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 [email protected]   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