Why You should Consider Having External Consultants

Internal consultation has always been the mainstay of an organization. It solves complex problems and offers solutions for improvement within an organization. It is not so different from what an external consultant does, but at a lower cost. Why then, would you consider an external consultant necessary for the growth and development of your company?

A predominant reason is that external advisors are independent while internal advisors depend on the parent organization in their consulting process. This independence is critical in audits, standards, and compliance to help consultants understand the problem and tailor their recommendation without inference or interest conflict. It is also more likely for internal consultants to hold the same perspective as the rest of the organization, thus unable to provide the best judgment. There is a definite advantage to having an outsider’s perspective from an external consultation.

It is also vital for you to find the best subject-matter-experts in the field to support your company efficiently and effectively. Internal consultants, unfortunately, may not be able to provide such expertise in many scenarios. Alternatively, seeking support from specialized external consultants would be a more cost-efficient solution as they tailor their service to improve your company’s performance significantly.

Here are some areas that you should consider external consultation over internal consultation:

Reduce operational costs

External consultation may be expensive at a glance; but in the end, an organization will be provided with solutions to minimize operational costs. To maximize this benefit, it is fundamental for a company to hire an external consultant when starting a new project. An external advisor will help reduce the training time and evade other expensive pitfalls. External advisors are usually hired from the start of a project to the completion and paid for the specified hours that they work. Internal advisors, however, are on the payroll permanently.

Introduce new skills

Companies often hire external consultants for specialized skill sets that are not already available within the firm. Consequently, these consultants need to stay up-to-date with agile trends, methodologies, and strategies in the industry to correctly guide a company. While organizations require specialized skills, they can also be benefited from in-depth coaching of the market trend to gain competitive advantage. Therefore, hiring an external consultant can help to introduce skills not readily available and provide high-quality training to employees.

Mitigate conflicts

Internal consultants might be more familiar with organizational problems, but they are often not in the best position to resolve these issues. External advisors can help internal advisors by acting as mediators to mitigate disputes between different parties within an organization.

Provide a genuine evaluation

It can be challenging for internal advisors to recognize inefficiencies after devoting their work at a single company for a long time. It is possible for internal advisors to overlook issues in operation because of their belief that they are already on good terms with the employer. An external consultant is in a better position to investigate, identify, and describe the real problems that a company faces since they provide genuine and unbiased feedback.

Help in achieving goals within a short period

It is often challenging to achieve short-term goals in new fields because of the tremendous time, skill, and human effort investment. For employees, it means that they do their best in areas that they specialize in and may feel burdened or demotivated if they were to commit extra effort without additional compensation. Hiring an external advisor can help a company achieve short-term goals without burdening employees or diminish their morale.

Even if your company has internal consultants, an external advisor can help improve project timeliness since an external advisor concentrates on critical issues uninterrupted during the project period and is more likely to come up with solutions promptly.

Help to prepare for the future

External consultation can help a company prepare for the unexpected with expert knowledge of industry trends. Having worked across companies and industries, consultants can provide a new experience or implement changes that are unknown to the management. For example, consultants may advocate replacing analog machines with digital ones to improve productivity despite reduced full-time staff. That is particularly essential for a company’s long-term health and growth.

Availability of trainers

Companies need to evolve to stay competitive. This transition may require specific skills that the employees do not have, forcing the company to look for ways to equip its employees with the necessary skills. In such cases, an external advisor can be helpful because they can provide training in unfamiliar areas.

External consultation can help a company grow and develop. However, it is imperative for an organization to gauge the importance of external consultants to ensure it is worthwhile. If a company is planning a significant project that requires many resources, it should always consider external consultation from the onset.

At Mount Bonnell Advisors, we are ready to give you advice concerning any industry. We have a dedicated team of experts that will help you gain knowledge in any of your concerned issues.