Investigating the effect of coaching on organizational inertia with the mediating role of organizational mindfulness in Kashan Electricity Distribution Company

Today, in a rapidly changing world, the ability to change regularly is very important to adapt to external challenges. However, changes in the basic characteristics of the organization may increase the probability of failure. For this reason, it seems that organizational transformation efforts cause resistance and it is one of the most important obstacles facing contemporary companies, especially in this regard. Organizational inertia is a term used to describe this aversion to change as well as the desire to maintain the status quo (Teofilus et al., 2022). Many behavioral researchers emphasize the importance of a "self-aware mind" whose benefits can be used to develop desirable behaviors (Bhardwaj & Pareek, 2023). Researchers and behavioral thinkers should pay a lot of attention to mindfulness; Because the wider use of this type of tactics offers great potential in various economic, social, etc. fields (Krickel, 2023). On the other hand, coaching as a rapidly growing and expanding profession is used to develop leadership and mental skills at all organizational levels. By using coaching skills, it becomes possible to teach mindfulness skills to all organizational levels. Moreover, by being fully involved in this process, outstanding leaders not only increase their leadership strategies but also reap useful values (Susanto, 2023). Therefore, to adopt an innovative business model in any organization, the inertia for change is a fundamental obstacle and its role has not been fully investigated (Moradi et al, 2021).

Since the purpose of the research is to determine the relationships between the variables, the current research is of an applied type, and in terms of the method of data collection, it is descriptive, correlational, and single-section. The statistical sample of the research is 103 employees of the Kashan Electricity Distribution Company using the available sampling method. A 24-question questionnaire based on an ordinal scale and a five-point Likert scale was used to collect data. The questionnaire of this research consists of two parts: the first part includes demographic questions and the second part includes the main questions of the questionnaire that were raised based on the variables of the research and their validity and reliability were confirmed. The questionnaire includes three dimensions (coaching, mental-awareness, organizational inertia). The questions were reviewed by some professors. Also, to check the reliability and validity of the measurement model, Smart-PLS software was used due to its ability to test theories in the form of equations between variables. As can be seen, Cronbach's alpha coefficient for all research constructs is more than 0.7, which is at the desired level and shows the validity of the research measures.

The obtained results indicate that coaching has a negative and significant effect on organizational inertia in Kashan Electricity Distribution Company. Also, the positive and significant effect of coaching on the organizational mindfulness of employees of Kashan Electricity Distribution Company was confirmed. On the other hand, organizational mindfulness has a negative and significant effect on organizational inertia. Finally, the results of this research showed that organizational mindfulness plays a mediating role in the relationship between coaching and organizational inertia.Discussion and

Managers of electricity distribution companies are generally in a state of economic stagnation and feel that it is difficult to make fundamental changes. On the other hand, companies are looking for different coaching approaches to influence employees' behaviors and their training and learning, which may sometimes lead to employees' awareness and deeper understanding of their current situation and the organization. When the organization uses various resources such as time, manpower, money, communication, approvals, etc. in one direction, the change from the current direction is due to the unwillingness to waste the resources spent in the past and the patterns that have become a habit. As a result, managers can act by applying various coaching methods in line with deep awareness and alertness of the organization and increase the progress and evolution of the company. Managers of electricity distribution companies should note that at the beginning of the manager's entry into the system, it is possible to overcome organizational inertia much more than later. Over time, due to getting used to the existing situation and getting out of the shock of management change, the manager and employees tend to return to the previous situation and inertia prevents the organization from changing. On the other hand, for future research, it is suggested to investigate the relationship of this concept with other mentioned topics. Also, since the current research was conducted only in a limited industrial environment, it is suggested that this research be tested in other companies, industries, and cities as well.