Designing a prototype of coaching software and measuring its usability

The increasing speed of environmental changes and the intensification of competition among organizations have caused organizations to seek solutions for greater flexibility in responding to environmental needs and changes. In fact, moving towards creating organizations that have a high degree of flexibility in adapting to a changing environment is a vital and effective solution. One of the effective factors in keeping pace with changes in the environment is the improvement of organizational performance. In this regard, the importance and attention to the development, and improvement of human resources leads to the improvement of  organizational performance. There are various strategies and methods for the development and improvement of human resources. One of the ways to develop and improve human resources is coaching. In fact, coaching has created a new approach to staff learning and development. Since information technology is a link among all modern sciences and determines the development of human resources, it has created a new concept in coaching. This research focuses on coaching and information technology. In fact, the purpose of this study is to design a prototype of coaching software as one of the tools to optimize the performance of human resources and ultimately improve organizational performance.

The information of this study was obtained using a mixed approach. The mixed approach benefits from two parts, namely qualitative and quantitative, to achieve the research result. Therefore, the present study used the phenomenological method in the qualitative part and the survey method in the quantitative part. The research instruments in  the qualitative part was the focus group method. In the quantitative part of the research, a researcher-made questionnaire was used to collect the information. The statistical population of the study in the qualitative section were specialists in the field of education and human resources, from among them 10 people were selected using the method of snowball sampling. The statistical population of the study in the quantitative part were the  top  managers of Mashhad Power Distribution Company. From this statistical population, the top managers of the western part of the company, which included 20 people, were selected to perform a usability test.

 The data obtained from the qualitative part of the research included 4 components for designing the coaching software, which was based on the prototype model of software development. The data obtained from the research were quantitatively analyzed by SPSS software. Quantitative data analyzed by the software showed that the aforementioned software has the required usability to be implemented in organizations and used by individuals.

The present study with laying emphasis on reducing the generation gap between managers and current employees and the individuals who will be employed in  the organization and also; and with laying emphasis on technology design by education and human resources experts and  examining the existing human resources software, sought to design a prototype of coaching software with features such as communication, cognition, problem facilitation process and problem coping, belief in the ability of individuals and motivational dimensions, and implementation of the selected solution and 360-degree evaluation. The aforementioned features were not seen in the Iranian software examined in the study. In addition to the above features, the distinguishing feature of the aforementioned software is attention to the Cohen and Bradford coaching model, and being process-oriented and feedback-oriented.