Consulting

30
jul
0

Do Consultants Add Value? The Dilemmas of Consulting

Posted by ConsultingNo Comments

By: Jack J. Phillips, Ph.D., Chairman, ROI Institute

Consulting has become an attractive occupation with performance consultants now permeating the learning and talent development space. Consulting can be an influential role when performed effectually.

External consulting continues to grow, and although large companies seem to dominate the space, small firms account for a significant number of consultants. The consulting market in the United States grew 7.7 percent in 2015 to reach $54.7 billion, up from $50.8 billion in 2014.1 In 2018, the consulting market in the United States amounted to around 68.5 billion U.S. dollars, so it is clear that there is a steady rise in this sector.

With this growth and attractiveness comes concerns that tarnish the image and effectiveness of consultants. Consultants represent a cost to the organization that can be cut in uncertain times if executives don’t view consulting as an investment. For example, Warren Buffet, CEO of one of the largest and most valuable companies in the world will go to great lengths to stop his company, Berkshire Hathaway, from using consultants.2 Many consultants offer off-the-shelf solutions that may not be appropriate for a particular problem or opportunity. Consultants are reluctant to deliver the results that executives want to see. Clients who fund consulting want to see the business value and sometimes even the ROI. And worse yet, consultants can become a habit—once they get inside the organization, they are hard to eradicate.

For small firms consulting can be risky. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, it has the highest failure rate among professional occupations, with as many as 80 percent of new consulting firms failing during the first two years.3 It’s not easy to be an effective consultant. You must possess expertise, experience, and a passion for the topic or it’s difficult to sustain a consulting practice.

The Challenges for Consultants

To survive, consultants must tackle four key challenges. The first challenge is to deliver credible business results to clients and be prepared to show the ROI of major program and projects. In today’s tough economic climate, clients are requesting ROI and offering it can be a market differentiator.

The second major challenge is to keep clients satisfied, particularly in the face of changing projects, fast-paced environments, and unrelenting demands. If clients aren’t happy, referrals won’t develop, and it’s difficult to sustain a business.

The third challenge is to make sure that consulting doesn’t create a narcotic effect where a consultant must always return to address a situation. The key is to solve the problem, implement the correct solution, and eliminate the need for consultants in the future. Although this sounds counterproductive, it’s the best way to sustain the practice long-term. The focus is on sustainable process improvement.

Finally, the fourth challenge is to explore the prospect of ROI forecasting. Some clients are now asking for a forecast before beginning a project; other times it’s required before a project will be approved or funded. A few will add to that the prospect for guaranteed results. This could be a risky proposition, but it’s feasible when addressed properly.

How do you do it?

Consultants have to be consistent, effective, and deliver value, every time, with every project. This is best achieved by using design thinking at all stages of consulting.

Design Thinking

With roots in innovation, design thinking suggests that detailed goals should be set around what you want to achieve, and everyone involved in the consulting project is mobilized to achieve the goals. Eight important steps, based on design thinking, are necessary to deliver results and use those results to enhance the image of and investment in, consulting.4

STEP 1: Start with Why: Aligning Consulting with the Business.

The first task is to identify the business need (a problem or opportunity that should be addressed) with a specific measure (or measures) such as out-of-compliance fines should be reduced by 50 percent in one year or product returns should be reduced by 20 percent in six months.

STEP 2: Make It Feasible: Selecting the Right Solution.

With the business need clearly defined, the next step is to decide on the appropriate and feasible consulting solution to improve the business measure. The focus is on what the organization should be doing (or stop doing) that will have the appropriate influence on the business measure. This may involve a few questions or additional analysis such as problem-solving, brainstorming, or records review.

STEP 3: Expect Success: Designing Consulting for Results.

Objectives are developed to define the success needed at each level. The ROI objective is the minimum acceptable return on investment from the project (if ROI is pursued). Also, objectives are set for business impact, application, learning and reaction. Specific objectives are important to the success of the program as they provide design guidance and expectations for everyone involved in the consulting project.

STEP 4: Make It Matter: Designing for Early Stages of the Project.

To make it matter, the consulting project must be relevant, meaningful, and important to the individuals and the organization. This requires selecting the right people at the right time to be involved in the project with the proper support. This requires the consultant to provide activities and simulations that reflect what the project participants are learning and what they will do with what they’ve learned.

STEP 5: Make It Stick: Designing for Application and Impact.

