Building internal capacities by making sure knowledge transfer is written into the contract
Consultants sometimes joke that clients bring them in to tell them what they already know. Indeed, there are certainly times when consultants can lend credibility and confirm the business case for internally generated proposals for organizational change.
More often than not, however, HR departments turn to external experts to supplement scarce resources or provide specialist knowledge. When using HR consultants to solve a resource problem, the challenge for organizations is to build internal resources even as they contract out.
As Debbie Fischer, senior vice-president, organizational development and strategic projects at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, puts it: “If the organization is going to spend the money on external advice, then you want to ensure the consultant leaves behind the knowledge and tools to sustain the recommendations. We negotiate this into the contract according to the nature of the assignment.”
When turning to HR consultants, says Jim Parker, president of Parker Management Consulting in Mississauga, Ont., “the corporate HR shop needs to be careful to sustain its core competencies in order to manage outside resources. You want to make sure that intellectual property is not lost; that there is a transfer of knowledge and technology back into the organization.”
Parker, who has been both a director of HR and an independent consultant, worries about consultant reports that end up just sitting on the shelf.
“The HR director should be looking for an implementation plan and not just a problem analysis or a review of the current situation. It’s not enough to bring a consultant in to add a new unit, new technology or a new process to an organization. You need to address the whole change process and the people who will ultimately make it work.”
The role of the consultant, adds Parker, “is to do the broader thinking on what it will take to support the core assignment and contribute to the long-term business goals of the organization, and to have that conversation with the client. I think of it as informal education.”
The ‘hollowing out’ risk
Monica Belcourt, director of the graduate program in human resource management at York University and former president of the Human Resources Professionals Association of Ontario, points out that one of the problems with taking any work outside is the hollowing out of the organization.
“Someone outside the organization becomes the expert, and the organization becomes dependent on that consultant. Perhaps the consultant has a proprietary tool that is central to the contracted assignment. It could be a test used in recruitment or a training component that the organization incorporates into its own practices. Or the consultants may create a report for which they hold the key to implementation so that the organization has to bring them back for further assignments,” says Belcourt.
For organizations with little internal HR capacity, there may be good reason for an ongoing relationship with external services. At Pivotal Integrated HR Solutions, a Mississauga, Ont.-based consultancy serving primarily small- and medium-sized enterprises, marketing manager Stephen Smith says “as part of our contract, whatever work we do is handed back to the client when we are done.
“We have staff available wherever and whenever the client has questions, or wants input or ideas. We report back regularly to HR contacts and senior management on implementation benchmarks and HR metrics. We will coach and mentor junior HR staff within the client organization to expand their knowledge base,” says Smith.
Gerry Furlong, president G. P. Furlong and Associates in Bowmanville, Ont., investigates workplace discrimination and harassment complaints. In this situation, knowledge transfer is not about the investigation techniques but how to manage the workplace situation and restore productivity.
“As the assignment progresses, I talk informally with HR and the program managers on different ways they could have approached the situation and how they could avoid a repetition in the future. Sometimes staff wonder why an external consultant was brought in to investigate the workplace problem, but generally they recognize the value of an objective outside observer.”
Close to the chest
However, for very large consulting projects such as a comprehensive compensation review or an HR information system design, there are particular challenges in transferring knowledge back into the organization. Amrita Bhalla, recruitment manager at Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts in Toronto and a former consultant at one of the major firms, says knowledge transfer in a complex project tends to take place on the implementation side and not the design side.
As a result, the large firms that do this type of work are often perceived as holding their know-how very close to the chest.
“Clients should include knowledge transfer in their contract and identify a contact to track this throughout the project. Ask for methodology, data sources and working papers. HR should also make a point of attending the consultant’s de-briefings,” says Bhalla.
Rob Lowry, partner in Bay Consulting Group of Toronto, notes that the large firms tend to have a methodology that is part of their brand that they want to safeguard.
“On big projects, consultants have to bring in a large team to work with many different contacts on the client side. This can make it difficult to transfer information and techniques. The senior people have an overview, but the rest of the client’s employees only get to see bits and pieces of the whole.”
