Work as we knew has changed, as did employees expectations. Just offering a personal development plan is not enough to attract and retain the best talents. Instead, providing on-the-job training and growth opportunities has led to a more engaging and professional working environment in response to increasingly demanding employees. In this article you will find out how consultants have become essential to building a future-ready workforce and why their expertise is a valuable resource for both busy managers and dedicated employees.

As HR departments struggle to attract and retain talented workers, managers are left with the difficult task to keep operations running while still coping to the needs of increasingly demanding employees, eager to learn and grow - or they will go.

Still, the new crop of middle managers may just not be ready yet to take on new roles and responsibilities.

As much as dedicated employees would benefit from internal promotions, responsible organizations cannot afford having unprepared staff on duty. At the same time, recruiting and selecting qualified people is a lengthy process. This is when hiring a Consultant can bring a great deal of help from an organizational and business standpoint. Here is what they can do for you:

They can efficiently cope with heavy workloads. Consultants are very pragmatic, they have great sense of prioritization and have no hierarchy conditions. Their work is mission-based and their goals are clearly defined both in time and scope. Add to this the expertise and experience accumulated over the years, it is no wonder that they are able to handle heavy workloads efficiently.

They can benchmark your processes and implement best practices. Because they have been doing what they do for years, consultants have honed their craft by integrating best practices from different clients (often industry leaders), using the best tools and developing a specific know-how. Therefore, when asked to analyze a process, they will immediately see where the problem is and suggest corrective action.

They can provide on-the-job training to existing employees. Consultants are great coaches, they can easily transfer their knowledge to employees because there is no competition among them. The consultant knows her mission is temporary and that teaching her craft to an employee won't prevent her from getting a new assignment. On the contrary, leaving behind a good legacy is almost a guarantee that she will be remembered when the business needs her again.

They can shape a new position. It takes time for an employee to figure out how to do her work (specially if the position has been recently created) as everything has to be built from the ground up, often through trial and error. Consultants however, have a different approach to function building. Not only have they seen employees performing this function elsewhere, but also they think in terms of input/output and - for all the reasons mentioned before - they won't hesitate to go get what they need to shape the new position.

They allow for experimentation. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of having a consultant to shape a new position is that you can experiment at will. Your organization has its own specificities and having a tenured consultant helping to shape a new opening allows for experimentation as you are not exposing an employee to constant change and frustration. Consultants can pivot at will until you find the right role/organization fit. Once you get there, consultants can start training the future owner of this function, which is great as the happy employee knows exactly what she is expected to do and the employer gets exactly what is needed.

In addition, here are some more traditional benefits of working with consultants that are always worth remembering.

They are immediately available. Hiring a consultant is about writing down a rather detailed assignment and handing it over to your procurement department. In a couple of days you should be presented with some interesting profiles. Make your choice and agree on a starting date. 

They are autonomous. The main reason why consultants are hired is because they’ve mastered their craft. It doesn’t make sense to hire a consultant to tell him how to do the job. That’s why consultants can work with minimum supervision and you can expect a pretty good outcome.

They are a variable and temporary cost. Consultant costs are based on a daily rate and the length of their mission is defined upfront. You can start with a short assignment and renew the contract afterwards according to your needs and budget - which makes it easier to adapt to organizational and market constraints.

They can join your team on a permanent basis. It is not unusual for consultants to join a client's team as an employee after a successful mission. Known as "Temp to Perm" jobs, this practice is mutually beneficial as consultants can start immediately and the company can appreciate their performance in real world conditions.

Hiring a consultant to fill up an open position in your team is definitely an alternative to be considered. Not only they can cope with heavy workloads, they can also play a pivotal role in your team acting as transformation agents, coaches and job keepers. More than a temporary aid, consultants can effectively help keeping employees engagement and fostering a growth mindset within the organization.

Alain Rosenfeld,

a proud member of the BFS network.

Disclaimer: all views expressed on this article are my own and do not represent the opinions of any entity whatsoever with which I have been, am now, or will be affiliated.