The design of a digital platform for employee coaching and its impact on employee well-being : A case study of a Swedish consultancy firm that utilises managerial coaching

Abstract: Purpose - This thesis aims to explore how employee coaching leads to employee well-being and what features a digital platform for coaching should integrate to ensure employee well-being. This will be done by answering the following research questions; (1) How does employee coaching contribute to employee well-being? and (2) What features should be integrated in a digital platform for employee coaching to foster employee well-being? Method - The study is a single case study where a Swedish consultancy firm that utilises managerial coaching was investigated. An abductive research approach was chosen, and 19 interviews were conducted with employees at the case company and thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. Findings - The findings of the research include how the six explored components for employee well-being were influenced by employee coaching, which feature categories are crucial for the creation of a platform for coaching and what risks the features can help mitigate. Lastly a summary figure that illustrates the interrelations between digital features, risks the employee well-being components is presented. Theoretical contribution - This study adds to existing literature in three ways. First, it contributes to a more nuanced understanding of coaching and its connection to employee well-being. Second, it contributes to a deeper understanding of the correlation between specific features and its outcome on employee well-being. Third, risks associated with the digital platform for employee coaching fostering well-being are presented and how features can be utilised to mitigate or decrease those risks. Practical contribution - The study provides a foundation for the creation of a digital platform as an aid for the coaching process. Practical contributions include guidelines for managers on how to introduce such a tool in an organisation, the importance of individual adaptation and how to handle data sharing. Limitations of the study - The study's main limitation is that it is a single case study, this implies that the research is limited to the case company's individual thoughts and experiences, which in this case is limited to one year of coaching experience.