To set up an employee coaching program, decide five things before anyone books a session: who gets coaching first, whether the coaches are internal or external, whether coaching is one-to-one or in groups, what the employee’s manager and HR will see, and how you will tell if it is working. Start with a pilot of a few employees and a fixed number of sessions, put the confidentiality rules in writing, and review it at the end of the term.
This guide is for HR and L&D leads and internal coaches building a program inside their own company. If you are an outside coach selling to companies, start with what corporate coaching is instead.
Who should get coaching first?
Not everyone at once. A first program works best with one group going through the same change: the coaches learn faster and the results are easier to read.
| Group | Why coach them | Format that fits |
|---|---|---|
| New managers in their first year | The move from doing the work to leading people is where most of them struggle | Small groups, plus a few one-to-ones |
| People just promoted or changing role | A clear transition with a clear end | One-to-one, three to six months |
| High-potential employees before a promotion | Prepares them for the next role before they are in it | One-to-one or a small cohort |
| Senior leaders | Their problems are confidential and specific | One-to-one, often with an external coach |
Two rules help here. Keep coaching separate from performance management: if employees hear it is for people who are struggling, the ones who would benefit most will avoid it. And let employees opt in. Coaching only works with someone who wants to be coached.
Internal or external coaches?
Most companies end up with both. The question is where to start.
Internal coaches are employees who coach colleagues, usually HR or L&D staff or experienced managers who have trained as coaches. They know the company and cost nothing extra. The limits: they have a day job, and senior leaders may not open up to someone they meet in the corridor.
External coaches are independent or come from a coaching firm. They bring experience across companies and distance from internal politics, which matters for senior people. They cost money and need time to learn how your company works.
A practical split for a first program: internal coaches for new managers and employees in transition, external coaches for the senior group, if you coach them at all in year one.
Whoever coaches, nobody coaches someone in their own reporting line. A manager decides on pay and promotion, so an employee will keep the most important problems out of the room.
One-to-one or group coaching?
One-to-one coaching follows the employee’s own goals and gives the most privacy, at the highest cost per person. Group coaching puts four to eight people with a shared challenge in front of one coach: less individual time, but they learn from each other, and one coach reaches more people.
Many programs combine them: a group for the shared skills, and a few one-to-one sessions for what people will not say in front of peers. If the group format is the larger part of your plan, the leadership cohort programs page shows how a cohort is built, and the guide to delivering a leadership program online covers the weekly rhythm.
What will the manager and HR see?
Settle this before the first session, not when someone asks.
The International Coaching Federation’s Code of Ethics defines the sponsor as the party “paying for and/or arranging or defining the coaching services”, and treats confidentiality as protecting what is said in coaching unless there is a legal reason, a threat of harm, or the client’s written consent. Inside a company, the sponsor is usually HR or the employee’s line manager, and the client is the employee.
A workable default for most programs:
- The sponsor sees: that the employee is enrolled, which sessions took place, and how far they are through the program.
- The sponsor does not see: what was said in sessions, what the employee wrote in preparation or reflection, or the goals unless the employee chooses to share them.
- Goals: agreed in a three-way conversation at the start (employee, coach, manager) if the program is linked to development, then owned by the employee.
- Exceptions: written down, for example a risk of harm or a legal requirement, so nobody is surprised.
Put this in a short coaching agreement each employee signs before session one.
How to set up an employee coaching program, step by step
- Write one sentence for the program. “First-year managers in operations, six one-to-one sessions over three months, opt-in.” It decides everything that follows.
- Choose and prepare the coaches. Pick internal coaches outside the participants’ reporting lines and agree their time with their own managers. Give them a shared session structure and a coaching model to work from; the GROW model and others are a good start.
- Write the coaching agreement. Confidentiality, what the sponsor sees, the number and length of sessions, cancellation, and how the program ends.
- Invite and match. Announce the program, let people apply, then match each employee with a coach. A short first conversation lets either side ask for a different match.
