All too often, companies hire outside consultants to suggest ways for the company to operate more efficiently. If companies were to spend more time listening to their own employees, such consultants would be unnecessary.Write a response in which you discu

Employees interact with customers everyday and are responsible for everyday operation of a company. In spite of their expertise, it is difficult for the external consultants hired by the company to fully understand the uniqueness of the environment within the company. Employees, being aware of the situation, could have better solution that is tailored to the uniqueness of the company than the one provided by the expensive consultant. So, if the company listens to its employees regularly, it would not have to hire expensive outside consultants to suggest ways for the effecient operation of the company.

Each day, employees of a company interact with customers who are the major stakeholders of the company. They are fully aware of the expectation of the customers. In addition, they are responsible for all the background works of production of the product or service that is directly related to the customers of the company. They solution they provide are more practical and efficient than the solution from the external consultants. For instance, a toothpaste factory which faced problem with some empty toothpaste box being delivered to a company hired a bunch of consultants who suggested complicated solutions involving to analyzing the weight of each piece produced automatically, or getting a staff manually check each pack. But, one of the employees who regularly worked in the packaging there placed a fan which was powerful enough to blow away the empty packs. The solution proposed by the employee here was cheaper but more efficient.

Employees are the people directly affected by any operational decision taken both in short as well as long term. They are the people who are responsible for immediate implementation of the change. And, if the change causes inefficiencies, then, they would have to suffer. In addition, the decision taken also affect the long term prosperity of the company. If the decision proves profitable to the company in the long term then the employees are benifited with job security, higher salary and facilities. So, they are more responsible and loyal than the external consultant hired by the company and the suggestion from them could be trusted enough. Company listening to them will raise the morale of the employees and they would take ownership of the decision.

In case of some unique problems or in situations which deviates from the normal working condition of the company, it might need some external advice from the experts. They have experience solving problems in multiple companies and the ability to interact with them might in turn help employees to learn and take better decisions in the days to come.

So, in regular situations the companies should listen to their employees than hiring external consultants for advice.