The reality is that if the people involved in the project do not use what they’ve learned, then it has failed for the organization. Transfer of learning from the consulting project to the workplace occurs over time and involves all the stakeholders. There are some very simple things a consultant can do to make an impact.

 STEP 6: Make It Credible: Measuring Results and Calculating ROI.

This step can be one of the most rewarding parts of the process. The first part of this step is to sort out the effects of consulting from other influences. Simple, easy-to-use techniques are available for this. If ROI is needed, three more actions are needed. The impact measures are converted to money to create project monetary benefits using values developed internally or externally. Next the costs are tabulated and then the ROI is calculated expressed as a percentage. In formula form, the ROI is:

ROI (%)     =

  Net Project Monetary Benefits

x 100

                Project Costs

Net benefits are project monetary benefits minus project costs. This formula is essentially the same as the ROI for capital investments.

The challenge is to overcome any barriers to moving to this level of evaluation and evaluate at this level only when consulting projects are expensive, important, strategic, and attract the interest of top executives. The principal barrier is the fear of results. ROI evaluation should be tackled in a very proactive way. If consulting is not successful, the consultant must understand why it’s not working and correct it. If consultants are proactive, clients will accept this easily, even if the results are negative. But if consultants wait until they are asked for the impact (or ROI), then it places the consultant at a disadvantage.

STEP 7: Tell the Story: Communicating Results to Key Stakeholders.

The consultant must communicate results to appropriate audiences. Presentations can range from executive briefings to blogs, and content ranges from a one-page summary to a detailed report. The important point is to tell a story with results. Storytelling is very effective and it’s the best way to get the audience’s attention and have them remember the results. The five levels of outcome data (reaction, learning, application, impact, and ROI) represent a compelling story with very credible, executive-friendly evidence and anecdotes.

STEP 8: Optimize Results: Using Black Box Thinking to Increase Funding.

If the results are disappointing, you know how to correct it. Black box thinking is needed at this step. In the airline industry, black boxes point to the cause of a crash of an airplane and investigators analyze the data and identify the actions to be taken to prevent this type of accident in the future. Consultants can take the same approach.

When consulting projects are evaluated, the data are used to make them better. When this happens, results will improve and ultimately the ROI is enhanced. Optimizing the ROI presents the best case for increasing funding, providing a credible rationale for additional funding. This approach ensures that executives see consulting as an investment and not a cost that can be controlled or reduced.

Final Thoughts

So, there you have it: How to make sure that consulting delivers value and satisfies all clients, including those who ultimately fund the consulting project. This is absolutely necessary in today’s climate. Taking this eight-step approach, based on design thinking, will allow you to deliver results and protect the consulting investment in the future.

References

Green Target. 2017 Management Consulting Report. http://greentarget.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Management-Consulting-Outlook-2017-Final.pdf.

Gapper, John, “The Curse of the Consultants is Spreading Fast,” Financial Times, Thursday, 11, May 2017, p.11.

Phillips, Patti P. and Jack J. Phillips. The Business Case for Learning: Using Design Thinking to Deliver Business Results and Increase the Investment in Talent Development. West Chester, PA and Alexandria, VA: HRDQ and ATD Press, 2017.

About the Author

Dr. Jack J. Phillips is a world-renowned expert on accountability, measurement, and evaluation. He is the chairman of ROI Institute, Inc., which provides consulting services for Fortune 500 companies and major global organizations. He is the author or editor of more than 100 books and conducts workshops and presents at conferences throughout the world.

Jack has received several awards for his books and work. On three occasions, Meeting News named him one of the 25 Most Powerful People in the Meetings and Events Industry, based on his work on ROI. The Society for Human Resource Management presented him with an award for one of his books and honored a Phillips ROI study with its highest award for creativity. The American Society for Training and Development gave him its highest award, Distinguished Contribution to Workplace Learning and Development. The International Society for Performance Improvement presented Jack with its highest award, the Thomas F. Gilbert Award, for his contribution to human performance technology. In 2019, Jack, along with his wife Patti P. Phillips, received the Distinguished Contributor Award by the Center for Talent Reporting for their contribution to the measurement and management of human capital. He was featured in the Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, and Fortune. He has been interviewed by several television programs, including CNN.

Jack regularly consults with clients in manufacturing, service, and government organizations in 70 countries around the world. He can be reached at jack@roiinstitute.net.

