Workforce Prospective Articles

If your business is overloaded with work, or faced with a project that your staff doesn't have the know-how to complete, you may consider hiring a consultant to save the day. And while consultants can offer many benefits, it's important to look before you leap.

When should you hire a consultant? There are two primary reasons:

• If you have too many projects but not enough manpower. (Especially if you know the overload is only temporary.)
• When you have a problem or a project that is beyond the knowledge and experience of your staff. For example, if you want to start a website for your company but no one on staff has web development experience.

Some topics you should consider before hiring a consultant include:

• Cost Efficiency: Does the cost of the consultant outweigh the cost of doing work in-house? Instead of just comparing an employee's salary against a consultant's rate, keep other costs in mind, including benefits (worker's comp, benefits, overtime wages, etc.) and overhead costs (space, equipment, etc.).
• Need: Does the consultant have expertise that your staff cannot provide? Your employees may have untapped skills, or even untapped time.
• Duration: Consultants are great for short-term projects, but costs can rise if extra time is needed. If you're faced with a long-term project (for example, a company website), consider having the consultant lay the groundwork then train existing staff how to continue the project.
• Project requirements: Check your project contract for any worker-related constraints. For example, if you are working on a City of Phoenix project, affirmative action requirements exists.

Finally, if you decide to move forward and hire a consultant, be sure to create a contract that declares exactly what services the consultant will provide, payment details, length of contract, and which party is responsible for expenses (consultants usually pay their own). That way, if the relationship turns sour, you'll have a legal leg to stand on.

For more details about hiring consultants, check out the following links:

• Why Hire a Consultant (Expert Pages)
• How to Hire a Consultant (eHow)
• What Are the Key Elements of an Agreement with an Independent Contractor? (AllBusiness.com)
• Employer Beware: Employee or Contractor? (Office World News)
• Independent Contractor (Self-Employed) or Employee? (Internal Revenue Service)