The Organizational Underground: Organizational Coaching and Organization Development Outside the Formal Organization

Hall and his colleagues (Hall, 1986; Hall, 2002; Hall & Moss, 1998) argue further that there are two career “metacompetencies” that enable individuals to be more protean: identity (or self-awareness) and adaptability. How can organizational coaches support the development of these two metacompetencies so that employees learn from their experience and develop other new competencies on their own? What responsibility does the organization have to develop employees for the possible next job within the organization or the possible exit door as the business changes? Would the impact of the current job crisis have been lessened if, indeed, organizations were accountable for teaching employees identity and adaptability? Would there be more community involvement and work/life balance today? Would we have been able to minimize the identity-crisis that is a core part of the job crisis today?

Grieving the death of an old self

We know from research that when a person loses their job, the emotions experienced are quite similar to the grieving process as the person is mourning the loss of identity and self-worth, or death of identity. Although we have seen emotions vary from anger, pain, fear, excitement, helplessness, and hopefulness, it is important to recognize the emotions while they are occurring, because emotions will vary from week to week, and often from day to day. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross’s Grief Cycle (1969), one of the most recognized and referenced transition models, helps us to understand the emotional states of the grieving process. The expanded grief model includes the active states of denial, anger, bargaining, testing, and acceptance; and the passive states of immobilization and depression. From our work in the field, we know that a person will transition through the cycle at his own pace and often slip back into stages of the cycle that he already passed through, called “cycling.” This refers to the roller coaster ride that many people experience after what they perceive as a significantly negative event. We have seen people get stuck in a phase for long periods of time, called “sticking.” Very often, the stage of sticking leads to depression.

When the realization of inevitability occurs, the depression stage begins. We often see this stage as the longest and lowest in the cycle. The signs of depression can manifest in many ways, such as despondency, refusing help, long bouts of crying, verbalizing that they see no future. Getting stuck here can lead to serious physiological and psychological problems. Coaches can help identity the stage of the grieving cycle by reading the verbal and nonverbal cues of the individual. By meeting him where he is, the coach can help guide and support him through the stages of the grief cycle. It is important to make the distinction here between coaching and therapy. The skilled coach can determine if the individual is in need of therapy versus coaching. It is not uncommon for a person to work with a therapist and a coach simultaneously when stuck in a grief cycle. Often therapy is a springboard for moving through the cycle and being able to work effectively with the coach.