Can a healthcare leadership consultant help your practice?

2022 brought to light the trend of "quiet quitting", "quiet firing", and "fast quitting". 2024 is bringing to light "quiet hiring". Quiet quitting is when an employee does only the minimum requirements of their job--nothing more, nothing less--and puts in no effort or enthusiasm than absolutely necessary. Quiet firing is when managers either do not train employees properly or create non-ideal work environments that cause employees to quit. Fast quitting is the employee leaving a position before they have been in that position for at least a year, often leaving after only a few weeks on the job.

Quiet hiring is when an organization recognizes they have a role or roles to fill but do not want to hire full-time employees for one reason or another. One major reason for quiet hiring is that employers want to fill roles for a short period of time or they do not want to take on all the costs associated with hiring a new team member whether full-time or part-time.

There are two ways to conduct quiet hiring. First, use current employees in different roles for a short time or give them new tasks to do within their current roles. The other way is to higher consultants to fill the gaps. Consultants are experts in their field and often can do the work of several people reducing the cost to the organization are contracted so no benefits are paid out and no time spent by other employees training the consultant. This leads to the question, 'Can a healthcare leadership consultant help your practice?'

There are six main reasons why hiring a leadership consultant is right for your organization. First, let's discuss what a leadership consultant is. A healthcare leadership consultant is someone who provides medical-related organizations with expert-level advice and knowledge. They are specialists in their field and use their background and training in healthcare policies to identify challenges, gaps, and opportunities for organizations and make recommendations on overcoming the identified issues. The leadership aspect of the consultant's title reflects the fact that the consultant looks for solutions from the top of the organization down rather than only focusing on the lowest position on the totem pole when finding solutions for problems. Understanding what a healthcare leadership consultant is helps one understand why these six reasons are valid and why a consultant may be a good fit for your practice.

The six reasons hiring a consultant can be the right direction for your organization are as follows:

1.    Consultants have subject matter expertise: While leadership may see adding a consultant as a high expense, consultants can be highly valuable assets to one's business model. Their subject matter expertise brings years of specific knowledge to your organization and they can produce results immediately compared to hiring several employees to equal the knowledge one consultant has as well as the leeway to produce results more quickly than a hired employee as they are focused on very specific roles and not an entire position's roles and job within the organization.

2.    Consultants are low risk, high reward. With today's economic landscape, getting the most for your money is of high importance for many small to medium practices. While consultants may seem a high cost, the quick results they produce far outweigh the initial high cost that seems to appear. This is because, consultants can hit the ground running rather than taking months to train employees, over benefits, and hire new employees to fill gaps in the organization.

3.    Consultants guide during periods of change and challenges. Organizational changes can be due to expansion, relocation, implementation of new policies, procedures, or systems, or when a new owner or management team comes in and employee changes happen. During these transition periods, workloads increase, more specialized projects come up, and new job functions are often created. Having the guidance of a consultant can make these changes easier and implement more quickly.

4.    Consultants bring an outside perspective. Bringing a consultant on board can bring an independent view, that has no bias, to the table. This can be a huge benefit to healthcare organizations to help solve healthcare-specific problems and offer healthcare-specific problem-solving approaches to the challenges that are identified. This means that laws, regulations, and guidelines required for healthcare organizations will be followed in the recommendations offered.

5.    Consultants get projects done and do so quickly. All too often in healthcare, there are lists and lists of projects that are waiting to be completed. Teams have the best of intentions on completing those projects but often find themselves focused on the day-to-day tasks, and projects get pushed to the wayside. Consultants focus only on the projects they are hired to complete so there is little to no distraction to completing the tasks associated with the project. Consultants take the time to understand the project requirements and keep the project at the forefront of what they are doing for the organization.

6.    Consultants streamline processes. Consultants become highly familiar with your organizational culture, team, and processes right from the start of the contract with your organization. They draw from their expertise, vast experience, and training to successfully identify areas that can be improved, streamlined, or automated. Consultants are a great tool to fill gaps in your organization once the gap is filled, the problem is identified, and the solution offered may no longer be a gap that needs to be filled thus no need to fire any employees or move people around or try to create positions to not let anyone go. Consultants can give your organization expertise and experience leading to quick results, fresh perspective, and a high commitment to the success of your organization.

If you are looking to hire a consultant, consider the six reasons above and always make sure that your consultant has the experience and expertise your organization requires. For more information on consulting and how it can help your business, please feel free to reach out today.

Sources:

Canato, A., & Giangreco, A. (2011). Gurus or wizards? A review of the role of management consultants. European Management Review, 8(4), 231-244.

Brady, K., & Lowell, W. (2014). Theory vs. Practice: A study of business consultants and their utilization of corporate culture in daily practice. Journal of Practical Consulting, 5(1), 1-22.

Evers, H. D., & Menkhoff, T. (2004). Expert knowledge and the role of consultants in an emerging knowledge-based economy. Human Systems Management, 23(2), 123-135.