent validity (Fornell and Larcker method)

In terms of divergent validity, the difference between the indices of a structure is compared with the indices of the other model variables. To do this, a matrix was formed that represents the absolute value of the square root of the matrix of the AVE of each element. In this matrix, the lower and higher values of the coefficient are the correlation coefficients between other composite elements. This matrix is shown in Table 4.

As shown in Table 4, the AVE root of each element exceeds the correlation coefficients of that element with other elements, indicating the divergent and reliability validity of the elements.

Research findings

Evaluation of structural model

After measuring the validity and reliability of the measurement model, the structural model was evaluated through the relationships between latent variables.

Evaluation of the model’s fit indexes

The quality or credibility of the model were assessed using credibility evaluation, which included CV Com and CV Red indexes. The subscription index measures the quality of the measurement model of each block. In addition, the positive values of the redundancy index, also known as Q² (Stone and Geisser criterion), show the proper and acceptable quality of the measurement and structural model.⁴¹

Figure 2 shows the values of each of the indicators related to the independent and dependent variables. As observed, the indexes were positive and larger than zero. It could be concluded that the model had acceptable quality and credibility.

Figure 2.

Research model fit indicators.

The relationship of the investigated variables in each of the research hypotheses is tested based on a causal structure with the PLS partial least squares technique. The measurement model (relationship of each of the observed variables to the hidden variable) and the path model (relationships of the hidden variables with each other) are calculated based on the general research model depicted in Figure 3. For measuring the meaningfulness of the relationships, the T-statistic was computed using the bootstrapping technique presented in Figure 3.

Figure 3.

Partial least squares technique for the general research model.

To measure the significance of the relationships, the t-statistic was calculated using the bootstraping technique, which is presented in Figure 4. In this model, which is the output of smart PLS software, a summary of the results related to the significance of the standard factor load and the significance of the relationships of the research variables is presented.

In this model, the output of is smart PLS software. A summary of the results related to the significance of the standard factor load and the significance of the relationships of the research variables is presented, the path coefficients and their significance are given in Table 5.

1. The impact of causal conditions (Communication, Organizational Goals, Strategy, Human Resources Management Performance, and Organizational Culture) on coaching:

Figure 4.

T-statistic of general research model with Bootstrapping technique.

The severity of the effect of causal conditions on the coaching category was calculated to be 0.555. Moreover, the test probability statistic was 15.60, which is greater than the critical value of T at a 5% error level of 1.96 and indicates that the observed effect is significant. Therefore, with 95% certainty, it has a positive and significant effect on the category of coaching.

2. Investigating the impact of coaching on strategies (Organizational Training, succession, Managers’ Competencies, and Compensation System):

The severity of the coaching effect on the strategy was calculated as 0.188. Also, the test probability statistic was 3.640, which is greater than the critical value of T at the 5% error level (1.96) and indicates that the observed effect is significant. Therefore, with 95% confidence, coaching has a positive and meaningful impact on strategies.

3. Invxestigating the impact of contextual conditions (job characteristics, staff characteristics, organizational characteristics, talent management, participatory management, and knowledge management) on strategies:

The magnitude of the effect of the underlying conditions on the strategies was calculated to be 0.147. Moreover, the probability statistic was 2.992, which is greater than the critical value of T at the 5% error level of 1.96 and indicates that the observed effect is significant. Therefore, with 95% certainty, contextual conditions have a significant positive impact on strategies.

4. The impact of intervening conditions (Legal Requirements, Organizational Structure, and Organizational Agility) on Strategies:

The severity of the effect of intervention conditions on strategies was calculated to be 0.232. Besides, the probability statistic was 3.837, which is greater than the critical value of t at 5% error level (1.96) and shows that the observed effect is significant. Thus, with 95% confidence interventions, intervention conditions have a significant and positive effect on strategies.

5. Investigating the impact of strategies on outcomes (motivation, teamwork, job satisfaction, learning, and empowerment):

The severity of the effects of strategies on outcomes was calculated to be 0.556. Furthermore, the probability statistic was 15.980, which is greater than the critical value of T at the 5% error level of 1.96 and shows that the observed effect is significant. Therefore, with 95% confidence, strategies have a positive and significant effect on outcomes.

In addition to displaying direct path coefficients, PLS performed sub-path analysis calculations. The software presented these calculations in a table called Overall Model Effects. As a result, we can observe the overall and significant relationship between all variables. The results of these calculations are listed in Table 8.

Table 8.

Path coefficients and overall model effects.