Belcourt of York University points out that information flows both ways.
“The nature of consultants is that they learn on the job. What they are learning could include an internal client process that sets the company apart from the competition in attracting and retaining scarce talent. It could be an orientation program that is particularly good at engaging new staff in the first few months on the job. When an organization is fighting for particular skills they don’t want to share that information with other companies. The organization could lose this competitive advantage if the consultant takes this new knowledge on to the next assignment.”
One firm that makes knowledge transfer a key part of how it approaches an assignment is BearingPoint Canada. “In a smaller project we close off with a handover checklist, all documents and lessons learned,” says Rainer Beltzner, managing director of public service practice at BearingPoint in Toronto. “On larger projects that involve more employees and take more time, we have a more structured process for knowledge transfer, including mentoring and training, that is typically described in the work plans.”
For Beltzner, sharing know-how doesn’t reduce the potential for future work. He finds that including clients in project activities can result in greater understanding and a better level of acceptance for new processes and technologies.
“We look at what education and skills enhancement are required at all levels in the organization so that no one is left out and no one is left behind,” says Beltzner.
Several consultants say that sometimes clients close themselves off from information that could help their business. Bhalla of Four Seasons says it can feel threatening to have outsiders come in to tell the organization how to do things better. But when consultants can break through that resistance, the clients become ambassadors for the process.
“Consultants are knowledge workers,” says Bhalla. “Because of their experience in other work environments, they see patterns and linkages that may not be apparent to the corporate HR service. Consultants bring knowledge and experience of best practices across different business areas, and independence from internal history and politics.”
Bhalla finds that consultants can be open to sharing information if the client is open and interested as well. She has seen this sharing continue after the assignment, once the relationship is established.
At the end of the day, Parker says, it is the client organization that has to make the decisions and implement the consulting results.
“Contract language, work plans and project specifications can go part-way in addressing the process of knowledge transfer, but it is ultimately the in-house staff who will read the report, push the buttons, and make the change. They need to ensure they have the knowledge to do so.”
Susan Singh is a Toronto-based freelance writer.
More often than not, however, HR departments turn to external experts to supplement scarce resources or provide specialist knowledge. When using HR consultants to solve a resource problem, the challenge for organizations is to build internal resources even as they contract out.
As Debbie Fischer, senior vice-president, organizational development and strategic projects at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, puts it: “If the organization is going to spend the money on external advice, then you want to ensure the consultant leaves behind the knowledge and tools to sustain the recommendations. We negotiate this into the contract according to the nature of the assignment.”
When turning to HR consultants, says Jim Parker, president of Parker Management Consulting in Mississauga, Ont., “the corporate HR shop needs to be careful to sustain its core competencies in order to manage outside resources. You want to make sure that intellectual property is not lost; that there is a transfer of knowledge and technology back into the organization.”
Parker, who has been both a director of HR and an independent consultant, worries about consultant reports that end up just sitting on the shelf.
“The HR director should be looking for an implementation plan and not just a problem analysis or a review of the current situation. It’s not enough to bring a consultant in to add a new unit, new technology or a new process to an organization. You need to address the whole change process and the people who will ultimately make it work.”
The role of the consultant, adds Parker, “is to do the broader thinking on what it will take to support the core assignment and contribute to the long-term business goals of the organization, and to have that conversation with the client. I think of it as informal education.”
The ‘hollowing out’ risk
Monica Belcourt, director of the graduate program in human resource management at York University and former president of the Human Resources Professionals Association of Ontario, points out that one of the problems with taking any work outside is the hollowing out of the organization.
“Someone outside the organization becomes the expert, and the organization becomes dependent on that consultant. Perhaps the consultant has a proprietary tool that is central to the contracted assignment. It could be a test used in recruitment or a training component that the organization incorporates into its own practices. Or the consultants may create a report for which they hold the key to implementation so that the organization has to bring them back for further assignments,” says Belcourt.
