Revised:

When it comes to getting opinions on company operation, there has been a long-lasting debate. This debate focuses on whether to hire outside consultants. Some think employees constitute a better source of opinions, which is already enough, while others believe consultants have their value. In my opinion, while company employees do have their valuable insights on company operation, those are not enough to substitute stances from experts outside the company.

First of all, consultants have more expertise in company operation. To become an expertised consultant, they have to spend time learning theories about the market and the company operation. As daily work, they also investigate the situation in the current market in depth. All these kinds of information are usually different from what company employees have. Instead of digging deep into knowledge for company operations, employees usually have diverse expertise areas. They have to spend time on their daily work, rather than collecting information from broader resources. Even people in a company’s operation board are usually occupied by tasks and decisions their own company is facing. They seldom have the chance to do the kind of thorough and versatile research that a non-company-affiliated consultant does.

In the meantime, consultants have different stances than company employees. Therefore, they can provide viewpoints from different perspectives. It is human nature to be selfish, so for company employees, their stances are often based on whether company policies benefit themselves. It’s especially the case, when considering that switching to new employers is quite normal nowadays. Of course, there are a lot of overlaps between a company’s and its employees’ benefits, but taking suggestions only from employees could really be partial. It has to be admitted that outside consultants are not 100% reliable, either. However, combining opinions from both sides is a viable way to reduce biases from their opinions. It’s also what a wise leader would consider.

Lastly, by suggesting taking opinions from consultants, I’m not denying the necessity of learning employees’ viewpoints. This is already obvious in the last paragraph, but I’d like to emphasize it again. Company leaders might want to learn a fuller view on their company operations. Employees’ viewpoints do not constitute a complete picture in this sense, but they are worth to be considered.

In general, I believe taking opinions from outside consultants is definitely not wasting money and time. That being said, to take opinions from both consultants and employees, with opinions from each side compensating those from the other, is still better than consultants alone.