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Enjoying Your Work Richard Brislin |
Guidance from consultants
can come with a hefty
price tagOne reason executives call in outside consultants is that they feel their internal resources are inadequate to deal with pressing problems. Another reason is that executives want specific changes but do not want to be seen as the prime movers behind unpopular decisions.
Such decisions may involve reassignments, downsizing or changes in company direction that affect people's familiar routines. In these cases, consultants are brought in and discover the same problems that management already knows about. The consultants make their recommendations, and the executives can say, "We paid a great deal of money to obtain the views of prestigious outsiders. To be fair to them, we must give their recommendations a chance to be implemented to see if they lead to company improvements."
There are cases of successful consultations that have had a positive impact on organizational success. This discussion will focus on potential difficulties that need to be addressed if consultants are to do good work and if executives and employees will benefit from the resulting recommendations.
Often, consultants are not needed. Many times, employees recognize difficulties and have well thought out approaches to dealing with problems. But executives don't ask their employees and instead bring in consultants. The employees answer the questions posed by consultants and make the same suggestions they would have told management. The consultants summarize these suggestions, write a report, give it to management and collect their fees. This leads to the joke told among an organization's employees. "Question: What's the definition of a consultant? Answer: Someone who borrows your watch, tells you what time it is and charges you for it."
Executives sometimes bring in consultants simply for the dramatic impact that unfamiliar but high-status people may bring. Somehow, it is impressive to fly people from the mainland to Hawaii to give advice. The belief that these fly-in consultants will solve problems is similar to the expectation from folklore that knights in shining armor will come into a village, help the downtrodden and vanquish the oppressors, and then ride off so that people can live happily ever after. Good consultants in Hawaii, incidentally, often have to travel to the mainland to have their opinions taken seriously because they then become the glamorous figures arriving at the airport. This leads to two observations. The first is that executives seem to believe that an expert is someone from 3,000 miles away. The second is that consultants often pass each other in midair as they fly to each other's places of residence.
My recommendation is that executives go to the expense of flying in consultants only after working with local expertise. This can start with a questionnaire that is circulated among employees. Assurances of anonymity, and the absence of names on a questionnaire, can convince employees that their responses are confidential. This recommendation is based on the assumption that, over the years, management and employees have developed trusting relationships. The absence of trust is one reason why the fees of outside consultants must be paid.
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The purpose of this column is to increase understanding of human behavior as it has an impact on the workplace. Given the amount of time people spend at work, job satisfaction should ideally be high and it should contribute to general life happiness. Enjoyment can increase as people learn more about workplace psychology, communication, and group influences.
Richard Brislin is a professor in the College of Business Administration, University of Hawaii. He can be reached through the College Relations Office: cro@cba.hawaii.edu