For more information, please visit www.roiinstitute.net.

Join our upcoming HRDQ-U webinar titled “We Are All Performance Consultants” on August 26, 2020 at 2pm ET/11am PT.

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11
may
0

The Amazing Consultant Mindset

Posted by ConsultingNo Comments

By Elaine Biech and Halelly Azulay, Creators of Building Your Successful Consulting Business

Carol Dweck has given credence to the concept of mindset. Her research provides proof that what we think becomes reality—especially about our talents and abilities. How does this affect a professional consultant? Dweck’s research wasn’t prominent when we started consulting. However, we are both positive thinkers and practiced it religiously.

Halelly remembers experiencing some self-doubt at first when considering her dream of going solo. “What if I won’t make it? What if I can’t compete with my competent counterparts in the marketplace?” But when she considered how much she enjoys the thrill of building something from scratch, creating a business from nothing seemed like a wonderful challenge worth pursuing. She worked consciously to shift her mindset to the more positive and active “why NOT me?” and it carried her through.

So, what does that have to do with your mindset? Your mindset and attitude are elusive. They cannot be measured nor clearly defined, but we all know they are there. A professional maintains a positive attitude under all circumstances, asking, “What’s good about it?” when something goes wrong. As a consultant, you’ll need to be self-confident, cope with rejection, be open-minded and flexible, and believe in people. Professionals take responsibility for their actions and are accountable to their clients.

Your mindset about consulting will permeate everything you do. If you love the work, enjoy helping your clients, get a high from the challenge of difficult projects, and find consulting to be a rewarding outlet for you as a person, you have probably found your purpose in life. In The Consultant’s Calling, Geoffrey M. Bellman suggests that you, “Pursue this work as a personal calling, bringing who you are to what you do.” Appreciate the value and benefits you bring to your clients and you will experience an increase in your confidence to win new client work.

Love what you do. Both of us are delighted that we chose the consulting field. We love the work and it shows. Don’t get up and go to work every morning; get up and go to play. We are fortunate because we are free to play every day—and in the process make a good living. Consulting offers a good income, but if you are only in it for the money, you may not succeed.

If you are starting a consulting practice, try these suggestions:

  • Check your mindset. What kind of self-talk are you practicing? A proper mindset allows you to address unplanned setbacks as learning opportunities. You need to believe in yourself and in your business, and that you will be successful. Certainly, working hard on building your business is important too. There’s a quote by Samuel Goldwyn, “The harder I work, the luckier I get.” The combination of a positive mindset and doing what you need to do will lead to success.
  • Find your positive corps. No, that’s not a typo for core. We do mean corps—the group of people you will hang around that will help you maintain a positive mindset. Meet with them when you are unsure. Celebrate with them when you are successful. And in-between, enjoy their positive, uplifting presence.

Shift your view about marketing and selling. What’s the secret to a successful consultant mindset? We think that the most important part is to view marketing as “helping a potential client.” Consultants can model this mindset by helping prospective clients during the sales call. Think “helping,” not “selling.” Then, be yourself! Your personality, not your expertise, will land most contracts. That may disappoint you, but it is the truth. Sure, you must have the basic skills in place, but that’s a given. Your wit, charm, sincerity, professionalism, and interpersonal skills will be the deciding factor at this stage.

Play Chess with Your Future. Use your mindset to plan for your future success. You can predict your future by using the same technique excellent chess players use, planning three steps ahead. Start with small things such as thinking through step-by-step the drive from your office to a new location. Practice planning each step that will occur before you meet with a client. Visualize it. Plan your future out a couple of years. What three steps will you need to take to get there?

Join our upcoming HRDQ webinar titled “Going Solo? Realities and Rewards of Consulting” on May 27, 2020 at 2pm ET/11am PT.

About the Authors

Elaine Biech and Halelly Azulay are successful consultants with a combined 50 years of experience. Both are leaders in the talent development field and mentor, coach, and teach new consultants. They are the creators of the online course: Building Your Successful Consulting Business. Elaine has published 85 books and Halelly produces and hosts The TalentGrow Show podcast where she interviews legends such as Daniel Pink, Beverly Kaye, Dorie Clark, and others.

4
may
0
HRDQU Webinars | Considering Consulting What Are You Waiting For

Considering Consulting? What Are You Waiting For?

