Kenyon Connects

Hiring a consultant should be easy.  Somewhere in the back of your mind, you know exactly what you want, but even for the most savvy manager or business owner, it’s easy to get overwhelmed.  Asking for help is at the foundation of any good business growth.  Experts will tell you no one can or should go it alone, especially in today’s economy.  The question is, how do you get help that is relevant, affordable, and allows you to succeed?  Hiring a consultant is a lot like hiring a senior level employee.  It’s a very stratified process, filled with nuance and subtleties, and both types of hires should be treated with the same due diligence.

Frequently, people confide in me that they hired a consultant but it didn’t work out the way they planned.  The most common complaint is that the consultant wasn’t all that helpful or simply didn’t address the problems of the organization.  So the question is, when you need help, how do you find a consultant whose work is both focused and germane?  How do you ensure that your experience ends up being exactly what is needed?

A consultant’s input can have more impact on your business growth than the input of all your employees put together.  Furthermore, a consultant’s contribution can have a lasting effect on your business success – or lack of it – well into the future.   When you reach the conclusion you need help, it is usually a time of great vulnerability.  You know you need the keen observations of a fresh, objective eye, but even the most secure among us might be wary of the raw insights into how our business is doing.   While the upside views can be very exciting and lead to new goals and objectives, sometimes the changes are painful and difficult to face or implement.  Frequently, the recommendations of a consultant will take the company into a new direction or create previously unearthed opportunities.  On the more difficult end, consultants are known for streamlining job descriptions or, more often, eliminating jobs altogether and recommending personnel changes that can be painful, especially if it is directed at a beloved employee who just isn’t living up to expectations.  Making sure you have the right person to lead your organization down this critical path of change can make or break the future success of your company.

As with any important hire, everything depends on the interview and background review.  Here are ten tips to help you focus and inform your consultant hire decisions.

1.  Experience:

While it may be obvious, you’d be surprised at the number of people who do not factor in this all-important component.  Often people just assume that if you’re promoting yourself as a consultant, you must know what you are doing.  Longevity is an essential ingredient in the make- up of a good consultant.  That’s not to say there are not good, young consultants coming up through the ranks.  There are.  But this is your organization and you only want to hand over these all-important reins to the tried and true.  How many years has a consultant been in the home health business? What is the level of responsibility they’ve been working at and how many years have they been doing it?  Do they specialize in Medicare services or do they offer a wide range of experience in community-based services?

2.  Expertise:

Slightly different than “Experience” above, expertise focuses on specialties, ongoing training, education, learning, speaking, publishing, etc.  What kinds of projects has the consultant worked on? Is there variety in her resume or does she do the same thing over and over and over again?  Does her resume reflect creative thinking?  Ask about style and how she sees her role as a consultant.  You’d be surprised at how varied the answers may be.  Some come in with a strong hand, others stay on the sidelines.  You want a team player that understands leadership and is not afraid to make the hard recommendations.    How interested is your consultant in her field?  What has she done to keep her knowledge of the industry up-to-date?  Does she regularly speak at conferences, deliver papers, or publish articles or books?  You want to hire a consultant that is curious about the industry – not one that is just good at her job because she’s done it for a long time.  Ask for an updated resume.

3.  Depth of Resources:

Does the consultant work alone or does he have associates that are expert in a variety of areas?  The industry is full of unique areas that are vital to the success of an organization and no one can be an expert in all of them or stay on top of the latest information.  Does he work with a consortium of talented, smart individuals who understand the complex ins and outs of accreditation, OASIS training, ICD-9 coding, Sales and Marketing, and more? With the complexity of the home care industry, it is imperative your consultant is either an expert in the area where you need assistance or has qualified associates who are expert in the area.  Ask for backgrounds as they relate to an area of practice you need help with.  Do some research on their associates:  who are they and what have they accomplished?

