No L&D Department (yet): External Expertise or In-House Development?
- Apr 8
- 5 min read
Beyond Outsourcing: Implementing Your Own eLearning Academy
Not every solution needs to stay outsourced. Not every system needs to start from scratch.
💡 When External Support Is Smart—and When It Might Be Time to Go In-House
👀 A Common Scenario
You’ve just promoted a promising team member.
They’re curious, driven—and a little overwhelmed.
So, you do the smart thing:You bring in an experienced coach or consultant.
They help clarify roles, offer tools, and create momentum.
It works.
But a few months later, the energy fades.
The insights didn’t stick.Your new leader still hesitates—and your team’s still unsure of the “how.”
Sound familiar?
What Are We Really Talking About?
Let’s define the two paths:
Renting expertise = bringing in external consultants, trainers, or coaches to solve a problem or upskill your team.
Building expertise = creating internal systems, language, and tools to guide growth—long-term, and on your terms.
And in between?
There’s a third, flexible path:Implementing eLearning systems that combine structure, autonomy, and scalability.
💡 Why External Support Makes Sense
Let’s be clear:
External support is incredibly valuable!
It brings perspective, speed, and proven methods, is flexible and perfect for the beginning or nice tasks.
It’s often ideal when…
You’re in a high-growth phase and need outside insight
Internal bandwidth is limited
You’re launching into a new market
A specific skill gap needs to be closed quickly
It’s easier to get budget approval for outside expertise
For early-stage companies or teams in transition, external consulting is often the best—and only—option.
So this isn’t about either-or.
It’s about recognizing when you’ve outgrown a model—and when it’s time to evolve.
🧭 The Question Worth Asking
"Is this still the right approach for where we are now?"
At a certain point, even the best outside help can’t replace ownership.
Because when experts leave, the insight often leaves with them.And that can lead to:
🔻 Repeating the same training, again and again
🔻 Teams that rely on a third party instead of themselves
🔻 A culture that’s more fragmented than aligned
🔻 No internal leadership pipeline, no continuity🔻
No shared language or values that truly stick
🧮 The Cost Perspective
Example:
3 external trainings per year x $7,000 each = $21,000
Add prep, follow-up, travel, materials?
You’re at $25,000+ annually for just one team.
Now scale that to 3–4 departments?
That’s $75,000–100,000/year, and most of the IP still lives outside your business.
By contrast:
A modular, on-demand eLearning curriculum→ One-time investment→ Yours to brand, adapt, and roll out again and again→ Scales with your team→ Becomes part of your internal knowledge base
📊 External vs. In-House Development: Benefits & Pitfalls
💡 Criteria | 🌍 External Support (Consultants, Trainers, Coaches) | 🏠 In-House Development (Own Systems, eLearning, IP) |
Speed to Start | ✅ Fast setup, ready-made expertise | ⚠️ Initial setup requires more planning |
Budget Handling | ✅ Easier to get approved via project budgets | ⚠️ May require longer-term investment pitch |
Expertise Level | ✅ Access to specialists with deep external insight | ✅ Internal trainers grow expertise over time |
Customization | ⚠️ Often generic, or needs extra cost to tailor | ✅ Fully aligned with your values, tools & culture |
Scalability | ⚠️ Hard to scale across teams & departments | ✅ Repeatable, modular, scalable programs |
Team Impact | ⚠️ Disconnected from team dynamics, may miss internal nuance | ✅ Builds shared language, ownership & culture |
Resource Relief | ✅ Great when internal capacity is low | ⚠️ Needs time investment from internal stakeholders |
Sustainability | ⚠️ Short-term results, repeat engagement needed | ✅ Long-term capability building & leadership pipeline |
Flexibility | ✅ Ideal for short-term projects, startups, or temporary skill gaps | ⚠️ May feel “heavy” if team size is too small |
Intellectual Property | ⚠️ You’re using someone else’s system | ✅ You own your training system & content |
Talent Attraction & Retention | ⚠️ May seem like a band-aid solution | ✅ Signals real investment in people, boosts employer brand |
💻 The eLearning Edge
eLearning is the quiet hero of internal development.
It doesn’t replace external support—but it anchors learning in your culture.
✅ Flexible, accessible, async
✅ Repeatable and scalable
✅ Neuroinclusive and self-paced
✅ Perfect for remote or hybrid teams
✅ Can be combined with live facilitation or internal coaching
Whether as a core system or a supplement, it builds something lasting—without needing a full-blown L&D department.
“It’s not about building Rome overnight. It’s about building what fits—bit by bit.”
💸 Bottom Line:You’re not just paying for development.
You’re paying to repeat it.
🌐 The Cultural Impact + Reputation Ripple Effect
When leadership development lives inside your organization:
✔️ Teams grow fluent in the same leadership language
✔️ Your real values—not just borrowed frameworks—guide decisions
✔️ You nurture internal talent into confident, capable leaders
✔️ You retain knowledge, culture, and IP over time
✔️ You build a reputation as a company that truly invests in people
And especially for neurodivergent teams (remember 1 in 5!), in-house or self-paced programs can offer more psychological safety, consistency, and accessibility than traditional formats.
So What Are the Options?
No need to go all-in overnight.Think flexible:
🔹 Start with a licensed curriculum + internal rollout
🔹 Combine eLearning with 1:1 or small group coaching
🔹 Build internal capacity while still using external guidance
🔹 Train internal facilitators to scale culture & clarity
It’s not about replacing external support—it’s about balancing insight with ownership.
“We’re building something sustainable.”
🔀 So… What Are My Options?
Leadership development doesn’t have to be all-or-nothing.
You might:
Start with external support to jumpstart things
License a proven system to implement internally
Combine eLearning with facilitated conversations
Build your own academy over time
Train internal trainers who multiply the impact
It’s not about going from zero to enterprise L&D overnight.
It's about intentional progression—one that reflects your size, goals, values, and budget.
When Might It Be Time to Shift?
This model works especially well if:
✅ You’re scaling quickly and want more consistency
✅ You’re tired of repeating the same workshops with little retention
✅ You want to grow leadership from within
✅ You see value in creating your own tone, values, and language
✅ You’re ready to turn knowledge into culture
It may not be the first step if:
❌ You’re still building your foundational team
❌ You need short-term triage or legal compliance training
❌ You’re not ready for repeatable processes yet
Final Thought
There’s no one “right” path—only the right next move.
Sometimes renting is exactly what you need.
Other times, you’re ready to build your own engine.
And if you’re somewhere in between?
That’s where smart systems like eLearning offer the best of both worlds.
Because when you stop renting—and start embedding—you don’t just grow leaders.
You grow legacy.
Building internal capability doesn’t mean cutting off support—it means creating something sustainable, repeatable, and truly yours.A system that reflects your values.A culture that trains itself.
A growth path that stays, even when people change.
You don’t have to know the answer right now.
If you're not sure—let’s explore it together.
📩 Curious what this could look like for you?
Let’s explore it together.
Whether you want to…
→ License a leadership curriculum→ Blend eLearning with live coaching→ Or co-create your own scalable system
We'll help you find the model that fits you.
No pitch. Just clarity.
You’ll walk away with at least one strategic insight—guaranteed.
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