Do You Need An Internal Career Coaching Team… Or Better Career Conversations?

It's careers Q&A day where we give you some personal attention by answering your questions.

Today's question comes from Greg, who works in talent development in insurance: "Should every business have an internal career coaching team?"

What we cover:

• Not every business needs a formal internal career coaching team, but every business does need to give people access to good career conversations. Those two things are not the same thing.
• Where internal career coaching services do exist, they are almost always oversubscribed. That appetite is real, but a dedicated team is not the only way to meet it.
• The risk of a formal coaching function is that it accidentally becomes the only place career conversations happen, which outsources the responsibility for building a career culture to a small group in one corner of the business.
• A more sustainable and economical approach is to broaden the skillset internally: managers, peers, mentors, alumni, and people-growth enthusiasts can all be equipped to hold good career conversations using one consistent framework.
• Confidentiality matters. If people don't feel safe speaking openly with internal colleagues, they won't engage, however well-resourced the provision is.
• The right answer is usually a mix: internal coaches and enthusiasts, trained managers, and a sprinkling of external coaching where needed, all operating from a shared model that makes career conversations familiar and accessible everywhere.

Send your questions: Email or voicenote to pod@thecareerequation.com

Links:

Career Conversations Guide: https://www.thecareerequation.com/career-conversations-guide

Book an intro call: https://www.thecareerequation.com/book-intro-call

Erica on LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/ericasosna

Zoe on LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/zoeschofieldcoach