In house or external coaching?

Companies use both external and internal coaches for a variety of reasons including improving retention and development of key people, improving productivity, achieving personal and company objectives, minimising or avoiding unproductive conflicts, making strategic planning more creative and supporting individuals who have been promotes to cope with new responsibilities. For the client coaching can enhance personal development and progress by learning to solve problems, reflecting on current experience, clarifying career direction, increasing self awareness, developing a greater adaptability to change, increasing personal impact on colleagues, enhancing the performance of their teams and direct reports, developing a better work life balance and adapting their leadership style.

In house coaches operating from within an organisation will already have knowledge of the culture, history and politics or the organisation. They are more easily available and perceived as less expensive and more easily managed by the organisation and as well as formally organised coaching sessions they are usually available for informal or “quiet” coaching conversations. Individuals can benefit from developing long term relationships with their coaches. An internal coach can help develop a coaching culture within an organisation and can act as a change agent in a way that an external coach cannot. The development of an internal coaching strategy is also usually seen as a statement that the organisation is moving towards a supportive coaching style of management.

Companies that employ external coaches benefit from their independence, objectivity and wider range of experience. In some cases they are able to provide sensitive feedback to senior staff that an internal coach would be unable to do. The confidentiality provided by external coaches can be very important in many situations and clients find external coaches are often able to give a new perspective enabling them to step back and view the bigger picture with no constraints. As they are not involved in or part of the day to day culture and benefits of the organisation they are perceived as being totally unbiased.

The Performance Solution, a leading provider of accredited coaches to companies including London Stock Exchange, Abbey, AstraZeneca, Johnson and Johnson and WH Smith. All of our executive coaches possess a minimum 10 years experience in a senior line management role within a variety of industries. At the Performance Solution all of our coaches have been fully trained in a wide range of coaching methodologies and methodologies and are all experienced coaches who take a non-directive approach that focuses on raising awareness by drawing out the individuals own knowledge and experience and then encouraging ownership and responsibility and commitment to personal change. They also pride themselves on being open to a diversity of coaching interventions, using metaphor, story telling, art, sandplay, coaching and walking, symbolic modelling, clean language, and have coaches qualified to use a vast array of psychometric and developmental questionnaires to add value to the client.

With the provision of internal coaches comes the responsibility or providing ongoing training, accreditation and supervision. The Performance Solution are able to provide a full range of services for organisations wishing to employ in house coaches ranging from accreditation to Masters level, open and bespoke in house accreditation programmes, coach supervision and ongoing development and accreditation of coach supervisors.

Many organisations choose to use a team of accredited internal coaches alongside external coaches to allow them reap the benefits of both and choose the type of coach suited to the particular situation.

For more information on external coaches and accreditation or supervision of in house coaches please call Ceri Heathcote on 01249 700290.