Posted by ConsultingNo Comments

By Elaine Biech and Halelly Azulay, Creators of Building Your Successful Consulting Business

Are you thinking about starting your own consulting practice? Your timing couldn’t be better! Many of the people we coach want to have more control over what they do. They want to do the work that excites them and work with people that inspire them. If you’ve been dreaming about being your own boss, you are not alone. A recent study by FreshBooks shows that 27 million employees are expected to leave their nine-to-five jobs in search of a more meaningful life. They expect to join the self-employed workforce this year.

Elaine recently discussed one of her books, The New Business of Consulting, on a call-in radio show. A caller named Mary told the host that she had a great job but always dreamed of being her own boss. After 25 years, Mary finally left her secure job with a guaranteed salary and benefits. She was surprised and delighted to learn that she could make twice as much and be more satisfied with her life as a consultant.

Don’t wait to take charge of your life. The FreshBooks study found that 42 percent of those who will enter the self-employed workforce will likely be Millennials. They do not intend to wait around for 25 years like Mary did. They want the autonomy that self-employment delivers. They believe that it will provide more control over their careers, their work/life balance, and even their health.

What about you? How do you know if you are ready to make the move? What’s holding you back?

How do you feel about the work you are currently doing?

  • Do you love getting up in the morning to go to your job?
  • Are you excited about the problems you solve and the people you work with every day?
  • Do you see a role for you in your company five years from now?
  • Does climbing that corporate ladder seem satisfying?
  • How meaningful is the work you do every day?

Now, consider the alternative:

  • Have you thought about consulting and using your talent, skills, knowledge, and strengths more fully to help others?
  • Are you ready to trade the hassles of your daily commute and the same old work for something more exciting?
  • Do you have expertise that is in demand?
  • Does building a life of independence and alignment sound appealing?

Don’t over-simplify the process. If these questions resonate with you, perhaps you are closer than you think to become a new business owner. Starting a business takes time and energy, but consulting is a relatively inexpensive and easy business to start.

Here are seven start-up tasks to put you on the right path:

  1. Ensure that you have at least six months of living expenses set aside. It takes time to get clients.
  2. Interview several consultants to explore the challenges and rewards of the profession.
  3. Think about how you could start consulting: Should you start a part-time side hustle or go full time? With a partner or alone? Work for another consulting firm or start out on your own? There is more than one way to start a consulting business – find what will work best for you.
  4. Conduct a self-assessment that measures your entrepreneurial aptitude.
  5. List what you need to do personally and professionally to make a smooth transition.
  6. Once you’re sure you want to take the leap, begin to think about the clients you’ll serve:
    • What client problems you will solve and how you will do that?
    • What competition exists?
    • Who are your ideal clients and where will you find them?
  7. Next, plan the legal and financial aspects:
    • Forming a business entity, such as an LLC or a corporation to protect your personal assets
    • Obtaining your tax ID
    • Creating a name for your consulting practice and obtaining a domain name that matches
    • Starting your business plan—keep it flexible, but also think about where you want to take your business in the future
    • Developing financial projections to determine whether consulting will be profitable
    • List the expenses you’ll need to invest

Of course, this is just a start. If all this is new to you, it may seem overwhelming. It doesn’t have to be. That’s what we do best – help new consultants get started. We’d love to help you walk through the details, answer your questions, and guide you to the resources you need.

Are you considering consulting? What are you waiting for?

Join our upcoming HRDQ webinar titled “Going Solo? Realities and Rewards of Consulting” on May 27, 2020 at 2pm ET/11am PT.

About the Authors

Elaine Biech and Halelly Azulay are successful consultants with a combined 50 years of experience. Both are leaders in the talent development field and mentor, coach, and teach new consultants. They are the creators of the online course: Building Your Successful Consulting Business. Elaine has published 85 books and Halelly produces and hosts The TalentGrow Show podcast where she interviews legends such as Daniel Pink, Beverly Kaye, Dorie Clark, and others.

 

30
jan
0

7 Talent Development Myths about Business Networking

Posted by Communication, ConsultingNo Comments

written by Lynne Waymon

Old ideas have a sneaky way of hanging on. You may hear people around you give voice to one or more of the 7 talent development fallacies of business networking below. But, you know, to stay in the game your company needs to adopt new business strategies.

Be on the lookout for these misconceptions at your organization and be ready to take a stand. Teach the people you work with that in this new environment people need skills to help them connect, converse, and collaborate. That’s the way things get done, innovation happens, and firms stay competitive.