Path	Overall effect	T statistics	Path	Overall effect	T statistics
Casual conditions → coaching	0.557	15.591	Background conditions→ Staff characteristics	0.88	38.825
Casual conditions → compensation system	0.069	3.248	Background conditions→ strategies	0.147	2.092
Casual conditions→ empowerment	0.046	3.038	Background conditions→ succession	0.108	2.109
Casual conditions→ HRM performance	0.841	41.639	Background conditions→ impacts	0.084	1.987
Casual conditions → job satisfaction	0.037	3.008	Background conditions→ job characteristics	0.833	51.456
Casual conditions→ learning	0.036	2.843	Background conditions→ Knowledge management	0.577	12.98
Casual conditions→ managers’ competencies	0.096	3.357	Background conditions→ talent management	0.603	17.457
Casual conditions→ Motivation	0.048	3.022	Background conditions→ teamwork	0.056	1.961
Casual conditions→ Organizational culture	0.586	16.535	Intervening Conditions → compensation system	0.157	3.596
Casual conditions→ Organizational strategies and goals	0.673	21.093	Intervening conditions → empowerment	0.105	3.701
Casual conditions→ Organizational training	0.076	3.369	Intervening conditions → Job satisfaction	0.083	3.573
Casual conditions→ strategies	0.105	3.379	Intervening conditions→ Learning	0.083	3.675
Casual conditions→ Succession	0.077	3.301	Intervening conditions → Legal requirements	0.845	45.076
Casual conditions→ communication	0.808	42.868	Intervening conditions → Managers’ competencies	0.217	3.844
Casual conditions→ consequences	0.06	3.101	Intervening conditions→ Motivation	0.109	3.723
Casual conditions→ teamwork	0.04	3.009	Intervening conditions→ Organizational Agility	0.702	20.812
Coaching → Compensation system	0.124	3.506	Intervening conditions → Organizational structure	0.774	31.523
Coaching→ Empowerment	0.083	3.314	Intervening conditions→ Organizational learning	0.173	3.74
Coaching→ job satisfaction	0.066	3.276	Intervening conditions→ strategies	0.238	3.837
Coaching→ Learning	0.065	3.093	Intervening conditions→ Succession	0.175	3.723
Coaching→ Managers’ competencies	0.172	3.606	Intervening conditions→ strategies	0.135	3.787
Coaching→ Motivation	0.086	3.28	Intervening conditions→ Teamwork	0.09	3.593
Coaching→ Organizational learning	0.137	3.619	Strategies →compensation system	0.661	17.081
Coaching→ strategies	0.188	3.64	Strategies→ Empowerment	0.443	13.07
Coaching→ Succession	0.138	3.543	Strategies→ Job satisfaction	0.349	11.778
Coaching→ Consequences	0.107	3.363	Strategies→ Learning	0.347	10.411
Coaching→ Teamwork	0.071	3.279	Strategies→ Managers’ competencies	0.914	75.26
Background conditions → compensation system	0.097	2.113	Strategies→ Motivation	0.457	13.662
Background conditions → Empowerment	0.065	1.983	Strategies→ Organizational training	0.728	21.141
Background conditions → Job satisfaction	0.051	1.976	Strategies→ Succession	0.734	24.919
Background conditions → Learning	0.051	1.988	Strategies→ strategies	0.569	15.98
Background conditions → Managers’ competencies	0.135	2.086	Strategies→ Teamwork	0.379	11.744
Background conditions → Motivation	0.067	1.979	Consequences → Empowerment	0.779	32.033
Background conditions → Organizational characteristics	0.788	41.844	Consequences → Job satisfaction	0.614	18.637
Background conditions → organizational training	0.107	2.078	Consequences→ Learning	0.61	14.752
Background conditions → Participatory management	0.779	35.251	Consequences→ Motivation	0.804	32.926
Teamwork s→ Consequences	0.667	19.715

The indirect effects of variables were indicated in the above table. For example: The severity of the causal effect on the strategies was calculated to be 0.105 and the test probability statistic was 3.379, which is greater than the critical value of t at the 5%error level of 1.96 and indicates that the observed effect is significant. Thus, with 95% certainty, causal conditions have a significant positive impact on strategies.

