Executive Coaching - A Guide For The HR Professional.pdf

36 EXECUTIVE COACHING
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exclusively, even if it is on a part-time basis. The department within
HR sponsoring internal coaching usually also contracts for and manages
external coaches. That way, both types of professional coaching
can be coordinated and complement each other. In fact, often
the head of such activities spends some of his or her time as an
internal coach.
Internal coaching is just now emerging as a valuable HR offering
and will continue to “professionalize” as time goes on. It is
similar to more traditional external coaching in some ways, but has
important differences. It provides important value to employers and
clients, and is a positive additional service, along with external
coaching, in full-service human resource environments.
Benefits
As organizations seek greater efficiency, accountability and cost
effectiveness, there are some obvious benefits associated with an
internal coaching capability. The per-assignment cost can be lower,
when there is a large enough number of assignments to justify the
start-up costs. An obvious advantage is that an internal coach
brings considerable knowledge of the company and may have access
to a great deal of “real-time” information about the client. Also,
there can be greater flexibility in scheduling. Finally, continuity may
be more possible over a period of months or years. Although internal
coaching is not likely to totally replace external coaching, an
appropriate mix of the two approaches seems to work well in many
settings.
Tradeoffs
Some tradeoffs exist regarding the use of internal coaches. Organizational
level is one of them in that sometimes the more senior-level
clients want to receive their help from outside coaches. Confidentiality
has to be considered differently when the coach is internal.
Particularly complex or sensitive assignments will call for a coach
with specialized experience that may not be available internally.