- Run an intake. Before or in session one, each employee writes down what they want from coaching and rates where they are today. That baseline is what you compare against at the end.
- Hold the sessions. Give each session the same shape: a short preparation by the employee, the session, a reflection, and one or two actions to try before the next one.
- Review the term. At the end, repeat the intake questions, hold a closing session, and decide with each employee whether to continue, stop or move to a group.
How do you know it is working?
Track four things, all of which you can collect without reading anyone’s sessions:
- Uptake: applications against places offered. Low numbers usually mean the program reads as remedial.
- Sessions held: sessions that took place against sessions planned. A drop after the third session is the earliest warning you get.
- The employee’s own before and after: the intake rating repeated at the end, in the employee’s words and numbers.
- One question to the manager at the end of the term: what, if anything, has changed in how this person works. Ask it only if the agreement says you will.
Report these as totals for the group, not person by person, once the group is big enough that a total does not identify anyone.
Checklist before the first session
- One sentence that defines who the program is for
- Coaches chosen, outside each participant’s reporting line, with their time agreed
- Coaching agreement written, covering confidentiality and what the sponsor sees
- Number and length of sessions fixed
- Application and matching process ready
- Intake questions written, to be repeated at the end of the term
- A date for the end-of-term review
An employee coaching program on upcoach
upcoach’s 1:1 Coaching program type builds a private coaching program for one employee: an intake worksheet with a satisfaction baseline, sessions that each come with a prep worksheet, a booking card, a reflection and an action items list, and a 90-day reflection that mirrors the intake. The employee books from the coach’s availability, the member directory is hidden, the feed is off, and the only channel is a private message thread with the coach. The 1:1 Coaching setup guide walks through it; you need a connected calendar first.
Roles are set per program, which is what lets you put the confidentiality agreement into practice. The coach is the program’s Facilitator. If HR should follow progress without reading what the employee writes, add the HR lead as a Reporting Sponsor: they see the program’s content and its reports, but never worksheet or check-in answers, journals, comments or channels, and they can’t post. A Program Sponsor reads everything participants write, so use it only where the employee has agreed to that. Organization Owners and Admins can see every program’s reports, so keep those roles to the people your agreement names. The Program Admin, Facilitator and Sponsor roles help article compares them all, and Teams & Roles shows them in the product.
Each coach and sponsor uses a team seat; employees being coached never do. Sponsor roles come with the Pro plan and above, as the pricing page shows. For the group part of a program, the Group Coaching type builds 12 weeks with a baseline self-assessment in week 1, a mid-program pulse in week 6 and a final reflection in week 12.
If your internal coaches are new managers themselves, the free New manager: your first five one-to-ones training is a five-day starting point you can load into upcoach.
To set up your first pilot, start a free trial.
Frequently asked questions
What is an employee coaching program?
It is a structured way for a company to give employees regular coaching: a defined group of people, trained internal or external coaches, a fixed number of sessions, a written agreement on confidentiality, and a simple way to check whether it is working. It differs from ad hoc mentoring because each of those parts is decided up front.
Should managers coach their own team members in the program?
Not as part of the formal program. A manager decides on pay and promotion, so an employee will hold back the problems that matter most. Match each employee with a coach outside their reporting line, and teach managers coaching skills separately for their everyday one-to-ones.
How many sessions should employee coaching include?
Six to twelve sessions over three to six months is a workable range for a first program. Fewer than six rarely gets past the first goal; open-ended coaching tends to drift. Set the number at the start and review it at the end of the term.
Can HR see what employees say in coaching?
Only if everyone agreed to it in advance, and in most programs they should not. Agree before the first session what the sponsor sees: usually that sessions happened and how far the employee got, not what was said. Write it into the coaching agreement each employee signs.
Can a small company run an employee coaching program without a budget?
Yes, with internal coaches. Pick two or three people outside the participants’ reporting lines who are willing to train as coaches, give each of them a few employees, and run a three-month pilot. The cost is the coaches’ time, which you should agree with their managers up front.