Fallacy #1: “Our people already know how to network.”
Really? I wouldn’t be so sure. When 549 people from all walks of life took our Networking Competency Assessment, their employers were shocked. Only 32% said, “I know exactly who I need to have in my network.” Only 39% said, “I know the next step to take to make any relationship more useful.” Only 39% said, “I know questions to ask that will move the relationship forward.” And a paltry 41% said, “I tell stories that teach about my team’s or my organization’s capabilities.”

Fallacy #2: “Nobody can learn how to network. You either have it or you don’t.”
Not so. Networkers are made, not born. Contacts Count’s client research shows that only about 20% of people are “natural networkers.” About 10% will resist forever saying, “No way!” The other 70% can learn the skills identified in 8 competencies if given the chance.

Fallacy #3: “Everyone’s connected. Look at all the money we’ve spent on social media!”
Good! But, that’s like saying, “I have a phone, so I have lots of friends.” Having the ability to connect electronically is not the same as knowing how to build trust-based relationships that spark innovation and get things done. Even in this electronic age, training programs need to focus on the value of face-to-face contact whenever possible.

Fallacy #4: “Networking is an expensive time waster. All that socializing brings very little real value.”
Not so. Alex Pentland, a researcher at MIT reports that at one company employees who had good digital networks were 7% more productive. But those who had deep and wide face-to-face networks were 32% more productive. Imagine what can happen when people are actually taught how to make conversations even more productive and profitable.

Fallacy #5: “Collaboration and networking are the same thing.”
Not quite. Networking skills are the tools and strategies people need to build the kind of trust that leads to collaboration. When someone trusts you, it means they’ve decided there’s very little risk and a lot of advantage in working with you.

Fallacy #6: “We’ve told all of our people to get out there and network.”
Sorry! It’s takes more than a decree from above to create a collaborative culture. Savvy organizations get rid of the disincentives and roadblocks. And they put into place the systems, policies, procedures that develop, encourage, and support everyone to be good at leaping silos and busting up bureaucratic bottlenecks.

Fallacy #7: “You can’t expect our senior technical professionals (or name just about any other group!) to develop business. That’s why we have a marketing department.”

Time to give up that outdated idea! In this competitive world, business development is everybody’s business, no matter what their function or level within the company. We’ve identified 8 Networking Competencies that outline specific skills such as answering “What do you do?” in a way that shows your character and competence and starts a conversation; remembering names; and telling casual conversational stories designed to teach people what to send your way and what you’re good at – without bragging!

 

6
nov
0
new webinar networking

The Well-Connected Employee: Networking Competencies That Foster Engagement, Collaboration, & Business Results

Posted by Communication, ConsultingNo Comments

We are excited to announce our upcoming webinar!

Event Date: 2/7/2018 (2:00 pm EDT- 3:00 pm EDT)

In a survey of 2000 employees from many different organizations, only 20% said, “Yes, I have the network I need to get the job done.”  Unconnected employees hurt your business when they fail to see the big picture, don’t’ know how to uncork bureaucratic bottlenecks, and don’t contribute to enterprise-wide results.

In this webinar, you’ll explore The 8 Networking Competencies that are needed by almost everyone, in almost every job type, at almost every level and are survival skills for The Network-Oriented Workplace (The NOW).  These skills are learned over time, not overnight.  And we’ll look at how to design an enterprise-wide strategy that supports the growth of employee social acumen to build the organization’s social capital and fuel future growth.

Participants will learn 

  • Why create an enterprise-wide strategy for boosting social acumen?
  • 3 reasons organizations have been slow to harness the power of social capital
  • What are The 8 Networking Competencies?
  • 3 ways Employee Resource Group’s use networking skills to promote cross-functional, collaborative work and show their value
  • 5 ways to build skill development into your leadership, mentoring, & supervisory programs

Save your seat!

Lynne Waymon is an internationally recognized expert on networking and business development and the co-author of Strategic Connections: The New Face of Networking in a Collaborative World (AMACOM, NY, 2015) and Make Your Contacts Count (NY, 2nd Edition, American Management Association).  In keynotes and training programs she gives professionals in corporate, association, university, and government audiences, as well as people in professional services firms, practical strategies for getting things done through networking, collaboration, and alliance building. Her strategies, in print and in person, are recognized as state-of-the-art.