4. Culture Sensitivity:

We live in a diverse world and a consultant must be sensitive to that.  If you have an organizational culture based on religious beliefs or one of bottom line practice, it is important your consultant be able to modify their approach to fit your organizational culture.  As you are preparing to interview them, be sure to include questions that will give you a clear idea of their ability to remain flexible as well as sensitive to cultural issues that impact your organization, your staff, and your customer base.

5. Assessment Skills:

This is where the heart of consultancy lives.  Your consultant must be able to fully understand your unique issues and problems, as you perceive them.  Additionally, she must be able to determine how much of what you perceive as the ‘reality’ of your organization is hoped-for outcomes rather than perceptions predicated on data and facts.  The ability to quickly assess an organization and develop effective approaches is critical to the success of your investment.  Ask how the consultant will do this assessment.

6. Personalized Plans:

Will your consultant use a one-size-fits-all approach to your organizations, or will the approach be carefully modified to meet your needs?  Better yet, will a plan be developed that is exclusively for your organization?  Personalized plans of action are the only guarantee that your organization is being seen for what it is and not just a rubber stamp of other organizations in the field.   Many elements impact how plans are personalized. Culture, locations, the unique structure of your organization and distinctive personalities of your staff should all be factored in.  What works in one agency may work in yours but in order to reflect real needs and goals, plans must be personalized down to the last detail.  Ask how the consultant will prepare recommendations for your agency.

7. Reference Checks:

Can the consultant provide you with references for the type of services you provide and for the kind of assistance you are asking for help with?  Does he only have references from Medicare agencies or does his reference list reflect a diverse range of community-based services?

8. Cost and Fees:

Cost is, of course, a factor in the decision to hire one consultant over another.  However, it should not necessarily be the deciding factor.  A consultant with limited experience may take longer to provide recommendations and may not be able to deliver what you need.  You want to avoid a “penny wise and pound foolish” situation.  Sometimes, hiring a consultant who has given you a higher bid will save you money in the long run by delivering things more efficiently and in a timelier manner. Read proposals carefully. Is there any evidence in the proposal that indicates a consultant is attempting to control costs?  Look for the words, “Costs not to exceed…” within individual sections of the proposal.  Be clear about your budget up front.  Engage your consultant in a discussion as to how she can help limit the cost without compromising deliverables.

9. Reporting Structure:

Whether you are hiring a consultant for an Interim Management contract or an Organizational Assessment with recommendations, there needs to be a clear understanding as to when the report(s) will be provided and to whom those report(s) will go. It is better to have this in writing, but a verbal commitment is better than nothing. An Organizational Assessment with findings and recommendations is not helpful if it is delivered to the organization three or four months after the Assessment.  Two to three weeks is a reasonable timeframe for such a report.  If the contract is for Interim Management, a monthly written or verbal report of the status of the organization and issues with a dashboard report would normally be expected.  Ask how he plans to provide reports of his findings and what his timelines will be for these reports.

10.  Follow-up:

Follow-up to assist with the implementation of the recommendations sometimes is critical.  Make sure you ask what the follow-up plans will be after the initial consultation?  Is follow-up included in the fee or will there be additional costs?  At this phase, the most important question to ask is the question you must ask yourself:  When all is said and done, will you be willing to follow through and implement the changes in practice and possibly staff to achieve the goals that your consultant has helped you develop?  This question relates to the financial commitments needed to implement change as well as the emotional presence of mind to follow through.  Ask how your consultant might help you sort through this and what additional costs might be involved.

Finally, if you hire the best consultant for your organization and receive a great report with recommendations you never follow through with, you have not only wasted your money, you will erode some of your credibility with your staff.  I have found, in my many years of consulting, that staff is usually well aware of the pitfalls of an organization.  While they may not be qualified to come up with solutions, it is very likely they will enthusiastically want to see things change for the good.  Don’t dash their hopes by hiring a consultant and then just sitting on the report.  For the staff that doesn’t want to see things change, it will empower them in negative ways.  Protect your credibility.  A good consultant can help you implement recommendations and devise the strategies needed to set you and your staff to the road of success.

Category: Articles, Ginny's Blog, Specialized Support