The Ongoing Challenge of Adaptation and Upskilling

Coaching Psychology and the Challenge of Adapting to Change and Upskilling

Organisations are experiencing accelerating cycles of disruption. From AI adoption to shifts in working patterns, employees are constantly being asked to adapt, learn new skills, and reconfigure their professional identities. While HR leaders often emphasise training and reskilling initiatives, these programmes frequently underestimate the psychological processes that enable workers to embrace change. Coaching psychology offers a set of frameworks and evidence-based practices that can help individuals not only acquire new skills but also develop the cognitive, emotional, and motivational resources to sustain adaptation. Three areas stand out as particularly relevant: cultivating a growth mindset, supporting identity work during transitions, and enhancing self-efficacy.

Growth Mindset and Learning Agility

The concept of a growth mindset (Dweck, 2006) has become a central idea in organisational learning. Employees who view abilities as malleable are more willing to engage with challenges, persist in the face of setbacks, and see effort as a path to mastery. Yet despite its popularity, research shows that simply teaching the language of a rowth mindset is insufficient (Yeager & Dweck, 2020). What matters is creating experiences where individuals genuinely reflect on their own learning process and integrate adaptive beliefs into practice.

Coaching psychology contributes here by offering a structured relational space for that reflection. For example, cognitive-behavioural coaching (Neenan & Palmer, 2001) enables clients to surface fixed beliefs ("I'm just not good with technology") and reframe them in more flexible terms ("I can learn step by step if I practise"). In practice, a coach might invite a coachee to identify times they successfully mastered a new skill in the past, linking those strategies to the present challenge. Over time, these micro-interventions support not only a shift in mindset but also an embodied sense of learning agility (De Meuse, 2017).

Growth mindset work within coaching also aligns with Kolb's experiential learning cycle (1984), where reflective observation and abstract conceptualisation deepen learning from concrete experience. Coaching sessions can slow down the learning loop, helping employees notice how they respond emotionally to challenges and reframe failure as part of iterative progress. This makes coaching an ideal complement to formal training initiatives, which often prioritise knowledge transfer over meaning-making.

Guiding Identity Work During Transitions

Change is rarely only about skills; it often challenges an individual's sense of self. Ibarra (2003) demonstrated how career transitions involve experimenting with "possible selves," where individuals try out provisional identities before internalising new ones. For employees, being asked to move into unfamiliar roles, learn disruptive technologies, or adopt new working patterns can provoke anxiety and even grief for a former professional identity. Coaching psychology can hold this tension.

Narrative and constructivist approaches to coaching (Drake, 2007) encourage clients to explore the stories they tell about themselves, including fears and aspirations. A coaching psychologist may work with a coachee to articulate what is being lost ("I used to feel like an expert in my role, now I feel uncertain") and what might be emerging ("Perhaps I am becoming someone who thrives on adaptability"). Such processes align with Mezirow's (1997) transformative learning theory, which suggests that adults make meaning through critical reflection on disorienting dilemmas. By holding space for this identity work, coaching helps individuals move beyond surface compliance with change initiatives toward deeper integration.

Psychodynamic perspectives in coaching also highlight the unconscious aspects of transition, including defence mechanisms that can manifest as resistance (Kilburg, 2004). Coaching psychologists trained to recognise these dynamics can help individuals surface hidden anxieties and re-engage constructively. In organisational terms, this mitigates the risk of passive resistance or disengagement that undermines change programmes.

Building Self-Efficacy for New Capabilities

Even when individuals accept the need for change, confidence in their ability to cope is a key determinant of success. Bandura's (1997) social cognitive theory emphasises self-efficacy—belief in one's ability to organise and execute actions—as a predictor of learning and performance. High self-efficacy is linked to greater persistence, resilience under stress, and willingness to adopt new behaviours.

Coaching psychology strengthens self-efficacy through several mechanisms. First, it leverages mastery experiences: coaches help clients break challenges into achievable steps, celebrate incremental progress, and thereby accumulate evidence of competence. Second, coaches provide vicarious experiences by drawing attention to peer models or role-modelling adaptive behaviours themselves. Third, they use verbal persuasion, encouragement grounded in realistic assessment, to reinforce clients' belief in their capacity. Finally, coaching can regulate emotional states, using mindfulness or acceptance-based techniques (Hayes et al., 2006) to reduce anxiety that erodes efficacy beliefs.

Consider an employee asked to adopt a new AI-driven platform. A coaching psychologist might help them reframe initial anxiety, recall similar learning successes, and design small practice steps. Over time, this builds confidence, which accelerates uptake. Organisationally, such interventions can complement technical training by ensuring psychological readiness to engage with new tools.

Methodological Considerations and Evidence Base

While coaching psychology has a strong theoretical base, measuring its impact isn’t always straightforward. Skills can be tracked quickly, but more profound shifts in mindset, confidence, or identity often unfold over more extended periods. That’s why the best organisations don’t just rely on pre–post surveys but combine psychological measures, behavioural outcomes, and stakeholder feedback to build a fuller picture of coaching effectiveness.

Organisational Implications

From a systemic perspective, coaching psychology does not replace formal upskilling programmes but makes them more effective. Research consistently shows that knowledge transfer is mediated by self-efficacy, motivation, and organisational support (Burke & Hutchins, 2007). Coaching addresses precisely these mediators, increasing the likelihood that new skills are embedded into practice. Moreover, coaching's emphasis on reflective dialogue aligns with contemporary calls for "learning organisations" (Senge, 1990), where adaptability and sense-making are collective capacities.

Importantly, coaching psychologists also bring an ethical orientation. They can help organisations manage the psychological risks of constant change, ensuring that upskilling does not become coercive or exploitative. This involves attending to individual differences, pacing interventions, and maintaining a focus on well-being as well as performance.

Conclusion

Adapting to change and upskilling are as much psychological as technical. Coaching psychology offers evidence-based methods to help individuals reframe their mindset, navigate identity shifts, and build self-efficacy. Drawing on theories from Dweck’s mindset research to Bandura’s self-efficacy model and Mezirow’s transformative learning, it translates organisational imperatives into lived processes of growth.

Measuring these outcomes is complex, since psychological change unfolds over time, varies by individual, and is shaped by the coaching relationship itself. For HR leaders managing digital disruption and workforce reskilling, coaching should be viewed as a nuanced intervention rather than a quick fix. The most effective organisations treat coaching as an evolving practice, using ongoing feedback and evaluation to ensure it delivers sustainable impact.