The who?
When people hear the word consultant, they automatically think of the ones hired by the government. Yes, overpaid, expensive consultants that do very little but spend and receive tax money.
In a private business, they are hired with other goals in mind. They are hired sometimes in haste because the company is bleeding and other times in amazing foresight.
The reasons need not matter. The outcome and the cooperation between the consultant and the company are what need to be clear. The consultant will find red tape, loopholes, inefficiencies and redundancies within an organization.
The average employee will not be the blame for most problems. Management will need to keep their eyes and ears open so that they may see the forest from the trees. Generally speaking, this is where the shit hits the fan.
The simplicity of it all.
The overcomplication of certain things is where the fault usually lies. Something that could be eradicated with Google drive or Monday.com may be as simple as teaching a supervisor how to use an app. Something simple could be left out or not looked into because it was deemed complicated. This is where the consultant can and will help if you let them.
Back to basics.
In any company, there will be an input and an output. In come the orders and out go the products. In come, the requests and out go the answers, the projects, the digital creations and so forth.
The crap in between is what needs to be streamlined.
So many companies will have a few deep-rooted people who are terrified of giving up their knowledge because of fear. They fear that they will be kicked out, replaced or slowly pushed out. They fear the release of knowledge and teaching a fellow employee. Something is wrong there. Maybe they are the most hated employee and they know it. Maybe the management has not communicated with them in a proper, clear manner.
Asking why?
A consultant needs to be an expert in your field. They need to be knowledgeable and open-minded to understand, but their job is to ask why.
Why this and why that? Why, why and why are you repeating these tasks? Why isn’t finance notified of certain events, happenings or goals for example? When people get a load of work dropped on them and they didn’t know, they will be pissed off. Especially if their job or position needs to pick up the pieces and the details of an unorganized “chicken with their head cut off” manner.
Knee jerk reaction.
This right here is the biggest pet peeve of mine. A former boss and still current friend were amazing at this. “I got an idea” so everyone run and do it.
All this from a wealthy boss that could and can afford to make mistakes. He has made plenty and will make plenty more. This is also the boss that will hire a consultant to find out the problems he is already aware of but refuses to fix.
The insecure, top boss that can scream and yell but he will not be the face of change in fear of people being pissed off. Let’s blame that jerk of a consultant and make the changes or not make the suggested changes.
Jobs, Work, Creating Good Employee Culture, Employee Retention, Employee Happiness, Employee Benefits, Job Interview, Hiring Process, Job Search,
Zsolt Zsemba 