For organizations with little internal HR capacity, there may be good reason for an ongoing relationship with external services. At Pivotal Integrated HR Solutions, a Mississauga, Ont.-based consultancy serving primarily small- and medium-sized enterprises, marketing manager Stephen Smith says “as part of our contract, whatever work we do is handed back to the client when we are done.
“We have staff available wherever and whenever the client has questions, or wants input or ideas. We report back regularly to HR contacts and senior management on implementation benchmarks and HR metrics. We will coach and mentor junior HR staff within the client organization to expand their knowledge base,” says Smith.
Gerry Furlong, president G. P. Furlong and Associates in Bowmanville, Ont., investigates workplace discrimination and harassment complaints. In this situation, knowledge transfer is not about the investigation techniques but how to manage the workplace situation and restore productivity.
“As the assignment progresses, I talk informally with HR and the program managers on different ways they could have approached the situation and how they could avoid a repetition in the future. Sometimes staff wonder why an external consultant was brought in to investigate the workplace problem, but generally they recognize the value of an objective outside observer.”
Close to the chest
However, for very large consulting projects such as a comprehensive compensation review or an HR information system design, there are particular challenges in transferring knowledge back into the organization. Amrita Bhalla, recruitment manager at Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts in Toronto and a former consultant at one of the major firms, says knowledge transfer in a complex project tends to take place on the implementation side and not the design side.
As a result, the large firms that do this type of work are often perceived as holding their know-how very close to the chest.
“Clients should include knowledge transfer in their contract and identify a contact to track this throughout the project. Ask for methodology, data sources and working papers. HR should also make a point of attending the consultant’s de-briefings,” says Bhalla.
Rob Lowry, partner in Bay Consulting Group of Toronto, notes that the large firms tend to have a methodology that is part of their brand that they want to safeguard.
“On big projects, consultants have to bring in a large team to work with many different contacts on the client side. This can make it difficult to transfer information and techniques. The senior people have an overview, but the rest of the client’s employees only get to see bits and pieces of the whole.”
Belcourt of York University points out that information flows both ways.
“The nature of consultants is that they learn on the job. What they are learning could include an internal client process that sets the company apart from the competition in attracting and retaining scarce talent. It could be an orientation program that is particularly good at engaging new staff in the first few months on the job. When an organization is fighting for particular skills they don’t want to share that information with other companies. The organization could lose this competitive advantage if the consultant takes this new knowledge on to the next assignment.”
One firm that makes knowledge transfer a key part of how it approaches an assignment is BearingPoint Canada. “In a smaller project we close off with a handover checklist, all documents and lessons learned,” says Rainer Beltzner, managing director of public service practice at BearingPoint in Toronto. “On larger projects that involve more employees and take more time, we have a more structured process for knowledge transfer, including mentoring and training, that is typically described in the work plans.”
For Beltzner, sharing know-how doesn’t reduce the potential for future work. He finds that including clients in project activities can result in greater understanding and a better level of acceptance for new processes and technologies.
“We look at what education and skills enhancement are required at all levels in the organization so that no one is left out and no one is left behind,” says Beltzner.
Several consultants say that sometimes clients close themselves off from information that could help their business. Bhalla of Four Seasons says it can feel threatening to have outsiders come in to tell the organization how to do things better. But when consultants can break through that resistance, the clients become ambassadors for the process.
“Consultants are knowledge workers,” says Bhalla. “Because of their experience in other work environments, they see patterns and linkages that may not be apparent to the corporate HR service. Consultants bring knowledge and experience of best practices across different business areas, and independence from internal history and politics.”
Bhalla finds that consultants can be open to sharing information if the client is open and interested as well. She has seen this sharing continue after the assignment, once the relationship is established.
At the end of the day, Parker says, it is the client organization that has to make the decisions and implement the consulting results.
“Contract language, work plans and project specifications can go part-way in addressing the process of knowledge transfer, but it is ultimately the in-house staff who will read the report, push the buttons, and make the change. They need to ensure they have the knowledge to do so.”
Susan Singh is a Toronto-based freelance writer.
