Morning All,

Apologies for my recent absence I was on the road lately and hence my disappearance from the blog. However, I am back and today I have a topic which is a major issue within the consulting industry and for those compaies who employ consulting services.

I have heard of many companies who have hired  consulting firms to implement a change program or a performance improvement system. The programm starts and all goes well, both the client and consulting firm work in harmony. Soon enough results are achieved both in terms of bottom-line financial savings and improvements in the approach, attitude and culture within the corporate environment.

However, some clients then mid-way through the project will call it to a halt and cancel the contract for consulting services. More often than not the reason cited is that their internal team has learnt enough to do it themselves.

If the program was left to run its normal course, any consulting firm worth their weight in salt would leave the client's internal team in such a position to continue with the program into perpetuity. But, as the client has called off the program with the belief that they can continue with the implementation is mistaken.

The implementation process is a very onerous task, it requires total focus on the program, training the internal team and management at international levels, it requires being able to have an objective view and above all time. Time to implement the program effectively.

I have implemented many programs where the management team who are involved in the program just do no have time. They don't have the time to attend regular progress meetings, they don't have the time to review performance, they don't have the time to attend training workshops etc etc etc. So the question is when management are so starved of time how can they realistically implement a program across the company with any real effect.

It's all very well companies saying that they can take over from a consulting firm and implement any program, but they do not realise that they are setting themselves up for failure. By taking such action they are also going to negate any benefits realised - financial or otherwise.

Unless there is gross incompetency or failure on the consulting firms side there is tremendous value to engage outside help in implementing any change or performance improvement.

Outside help allows rapid and focused implementation with results within months. Instead of taking years to do something internally outsiders can speed the whole process up exponentially.

Shah Alam