Four Key Shifts That Make Consulting a Real Opportunity: Part Five

Key Shift #4: Profiting from Past Mistakes

As the economy recovers, businesses are going to realize they have made a few major miscalculations and will rush to correct these errors. It has been my experience that this will happen quickly and dramatically. We have all seen how organizations react to miscalculations. There is a tendency to swing 180 degrees the other way. Think about Enron and Sarbanes Oxley. As a society and as a business community, we tend to over-adjust. This over-adjustment will provide independent consultants with a wealth of opportunities.

The first miscalculation of business leaders is believing that new productivity gains will continue at the same level and can be driven by technology alone. But technology will have decreasing effects on productivity in the future. The biggest gains have already been realized. Further, employees are tired. Since the recession, they have been asked to do more with less. Overtime, lost vacations, stress at home and missed children’s events have taken their toll. This is a recipe for disaster.

Since the recession, many experienced people have left their jobs and taken their know-how with them. Business leaders have come to rely VERY HEAVILY on the remaining workforce and their knowledge of “where the bodies are buried.” There is a great deal of evidence that these “put -upon” workers will leave the first chance they get to obtain a more normal work schedule. In fact, it is this group who are contributing a great deal to the new entrepreneurs we discussed earlier. Many folks are simply quitting, or will quit at the first opportunity. This will be a “strike two” for existing organizations (the third strike is coming!). Strike one is the loss of experienced workers due to the recession. Strike two is the inevitable loss of current workers due to burnout.

Strike three is the failure to prepare for knowledge capital leaving. VERY few businesses, especially small to medium organizations, have a knowledge-transfer strategy. For some reason, most businesses believe their current workforce is going to live and work forever! No real effort is put in place to teach a new generation of workers how to get things done most effectively and efficiently.

Here is the most interesting and ironic part: The next generation of workers, Gen Y, is DYING for this knowledge transfer. Gen Y is constantly asking “what’s next” and is looking to constantly learn new information and processes. If an organization doesn’t have a system to transfer knowledge, then Gen Y will ALSO leave. This is a deadly combination for business owners, and a problem that independent consultants can solve.

Independent consultants have the wealth of knowledge that organizations need. This knowledge can be accessed without needing to pay full freight as mentioned earlier. Finally, Gen Y, in addition to wanting knowledge transfer, is ALSO DYING for mentors and leaders. Independent consultants can provide the “triple threat”:

Knowledge capital 
+ Cost effectiveness 
+ Leadership 
= Demand for your skills

If you’re a talented Baby-Boomer sitting on the sidelines at the moment, or not fulfilled with your current job, you might want to consider hanging up your own shingle. You may want to decide if this is the time to become a consultant. Experienced professionals can relatively quickly become successful consultants by packaging their wealth of knowledge and finding five or ten places where they can offer their skills. I know that it can be done. I also know that organizations are dying to have access to this wealth of knowledge and that five or ten assignments will add up to a higher income than any single job.

Summary:

There is a loss of knowledge capital happening to companies as Baby-Boomers retire. This means that:

• Companies need your experience, but don’t want to create the fixed cost of full-time, experienced employees; and

• Gen Y employees can do the work, but need mentors to get up to full speed

Take those two factors together and it’s clear that many companies could benefit from your expertise in the role of consultant.

I love the consulting career, and think that many other professionals can benefit from it. In this book, I’ll give you some points that may help you decide about the potential of consulting for you, as well as a few tips that can help you be successful. As I mentioned earlier, there’s lots of work for all of us, and I’d like to have more skilled colleagues available as resources for our clients. I believe the overall economy will be positively impacted as we get our collective years of experience and knowledge “back in the game.”
There are at least four forces converging to make now a great time to consider consulting as a career:

•    Shifting demographics – Gen Y at 79.5 million 
strong are here to stay

•    The need of business owners to have more knowledge capital

•    The new math provides lucrative opportunities

•    Businesses do not want to add fixed costs, but may take on variable costs

This article is an excerpt from Buddy’s latest book, "Experience Matters: How to Succeed as a Consultant in Today’s World." To download your free copy of the full version CLICK HERE.