Prove your worth

The consulting industry is under increasing pressure to prove its worth. It is no longer just about the end result; a consultancy’s true value lies in its people rather than a product, and this can often be very hard to measure.

The consultant’s role is to add value – that is, after all, why the client hires them rather than doing projects internally. As outsiders, consultants can take an external view on the processes and procedures they have been hired to look at within an organisation, and then advise on how to streamline them to save time and money, as well as produce better results. They can also introduce new ways of thinking and new approaches to certain tasks, as well as providing general information and advice on an ongoing basis to the client.

Although it is clear to see how a consultancy can add value to a project, it can be a completely different story proving where it has actually achieved this or by how much. Many consultancies have adopted ‘on target’ contracts, where they are paid dependent on the results they have achieved or on the effectiveness of the advice they have given on a particular project. Some use deadlines to prove their value, so if they deliver a job on, or even before, deadline they are seen to be working effectively and to the expected standard.