Internal & External Coaches

What's the difference between using internal coaches versus external coaches?

An external coach is someone hired from outside the company as an independent contractor. An internal coach is someone who works inside the company and is paid a salary plus employee benefits. While many people are suddenly being given the role of 'coach' within an organization among the many other roles they have to play, the new 'coach' role often comes without any formal training.

Coaching works when there is trust between the coach and the client. 98% of clients report that they are more inclined to share important issues and deeper concerns with an external coach who is a third party to the organization than with an internal coach employed by the corporation. 94% of those same clients said there is a perceived higher level of trust that they feel working with an external coach versus and internal coach.


An External Coach: Some Pros and Cons

  • Integrity of the client/coach confidentiality agreement is made easy and is non-threatening for the client.
  • Generally people look to external sources for expertise and knowledge which provides more credibility to the process.
  • Most often, external coaches are professionally trained by an accepted coaching institution by the International Coach Federation.
  • External coaches more often have unbiased, absolutely impartial opinion on the issues of a company and are not caught up in any company politics.
  • External coaches are only paid for hours that a company actually uses.
  • There are both pros and cons in how long it takes an external coach to understand the true culture of an organization.

An Internal Coach: Some Pros and Cons

  • An internal coach knows the company inside and out.
  • An internal coach understands the culture and has been in the culture for a long time.
  • Internal coaches are holding multiple agendas which may interfere with the coaching process.
  • Clients tend to have the perception that they cannot fully trust the internal coach who's salary depends on how well the coaching process goes.
  • Employees are made 'company coach' without formal training.
  • Internal coaches who are given other duties may find it hard to concentrate 100% on their clients at the level that is required to fully benefit the client.
  • Clients report that internal coaches can only do 'so much' and have a more expanded experience with external coaches.