Consulting – whether management, IT, or otherwise – is an entirely human-driven industry. It’s based on the concept that a certain set of humans have expertise in a particular area that can be provided to other humans, or organizations.
Consultants derive their value from their experience. There are no products that can consistently and reliably test to demonstrate their value. This makes it challenging to employ any sort of standardized method to review and compare potential consultants.
Inherently, then there are challenges when attempting to ascertain whether a consulting firm will be the right fit for your organization. Because consulting is a human-driven industry, we often assume there is no way to use common metrics to compare consultants or consulting companies.
It makes it too easy for too many consulting companies to simply push the line of, “We have the experience, so hire us. We’ve done this work for dozens of clients. Hire us,” without tangibly demonstrating in a measurable way why they are the right company for the job.
It leaves ample room for issues – what if the consultants that worked on those projects or clients have left the company? What if they have to hire new consultants to fill roles for this project? How will you ascertain if those new consultants will be a good fit?
That’s why several years ago we introduced the ProVerified Model – a measurable way for us to demonstrate to our clients why our team, or an individual consultant is the right fit.
Consulting firms need to stop relying on the trope of “We have the experience, so hire us. We’ve done this work for dozens of clients. Hire us.” Consulting firms need to find measurable ways to demonstrate to clients the value they bring. And that’s exactly what the ProVerified Model does.
How does the ProVerified Model work?
The ProVerified model measures every consultant and candidate using a 1-5 (5 being the highest) scale on factors such as “Communication”, “Skill Level”, “Attitude” and “Connection to the Company.”
Consultants and candidates are also given an overall scale by taking the average of all their ratings.
Our recruiting team completes a ProVerified scorecard for each candidate and new hire onboarded to the company. The scorecard is maintained in the employee’s record and updated annually based on performance. Click the link below to see a sample scorecard:
ProVerified Score Card – Sample
When the consultant is considered for placement with a client, the client is provided with a copy of the ProVerified Scorecard, including details on the rating system, so they can determine, using our metric-driven approach whether the candidate is the right fit for them.
What does the ProVerified Model measure?
The ProVerified Model measures a consultant on 8 areas:
- Connection to the company: are they an existing or former employee? Were they referred by a former employee? Or is this a new hire who has been properly vetted by our Recruiting team?
- Communications: is the consultant professional at all times in their communications with no grammatical errors? Or do they occasionally display grammatically issues?
- Skill level: does the consultant have a skill set that goes above and beyond what is required for the role? Or is their skill set on-par with the role?
- Attitude: Do they display an attitude and approach that both aligns with Providge’s requirements (solution-oriented, client-focused, team player), and fits well into the client’s culture?
- Education: Do they have a Master’s degree or higher? Or a combination of an Associate’s degree and work experience?
- Experience level: Do they have 5+ years of work experience directly related to the role? Or less?
- Results/achievement: Throughout their career have they consistently delivered exceptional results? Or are they on-par with others of a similar background?
- References: Do all of their references deliver a positive review, including one additional cold reference identified by Providge? Or do their references note issues in their past performance?
- Summary score: the summary score is the average of their 1-5 scoring on the 8 areas of measurement.
Using the ProVerified Model we are able to deliver to every client a standardized, measurable approach to determining whether our consultants are the right fit for their company.
By using this approach we’re able to limit the potential risk we expose our clients to by claiming company experience, hiring new consultants and staffing them to the client without providing demonstrable proof that the consultant(s) are right for that role. With the ProVerified Model, we take a leap ahead from simply siting company experience on similar projects, by demonstrating whether the consultant(s) proposed for the roles have past experience with the company, and past experience with similar roles where they performed exceptionally.
We don’t want our clients to simply “take our word for it.” That’s not how we approach projects, and complementary staffing at Providge. It’s our duty to show to our clients in a tangible way why the individual or team we are proposing suit their needs. To do otherwise is a disservice to our clients who trust us to use our expertise to help them meet their business goals.
Companies deserve to know whether the teams or consultants being staffed to them are newly-hired, junior consultants with limited experience, or a long-term team member, with ample experience. Consulting firms who attempt to disguise the background and experience of the consultants they staff so they can justify a higher hourly rate are doing a disservice to their clients.
Consulting firms need to stop hiding behind the thinly veiled excuse of “Well, we have the experience so trust us,” and start demonstrating in a measurable way to their clients why they should place their trust in them. After all, we’ve found ways to measurably review Uber drivers, restaurants, and just about any product you buy through Amazon, why not consulting firms?