Consultant
vs Direct Hire
You’re the owner, the administrator, the decision
maker: you are the one responsible for your company’s success.
Our recent economy makes defining and rapidly
achieving success in your market incredibly important. To make this harder, the
success you are targeting will be different project to project, day to day and,
unfortunately, crisis to crisis. For a great deal of past planning you have
either done it yourself or pulled your team off revenue generating activities
to complete the groundwork and implementation of new projects, policies, processes
and/or service lines.
In the past, considering a consultant was a luxury.
But, more and more the objective, project specific, expense of a consultant
will lead to increased revenue with less internal stress and strife; retention
is a focus in your organization like all others. Consider
the following: In an economy that is becoming
increasingly unstable, with expenses being cut, more regulations being brought
to bear, having to dodge more and more traps in the minefield of human resources,
companies are looking for every opportunity to save
money and grow their programs. BUT where
to start? Even in defining your project, a consultant is an objective
auditor, filter and monitor of the wide variety of organizational issues that
may be holding your company back.
A consultant will provide the work product you need
without the costs associated with a full time employee. There are no costs for
advertising, no down time for interviews, no long term commitment to salary
without the new service line ready to drive revenue and no employee benefits
costs.
Consultants are hired for a specific time span or
project, controlling cost and allowing you to budget the improvement or growth
project. Consultants provide a wealth of knowledge, expertise, experience and
insight that those too close to the situation often overlook or dismiss because
of familiarity. In many ways, a good consultant is like a good automobile mechanic:
an analyst that can listen to a potentially troublesome problem; take apart a
situation; show you the higher performance possible and then get you up and
running. A great consultant will show you how to keep your “well-oiled machine”
at peak performance and should offer services to teach key personnel to be a
strong “pit-crew”.
A consultant is hired to increase efficiency and
supplement existing resources, whether human or informational. Hiring a consultant
should not be undertaken to undermine your existing staff. On the contrary, a consultant
provides professional services that complement your team’s skills; thus,
allowing them, and you, to concentrate on your current business. Often a consultant
may complete work faster and more efficiently than in-house staff. This is a
natural offshoot of the objectivity and focus a consultant brings to the
project. Further, staff who are involved in the
necessities of day to day operations are often unable to step back and take a
broader look. The consultant has the unique ability to be able to take a
neutral stance in terms of office politics and organizational history,
maintaining relative objectivity in evaluation and implementation of your
project. Consultants are often hired to implement changes. The well chosen
consultant is highly effective in gaining consensus among employees. This holds
true even when the consultant is hired to make and deliver unpopular
“adjustments”. In this case the consultant can redirect employee ire from
leadership and will often assist in supporting company morale restabilizing
after the changes.
A start-up consultant, as the name implies, assists in
all phases of the often bewildering task of starting a new company, from business
plans and initial funding through growth planning and everything in between.
This type of consultancy is also used to develop and implement new service
lines in an established business. The intensity of resource utilization is
significant in all new business development. This situation benefits from a consultant
whose time can adjust to the project without losing focus during the often
time-consuming processes that lead up to new business implementation. The
consultant can work on site or on your behalf from their base office. Work that
must be completed prior to rolling out your business expansion includes developing
the framework of the business plan, policy and forms development, legal review
including licensure issues and the development of staff training tools. These
can be done off site between formal on-site meetings as none individually
require full-time work effort and are completed in stages. Work product can be
electronically reviewed and polished between the consultant and your staff
without interrupting revenue drivers at a specific time and day in multiple
on-site meetings. When onsite meetings are called with the consultant, the
organizational staff are ready and eager; not
frustrated and fragmented by too many meetings.
There are a few decisions you need to make before bringing
a consultant on board –
The first step in the consulting process is
determining why you need one.
Define your goals and expectations before you begin to
search for/contract a consultant. The more focused your goals and expectations,
the more productive that first telephone consultation with the consultant. It
may be determined that your organization is seeking a consultant to assist with
the project definition. To prepare for the initial contact, have your notes
available that outline the input you have gathered from your leadership group regarding
possible issues and areas for improvement.
What you should look for in a consultant –
Hands-on experience is critical, not simply being
well-versed in theory. The successful consultant must have real-life
experience. To be truly effective, he or she must have lived in the trenches; must
have felt your pains and found methods to avoid their repetition. Beyond this,
the consultant whose business and value basis that best matches the core values
of your organization will deliver the product and service with which you can
live and grow.
