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February 09, 2010

What to do when your company has called in consultants

In the long run, employees should help the consultants succeed -- regardless of what success might entail

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Dear Bob ...

Management has decided to bring in the consultants, and sadly the consultants aren't you. A lot of the employees here are up in arms, and the official explanation -- that they're here to "help identify opportunities to improve our processes by reducing cycle times and waste" -- could mean just about anything.

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I've been telling my peers we should cooperate as best we can and trust that the consultants will reach reasonable conclusions. My peers tell me I'm hopelessly naive, and that it's up to us to make sure the consultants hear "what they should hear" so that they don't recommend a round of layoffs or offshoring half the work we do.

Any advice?

- BOHICA

Dear BOHICA ...

My first piece of advice is that if one of the consultants has the misfortune to be named "Bob," don't snicker behind your hand because you saw "Office Space." Give us Bobs a break!

Beyond that, you might as well cooperate because all of your alternatives are worse.

Management brings in consultants for a few different reasons. One, the best, is the honest desire to find ways to improve things. A second is to buy some time -- to get political cover for problems that otherwise might be career-killers. The third is also political cover, but in this case it's to pay the consultants to read a prewritten script. The script might be to justify plans already made or to help fight a political battle with other managers who have announced plans the consultant-engagers don't find palatable. There are probably other reasons as well, but these are enough to illustrate the point I'm about to make.

If your managers have an honest desire to find ways to improve things, you have a professional obligation to assist in the process. Beyond that, there's a pretty good chance "improve things" will result in changes strong employees should find refreshing.

If your managers have brought the consultants in for any other reason, it's unlikely you'll be able to affect the consultants' conclusions -- but you might do yourselves some harm by trying to manipulate them.

So give it an honest shot and do your best to focus on keeping the joint running while the consultants do their best to do whatever it is they were brought in to do.

- Bob (but not the one who appeared in "Office Space")

This story, "What to do when your company has called in consultants," was originally published at InfoWorld.com.

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BigRonG 9-Feb-10 10:56am
I think that Bob's course of action is the morally correct one. However, in my experience, his 'hope' is almost never true. Consultants are either a political ploy or an admission that management doesn't have an IT clue. In either case, your star will not rise. Keep the resume polished and hope that the consultant will see things the way that you do.
beachblues 9-Feb-10 1:17pm
It has been my experience that when management call in consultants, there already is a prewritten script that management wants the consultants to document. Usually they want a cost savings of at least 20% to justify the consultant's expenses. That always translates into headcount reductions and a reduction in force (RIF). When positions are eliminated, there is no such thing as seniority and in fact the higher paid people that have been there the longest have the biggest target on their backs. So dust off the resume, summarize all of your contributions, network like crazy, cut your personal expenses and overhead to the bone, get credit card limits raised and take out a second mortgage line of credit while you still have a job. You may need this to finance living expenses, home fix up and selling expenses and relocation expenses. Your cooperation one way or the other with the consultants will not save you if you are on the chopping block.
mysticturner 9-Feb-10 3:57pm
Spoken like a true consultant Bob. But I tend to agree, the options you presented are pretty much the future direction. Management Consultants generally mean bad things for the little folk. But not always. The first time I had real close contact with a Management Consultant, he was the one who got the short end of the stick. He spent several weeks talking to everyone, looking at how the company functioned, following which he met with my boss and I, putting his decisions out on the table, in general terms. When I started to point out flaws in his knowledgebase, because of his lack of familiarity with company history, he began to get argumentative. He even was so bold to tell me "I'm over 50 with many years of corporate experience, a youngster like you can't tell me anything of value". I responded that the average age of this company was 29 and that us "youngster's" had accomplished quite a bit. He continued to put down everything I said, getting louder by the minute. Unfortunately for him, he didn't know that one of the SVP's was standing very quietly in the doorway behind him. She was also the CEO's sister. About another week or 10 days later he abruptly left and nary a word was ever heard about the results of that effort.
MarkSpark 10-Feb-10 12:30am
There is actually another reason for co-operating, it might actually save your job(s). Lets say you know you can save 20% on testing time by using a certain tool, but all your suggestions to management have fallen on deaf ears, mention your idea to the consultants. If it has any value, any consultant worth their salt would be obliged to include it. You may not get any credit for it, but at least you would know it was your idea, PLUS, the more cost saving ideas that don't involve staff reductions, the less there will be a need for staff reductions. So if I was you, I would co-operate like crazy! Hint, if you idea is taken up and is a great success, be very careful as claiming it as your idea. It might not only sound bitter ("sour grapes" or whatever), but even if you could prove it was your idea (e-mail sent to your boss), you could end up embarrassing and/or making enemies of the wrong people. You best bet is just to hope your boss(es) will recogise where it came from (appreciate your loyalty to them and the company) and pay more attention in future. If they don't, it may be time to make a move anyway.
llarzelere 10-Feb-10 1:59pm

From the sound of the company line, it seems as if someone in management has at least skimmed a Lean Six Sigma pamphlet while waiting for a connecting flight, and now has the religion. Expect the consultants to try and jam Six Sigma concepts into something Six Sigma was never intended to help, or be applied to for that matter. Don't get dazzled by the multi-colored belts and titles either. Those can be had at any nearby McDojo, or certification boot camp for that matter. Let me add to the chorus advising you to dust off your resume.

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