Notes

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.



To be successful and efficient, companies should find out the views and opinions of their employees rather than going to outside consultants. Employees have a better understanding of day to day operations, employees better understand worker retention and productivity issues, and companies that listen to their employees have a track record of success.

Firstly, employees have a better understanding of day to day operations that consultants who only look at data. For example, if the layout of a fast food chain's kitchen is inefficient, employees might notice this but data alone could not. Consultants look primarily at data and spend little time working at the company, especially not with low level employees, so it is unlikely they would notice issues like this. If a company didn't listen to its employees, they will miss issues and need to hire consultants but these consultants will not be able to solve certain kinds of issues that require understanding of day to day operations.

In particular, employees are better than outside consultants at identifying issues related to worker retention and productivity. For example, if short breaktimes are causing employees to be overworked and have low productivity, employees would likely notice this. On the other hand, consultants would not and may in fact suggest that breaktimes be shortened to increase the amount of time employees work. This also holds true with employee retention. If employees are leaving at high rates, it is best to simply ask the employees that are leaving why they are doing so or ask current employees about what changes would make them most likley to stay longer. Outside consultants would not know if better healthcare coverage, better pay, safer working environments, or some other factor would best improve retention. Worker productivity and retention are two of the most important factors in a company's success. Since workers are better at solving these two essential issues, it is best that companies ask employees about changes rather than going to outside consultants.

Companies that listen to employees have a good trackrecord of success. For example, Google used to hold weekly town halls where employees could ask unvetted questions directly to the CEO. Additionally, employees were encouraged to make complaints and were not censored from expressing their views in internal communication channels. Google has become one of the world's most successful companies. Also, large publicly traded German companies are required by law to include a certain number of workers on their company board, giving workers significant input on how the company runs. The German economy dominates Europe, and German companies like Volkswagon and DHL are some of the most successful in the world. These examples clearly show that listening to employees can lead to success in business, which leads to consultants being less neccessary for efficiency.

Therefore, companies should listen to their own employees to find ways to operate more efficiently rather than hiring outside consultants.





possible (but weaker): employees better at long-term planning (e.g. german codetermination, cooperatives surviving recessions better)
- true but how does this contrast against consultants
- consultants only stay at companies for a short time. they don't see long term effects. they are incentivized to give advice which leads to short term profits which
makes them look good
- if you plan long-term, you will not need to hire consultants to fix the sinking ship