Internal coaching programs are a bad bargain
There are 2 types of internal coaching programs that are being used more and more in corporate America.
1. The first program type is having full time certified executive coaches on staff. This approach is usually chosen by large organizations that are committed to executive coaching but, because they have so many senior managers who are eligible for coaches, find it more economic to have full time coaches on staff doing the coaching around the clock.
2. The second use of internal coaching is to teach coaching techniques to managers and allow them to become coaches to their own staffs. More and more, you will see the word “coaching” being used in the work environment. “This manager could use some coaching”, or “I’ll give them some coaching on that”. It is getting to the point that most managers fancy themselves as coaches already. And yet, few of them are trained or even aware of the formal process and tools that effective executive coaching requires.
In general, it is our opinion that nearly all and any coaching is beneficial. However, we feel there is a real downside to internal coaching. As employees, professional coaches will never be able to develop the strong objective positions that allow them to challenge their clients. In essence, they will always be serving two masters.
The same is somewhat true of training managers to coach their teams. In so many cases the “boss” is one of the primary obstacles that our clients have in overcoming their key weaknesses. While on the surface, internal coaching programs look like a bargain; they are not a very good one.
Jerry Kleinhaus
Oakley Advisors
Certified Executive Coaching
Cincinnati, Ohio