Discussion and conclusion

The article explored the effective coaching factors in operational managers of Persian Gulf Petrochemical Company in motivation of human resources. In the recent decade, coaching tools have gained considerable popularity among managers and employees of organizations. Therefore, organizations and staff pay close attention to coaching and invest a great deal of material, financial, and human resources on it. Organizations exploit coaching as a way to meet the challenges they face and respond to existing demands because coaching is a way in which staff do not need to be separated from the workplace and can receive training while doing their job. Therefore, the importance of the present study stems from the fact that for training and improvement of human resources in organizations, much attention should be paid to the application of tools and techniques that affect the improvement and enhancement of human resources. Moreover, it is necessary to employ methods that assist achieving individual and organizational goals, be consistent with environmental changes, equip individuals with scientific, technological, and environmental changes, and equip them with learning and training, performance improvements, and capacity building. Coaching is one of these methods. Business cycles are less visible and more complex in today’s business environment. Therefore, improving coaching competencies is necessary. The need to develop and enhance coaching in practice for operational managers of the Persian Gulf Petrochemical Company to motivate human resources should be given priority. Since it leads to the empowerment, learning, and improved performance of employees. According to the results obtained from assessing the model and responding to the research questions, the proposed model had a suitable and acceptable quality. And causal conditions (communication, organizational goals and strategies, HRM performance, and organizational culture) have a positive and significant impact on coaching. The key issue of coaching has a positive and significant impact on strategies (organizational training, succession, manager’s competencies, and compensation system). Contextual conditions (job characteristics, employee characteristics, organizational characteristics, talent management, participatory management, and knowledge management) have a significant positive impact on strategies. Intervening conditions (legal requirements, organizational structure, and organizational agility) have a significant and positive impact on strategies. Strategies have a positive and significant impact on outcomes (staff motivation, teamwork, job satisfaction, learning, and empowerment). Hugill et al.²⁰ showed that adopting a coaching approach by nurse supervisors could improve the relationship between supervisor and subordinate. Moreover, it can improve nurses’ work motivation and enhance organizational health. Sangari and Purvali., (2014)⁶ showed that managers’ coaching behavior has a direct effect on job satisfaction and role clarity. Besides, they showed that the mediation of job satisfaction has an indirect positive effect on professional commitment and organizational commitment of employees. Furthermore, by mediating the role clarity as one of the direct outcomes of managerial coaching, it has a positive effect on employees’ job performance. Ismail et al.¹⁰ showed that supportive behavior of managers in dealing with employees could enhance their motivation. According to SuJin (2016),³³ the coaching and counseling behaviors of managers and supervisors facilitate the socialization process of employees and improve the quality of organizational relationships. Nur Syafiqah et al. (2014)³⁴ showed that operational managers play an important role in creating and promoting a coaching culture in their organizations, which could lead to employee development and motivation. In line with answering the research questions in the studied field, it could be expressed that some of the categories were consistent with the research conducted in this area. Based on the results, the following suggestions are presented: The Persian Gulf Petrochemical Company is required to hold specialized conferences in the field of coaching to familiarize organizations, managers, and training experts with such training. Given the fact that the skill and competencies of managers are some of the strategies of the coaching approach in the research is necessary serious attention to the requirements and conditions of the coaching for organizations that intend to implement such a method, especially the creation of a climate and culture that supports the training and improvement of human resources. Organizational training was one of the strategies of the coaching approach in this study for managers of the company who have a key role in establishing and utilizing training methods and practices must pay more attention to on-the-job training methods, especially coaching, so that they can assist employees cope with the problems they encounter at work. Given the fact that knowledge and talent management were among underlying factors in the research and in any organization, success of the coaching method is most dependent on the presence of specialized and experienced human resources, it is recommended to carefully identify and identify qualified trainers. The service compensation system was another coaching strategy in the present research, the company needs to consider an appropriate compensation system for the success of coaching and motivation trainers. Otherwise, coaches will not be motivated to spend time and energy assisting individuals. Given the fact that the strategy and goals of an organization are among the causes of the emergence of the coaching approach in the present study, it is recommended that the future vision of the organization with short-term and long-term planning and goals be designed and employees become aware of this vision and objectives, which can affect their motivation since they can predict their responsibilities in the future.

Limitations

Firstly, the theoretical model proposed and reviewed in the present study was relied on a model of coaching the operational managers of the Persian Gulf Petrochemical Company in order to motivate human resources. The identified factors were presented in the model, and the effect of human resource standards, staff behavior, their job-compatible needs, and giving employee’s energy to improve the performance of their work activities could be added to create a new model. Secondly, the results were limited to one geographical location. Data were collected only in one of the petrochemical companies in Iran as a developing country. It is suggested that further studies be conducted in other countries with ethnic, perceptual, cultural differences, and different characteristics. In addition, testing the research model in a different environment will be associated with other valuable insights.

Footnotes

Acknowledgments

In this research, I would like to thank Bandar Imam Petrochemical Company for supporting us in this project.

Declaration of conflicting interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

ORCID iD

Foad Makvandi

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