Written by Devon O’Rourke, Founder & Managing Partner
As I grow Fluvio and engage with more and more CEOs, CMOs, VPs of Marketing, Heads of Product, etc, I often get confronted with one (at times, veiled) question - why should I hire a consultant vs a full-time employee? Below are some of the key reasons as to why hiring a consultant (or contractor) could be the best decision for your business.
Expertise = efficiency. Hiring a team of consultants grants you access to a specialized, skilled workforce that may otherwise be difficult to acquire. This not only means higher quality output, it also accelerates the timeline to achieving your desired outcomes by eliminating the time (and costs) of recruiting, training, and onboarding. Unfortunately, it’s common for companies to fail to successfully build out new roles or functions (product marketing for instance) within their organizations due to their inability to find the right talent for the job. One misstep could mean disaster for your productivity and bottom line.
Cost. I know, you’re probably thinking this can’t be true, as consulting fees at times can feel exorbitant - and for the likes of Mckinsey, BCG, Bain, or Deloitte I would have to agree! However, hiring a more modern, niche consultancy can in fact save your business the (often hidden) high costs of having personnel “on the books”. When you account for recruiting, insurances (medical, dental, life), equipment, software, vacation time, payroll taxes, 401k contribution, training, workers comp and various business insurance requirements, full-time employees can be significantly more expensive. Additionally, the unpredictable nature of employee turnover makes it challenging to accurately estimate payroll costs each quarter.
Flexibility. This is becoming more and more relevant! Bringing in a consultant (or a team of consultants) allows you to be far more nimble with your workforce - you can expand, contract, or move folks around far quicker and easier than with fixed full-time headcount. This is particularly important for fast paced, high growth companies that will find a competitive advantage in their ability to adapt to changing environments.
Of course there are certainly circumstances that call for full-time hiring. The following questions might help you make a decision:
Are you looking for a specialized worker or someone with a more general skillset?
Are you building out a new department or function? Or is this an area that you’ve hired for previously with limited success?
How quickly are you expecting to observe an impact from the role?
Will the company’s needs be different a year from now? How confident are you in this prediction?
Making the decision
I recommend asking yourself and your leadership team these questions and spending time writing down your answers independently. Next, sit down and compare notes and align on the best approach for your business. Regardless of the outcome, at least you can be confident that you’ve gone through the exercise and weighed the options appropriately.
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