Without a doubt, there are some consultants who by
their methodology or personality, or incompetence, will frustrate your organization
or provide you with a very lovely “boilerplate” product then walk away with
your hard-earned cash. A worthwhile consultant will leave dynamic tools and
have trained those key persons you identified. There are too many players in the
field that cannot deliver with quality and consistency. It is key that you take the time to meet with, at least
telephonically, the consultant before you considering contracting. Expect not only
experience, but possibly more importantly, discuss the business perspective the
consultant group stands behind. Do the core values match your organization? Be
on the lookout for the consultant who listens to you…really listens. During the
first couple of conversations with a consultant, you should be the one doing
most of the talking. Remember back two or three paragraphs in this article
where it is suggested that you need to define what your goals and expectations
are before you begin talking to a consultant? Well, now is the time for you to
articulate those goals and expectations, as well as other things, to the
consultant and this is the time that the consultant should be listening very
closely to what you have to say. Lack of familiarity or difficulty understanding
your business or not taking time to focus on your business needs is a huge
drawback. The ability of the consultant to listen, understand and then act is
critical to the success of this new relationship.
What a consultant should provide –
Although there is a certain thread of similarity that
runs through all companies regardless of what type of business they’re in, each
company is unique. Your organization brings different personalities, different
needs and different business philosophies from those of your competitors. Therefore,
the consultant’s final product, written or otherwise, should never be a
boilerplate product. In some cases, a “canned” written manual or other written
product might be what you agree upon in contract.
However, in most cases, a product that is written
specific to you and your business, during the course of the consulting relationship
and after the consultant has attained a thorough understanding of your
business, will be of much more value and certainly more meaningful and useful
to you. At the same time, be wary of the consultant who attempts to present any
particular approach as if it is the only option. A good consultant will offer choices;
explaining the pros and cons of one alternative over the others. Remember this
is dynamic relationship; the conversations should likewise be dynamic.
Be looking for the consultant who will transfer
knowledge and experience to your organization so that it can be carried forward
when the consultant is no longer with you. If the consultant does not actively
transfer needed information and skills to the organization, you will be left at
a loss when that consultant leaves. A consultant needs to bring you expertise,
but be realistic. Since no single consultant honestly has all knowledge in
their head, you hired the consultant to provide the time and effort to research
all options. So be prepared to hear, on occasion, “I don’t know, but I’ll
research it for you.” Recognize this as the sign of an ethical consultant who
listened and heard your unique needs.
Once you hire a consultant –
Once hired, let the consultant do the job you
contracted to have completed. Offer the consultant your thoughts and organizational
history and insight to the informal systems in your organization. Be open to
the consultant’s observations and suggestions. The purpose in bringing in a
consultant is to achieve change you believe necessary for the growth and strength
of the business.
Stay focused on the project you and the consultant
have defined and prioritized. During this process you will undoubtedly identify
other areas for improvement because you’ve allowed for expanded vision of your
organization. Keep notes on these additional areas; a good consultant will
likewise be keeping notes. It will be imperative to set aside specific times
for you, and possibly other key persons, to meet with the consultant to discuss
the peripheral points that were noticed during work processes.
BEGIN THE PROCESS OF HIRING A CONSULTANT
In closing, let me say that even the big corporations
bring in help from time to time, because every now and then we all need a
helping hand.
Make an appointment with yourself and take note of
what is really vexing you right now. Do you have regulatory or risk management
issues? Do you have employment or training headaches? Do you want to start new
programs or just increase your bottom line? What specific project or process do
you need to hand over to a consultant? Make a second appointment to bring key
staff up to date with the idea of hiring a consultant. Call the consultant.
Calling does not cost your business. In fact, it will save you the revenue loss
of taking key staff off work duties and will prevent the immediate hire of an
employee
with the associated costs.
Please go to our contact us
page.
What are the benefits of
hiring a consultant ?
*No employee benefits'
premiums
*No vacation, sick or holiday time to pay
*No taxes-Payroll, Social Security
*No Medicare, Unemployment
*No Worker's Comp
*No legal responsibilities associated with employee policies
*No additional office space, No additional office equipment or furniture
*No ongoing training expenses, No agency fees
*Never pay for downtime,
breaks or personal issues and no employer
compliance issues
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Let's Do the math! (See below), we
already did it for you.... |
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Cost
of Employee Turn Over |
Did you know that the real cost of an employee is 2 to
2-1/2 times their salary? |