Significant Others: The Relationship between Externals and Internals

Abstract

The use of internal and external human resource development consultants on the same project within an organization often produces a discreet, underlying tension — and can often lead to deleterious consequences. “Internals” may be protective of their “organizational turf,” and may be resentful of management's decision to hire “externals,” taking the decision to mean management's lack of confidence in “internals” to get the job done on their own. In this article, the author, an external consultant, delineates the special talents and advantages both sources bring to the project, and proposes new, more productive ways of viewing the competitive/collaborative interaction between internal and external HRD consultants.