101: Consultant advantages, part 1
Outside contracted consultants provide valuable, specialized expertise for companies to complete crucial projects, lead and optimize their workforce, or launch special campaigns. In this first of a two-part 101, we look at the advantages and disadvantages of using consultants in your company on a contractual basis. Here are the pros of bringing in outside help. Part two published in the April 17 edition of WBJ.
Cost savings. Your organization will save on payroll taxes and benefits costs in hiring a consultant, notes Jack Gordon at Bizfluent.com. This is especially true if you engage their services at the start of a new project, such as implementing a marketing strategy, he says. “Unlike regular employees, you don't have to maintain consultants on your payroll once the project you hired them for is complete,” writes Gordon. As they are hired for that one task, consultants work with the end goal in mind, free from other work responsibility distractions. This means they are with your company only as long as they need to be.
Targeted knowledge not found in your organization. Consultants “usually operate in narrow areas and bring in a detailed, in-depth expertise,” says Entrepreneur’s Payal Sondhi. “They also help in bringing a different perspective to the table as their skillsets will be aligned with the current need of the organization. Hence, they not only can help you with decision-making processes but will build a structure matching your organization's goals, leading to an increase in productivity and investment, and generating a direct ROI.”
The strength of an outsider’s perspective. Trying to solve business problems from within the company can lead to insular thinking, says business expert Thommie Burger on LinkedIn. “A business consultant … can come into a situation with fresh eyes and see things from a new and objective angle,” an angle that just may be the solution to a problem or nudge things toward a paradigm shift.
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