Where to Draw the Line as a Consultant

I got a Consultant off-side on an audit recently. Do you want to know why?

Your Consultant Shouldn't be Your Business's Gatekeeper!

I'm going to share with you how this happened and my thoughts on where a consultant fits into the process of implementing a system and the certification audit.

If you are a Consultant or you are considering completing any of our training to become a consultant, this is really important because I'm going to share with you where the consultant role ends.

I know you're all in business and you all need to make money however the line has to be drawn somewhere.

I'll give you the short version of the background to this. I was conducting a four-day triple-certification audit recently and I'd already advised the client that on the first day I would be spending most of the day conducting a document review.

I would spend the time going through their system, getting my head around what they say they do, making up a checklist of questions, and sorting out what my following three days would look like. Those following days would be the part where I'd be talking to workers and interviewing them.

I suggested that they could just show me where their systems were saved, give some quick lessons on how to access the system documentation and if I had any questions I would catch up with the owner of the business throughout the day.

It was decided at this point that the Consultant was not needed for Day 1 of the audit. I agreed as all I could see him doing was sitting around watching me read through the system. There was absolutely no requirement for him to be there. It would cost the business even more if he were to sit there for the day unnecessarily.

We got through Day 1 completely unscathed and any questions I had; the owner was able to help me with. I then had a debrief with the owner going through what my plan was for the next day, which was spending my time in the warehouse and covering OH&S and environment as well.

Again, I was asked “Do you need the Consultant here” – of course, my response was “no”. And honestly, I didn’t, I couldn’t see any reason why he had to be there. The owner knew his system and we were able to work through any questions or gaps I had so far.

So, again the owner contacted the Consultant and advised that there was no need to come in the next day.

And to cut a long story short, this was repeated the next day as well!

I had raised a few observations at this stage which had been discussed with the owner and he had a solid understanding of why I was raising them.

Now, on Day 3 I did have a question that was not able to be answered. It was about an internal audit conducted by the Consultant. The owner was unable to answer my question, so we made a phone call to the Consultant – after all, it was his report and findings.

This is where it turned pear-shaped.

The Consultant was on speaker so the owner and I could both be a part of it. I could tell the Consultant was a bit aggressive already, so I was aware of this in how I worded my question and response.

The conversation quickly moved to the Consultant voicing his concern that he had been completely shut out of the audit and had booked in 4 days for the audit which he now had lost. It almost seemed like he thought that I would take advantage of the owner while he wasn’t there and raise findings that weren’t justified.

Wow!!

So he thought he needed to be a Gatekeeper? Strange!

I did try to explain that the owner was doing a great job and in turn, this was a reflection of him (the consultant) for giving the owner an opportunity to own his own system. He still wasn’t having a bar of it and continued to argue the point. The owner took over and suggested that this was an issue that should be taken up outside of the audit just between them.

What I learned was that while I was doing the owner of the business a favour, I wasn’t doing the Consultant a favour. He was concerned about the work and money he had lost. My concern is that the Consultant felt that he had to be there for the entirety of the audit. I get this if it is a new system and the first audit, however, I have been auditing this business for 6 or 7 years so was familiar with the system.

At some stage, it should be the role of the Consultant to hand the system over to the business to own, maintain and improve. It’s not about cornering yourself into ongoing work just overseeing audits every year!

As a Consultant, you have done your job right if you can walk away comfortable in the fact that the system you helped to build, and implement is in good hands. That you have shared the love and actually helped your clients to embrace and own their own system.

I know that it may seem that it’s no good for the bank balance as you want that recurring work. But honestly, if you want to be a Consultant that makes a difference, you need to ensure that your clients take ownership of the system and you say, “see you later, my work is done here”. I know it might be hard to say goodbye to some easy money but please be one of those consultants that works to make yourself redundant.

As a business owner also be aware of this. If you have a consultant helping you to build a system, please realize that your system will be at its best when that consultant can hand it over to you. When you own it, when you get it yourself – this is where you want to get to.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this from any perspective, whether you are a consultant, whether you're an up-and-coming consultant, or if you're a business owner and you've had something similar occur.

Maybe you're an auditor like me, and have had a similar sort of circumstance? I'd love to hear your stories and get your take on this.

Happy auditing and consulting!