I’d like your thoughts, so post some comments.
I’ve worked for several companies over the years and something I’ve come to recognize with each new opportunity is what I refer to as “New Guy Leverage.” This is the period of time where you are the golden child, the new baby, the fresh face, the person who has done no wrong…yet. Unless you threaten someone else by the very nature of the existence of your position, everyone generally loves you. Most importantly, the ideas you share are welcomed, whether based on your past experiences, your knowledge and expertise, or a combination. For a new, full-time employee, this lasts from two weeks to a month. For a new contractor hired from a recruiter, this could last from a month to three, and a certain sense of detachment or separation can remain throughout the engagement and grow as the duration increases.
I’m therefore puzzled as to why a company would elect to insist on hiring full-time employment, or hire only through recruitment. What happened to HR? I’ve seen placement firms charge as high as 100% margin per hour, and as low as 25% per hour. Why?
It also seems “consultant” or “contractor” have become bad words. A lot of this has to do with the fact that the meaning of “consultant” was lost long ago. If you’re a .NET developer, you’re placed in a position as a “Senior .NET Consultant.” Alan Weiss, the author of “Million Dollar Consulting,” proposes a pretty good definition of consultant in his book:
“A consultant is someone who provides a specialized expertise, content, behavior, skill, or other resource to assist a client in improving the status quo. This intervention focuses on a specific client need.”
Based on this, without a lot of heavy thinking, a “Senior .NET Developer” may present a specialized expertise or skill and indeed improve the status quo. But Alan further clarifies, “Consulting is not synonymous with implementing, delivering, instructing, or executing, although consulting may include any of these activities.” And what really hits the nail on the head for me in differentiating between a contractor hired to program and a consultant is “Only consulting can achieve the final bridge to unconscious competency and application of new skills to the job.” Consulting involves a high degree of communication skills. You must be able to communicate throughout the spectrum of personnel, from CEOs to junior developers and everywhere in between. This means you must have the personality of someone who would, for example, strike up a conversation with someone in line at the grocery. You must be tolerant, diverse, and generally excited about communicating with people. Technical proficiency in your area of expertise, and excitement about getting up in front of people to genuinely solve problems in a collaborative way, are requirements. Being able to say “no” to upper management or the head of the company is also important.
So an effective relationship between a consultant and a client requires new guy leverage to fan the flame of the natural communications talents that one might possess. By giving new initiative responsibilities to internal employees, companies might often create rifts between those that are given the opportunities, and those that believe they should have been given the opportunities. Thus, a natural resistance to proactive efforts is immediately present, like a polka-dotted elephant in the room. Why risk these politics? The overall effectiveness of the time investment is diminished, and certainly the risk of not meeting the business objectives is prevalent.
Let all your employees be exposed to a true independent consultant. If they feel threatened by this new entity in their workplace, guess what? They know he’s going to leave! They can all hate him together! It’s entirely up to the consultant to engender those relationships. But it starts with a company sending a message to those people it employs by bringing in that outside help and demonstrating a willingness to take the initiative and invest in improving their condition. What a sign of strength! Instead of remaining in a position of waiting until “things improve,” you tell your employees “we’re going to do some proactive things to improve your skills and the position of our organization.” It’s entirely on the new guy, the consultant, to engender repeat business.
I’d like your comments on New Guy Leverage and things your organization is doing or not doing that may affect your feelings of security.
Copyright (c) 2009 Adams Enterprises, LLC
My previous employer basically hired programmers internally for its needs, but slowly shifted gears. There are only two senior developers left on staff for legacy application support while the bulk of the work is assigned to an off-site consulting team who is better suited to deal with the emerging technologies.
Before working for them I worked briefly for a consulting firm as a help desk support technician. I never really appreciated that opportunity – I chalk it up to youthful inexperience.
Out of curiosity, do you think its best to work as an independent consultant or work for a consulting firm?
Thanks for your comment, Robert. I personally think the consulting firm, if it truly lives up to its name, works. This means an all-encompassing approach to a client’s endeavors, the adoption of a sense of collaboration and partnership – really ownership. It rarely happens. “Consultants” are merely “placed contractors” in many respects. The economy dictates this to some extent. As the economy tightens, “consulting” firms start focusing on their bread-and-butter, placement of talent, instead of their guns, consulting.
I’ll let you know when I get a few clients if it’s better being independent, LOL. I think if companies began trusting true independent consultants, we’d all be better off.