The advantages of internal and external mentoring

Advantages

Drawbacks

• Effective when you are new to a company (part of the onboarding)
• Ideal to explore a move to a new in-house function
• An internal mentor can evolve into a sponsor who can open doors for your career
• A powerful part of a company’s growth strategy
• Internal mentors can bring a strong cultural connection

• Limited time commitment by the internal mentor (on top of the normal job)
• Impediment to be fully open and honest due to concerns about how you might be perceived and how the internal mentor will handle the info you share
• Challenging for internal mentors to separate their fidelity to your company and you as a mentee
• If your internal mentor leaves, you could be left empty-handed
• The reputation of your internal mentor may negatively impact yours (and the other way around)
• Not sustainable if the mentor role is imposed or forced

Advantages

Drawbacks

• Objective sounding board not influenced by the corporate culture and political fray
• Refreshing different perspective
• The mentee is more transparent and open to reveal vulnerabilities and skills gaps
• Freedom for the mentee to speak without being judged (safe environment)
• Reduces feelings of isolation
• Clear time commitment by the mentor
• Door to a new network outside your organization.

• Unbudgeted cost if not a structural part of the learning & development program
• An external mentor is unfamiliar with organizational culture and processes