Managerial Coaching and Employee Performance: The Role of Supervisors as Coaches in the Ghana Water Company Limited

This study investigates the impact of managerial coaching activities on employee performance, with particular emphasis on employee preferences for line managers and supervisors as coaches rather than external mentors. Using Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) as a case study, the research examines how coaching and mentoring programmes delivered by line managers influence both task performance and contextual performance. Data were collected from 180 employees and 29 managers through structured questionnaires. Descriptive statistics reveal that managers perceive themselves as effective coaches (mean = 3.97), while employees strongly prefer coaching from their line managers (mean = 4.00) compared to external coaches (mean = 2.06).
The results indicate that well structured managerial coaching positively affects employee performance, particularly in enhancing contextual outcomes such as collaboration, compliance, respect, and motivation. However, the study also finds that implementation of coaching programmes remains infrequent, and their impact on direct task execution is comparatively weaker. This divergence reflects broader literature, which suggests that coaching is more strongly associated with interpersonal harmony than with technical efficiency. The findings therefore highlight the need for targeted managerial training, continuous feedback systems, and structured coaching frameworks to ensure that coaching translates into measurable productivity as well as high morale.
By situating the analysis within an African organisational context, the study contributes to the growing body of literature on coaching and mentoring in developing economies. Practical implications include the importance of institutionalising coaching frameworks and strategically aligning them with performance metrics to achieve balanced outcomes of organisational harmony and operational efficiency.

managerial coaching, employee performance, mentoring, line managers, Ghana Water Company Limited

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