They will “push back,” and not merely respond to your requests. Good consultants ask “Why?” when you tell them you want something, and attempt to determine what you really need, which may be different from what you think you want. That’s why you’re assessing outside help.
Sanjay would approve !
And that point applies to almost every kind of 'partnering' relationship, not just a HR consultant. If you find that people around you are not asking "why" , maybe you are doing something wrong !
Maybe clients need some education too on how to get the most value out of a consulting relationship. Too many times people are used to working with "vendors" and not "partners" !
Gautam: I usually try not to talk about actual work here, but I actually had a conversation with one of my client's vendors today. I asked them to explain all the relationship issues to me in detail and who they thought the root cause of the problem belonged to. They explained to me that they were in an awkward situation of losing the business. I simply replied that I understood, and that it was my job (not necessarily theirs) to give them the message straight and tell them when they are wrong. Actual responsibility in this case is shared about 50/50 - but of course most vendors take most of the hit willingly.
ReplyDeleteIf all you do is hire a consultant that does exactly what you want them to do, why did you hire the consultant? Making yourself feel good is not worth $500 an hour.