What Is Management Consulting?

For over 40 years, IRI Consultants and Projections have empowered organizations to navigate workplace challenges, manage labor relations, improve employee engagement and productivity, and implement effective communication strategies in order to achieve their business and advocacy goals. 

Furthermore, we've specialized in management consulting. Management consultants focus specifically on helping leaders more efficiently and effectively manage everything from internal and external communications to corporate campaign tactics to stay union-free. It's important to understand the type of consulting that best fits your specific needs because not all management consultant services are the same. We are going to share a thorough explanation of what management consulting is, and what these types of consultants specialize in.

What is Management Consulting? 

Exactly what is management consulting? A short definition provided by Human Resources MBA says, "Management consultants are trained experts who solve complex business problems, devise invaluable strategies, and improve the financial and operational health of a client's organization. Management consultants are responsible for helping a company find solutions to its problems and create real long-term value for the business." Management consulting is primarily concerned with strategy, structure, management, and company operations. The Glassdoor job description provides a more in-depth explanation.   

#Management #consulting is primarily concerned with strategy, structure, management, and company operations. Consultants help organizations create #value, maximize #growth, and improve #business #performance.

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Management consultants are responsible for helping organizations solve issues, create value, maximize growth and improve business performance. They are deeply skilled in business and provide objective advice and expertise and help an organization develop any specialist skills that it may be lacking. Management consultants understand situational interpretations and analyze data to identify and understand challenges. Management consultants can work in a variety of industries, including banking, healthcare, or engineering. 

This expanded definition is more thorough and addresses the fact that each organization has specific situations, scenarios, and challenges needing expert and objective input. Objectivity combined with deep business skills is the value-producing formula. 

Management consulting can refer to a single consultant or a consulting team. The single consultant may be the person interfacing directly with the organization, but a high-quality consulting service has a network of expert support, i.e., researchers, data analystsunion organizing experts, Human Resources specialists, communication specialists, web developers, etc. Access to a network of specialists ensures your business gets exactly what it needs to resolve problems or meet challenges.   

management consulting

What Does a Management Consultant Do? 

Management consulting is a collective term, meaning it covers a broad range of services. The service can help organizations build and retain positive employee relations, improve employee engagement, manage labor relations and implement effective communication strategies to achieve their business and advocacy goals, to name a few options. The specific steps the consultant takes depend on the mutually agreed-upon goals.  

Some of the typical activities of the management consultant include, but are not limited, to the following.  

  • Identify potential employee relations vulnerabilities 
  • Identify leader and employee communication gaps and the best path to closing those gaps 
  • Conduct union vulnerability assessments 
  • Develop and/or implement union avoidance tools 
  • Design corporate labor campaigns 
  • Develop leaders at all levels, including frontline managers, in communication skills  
  • Discover and address specific employee training needs, like safety 
  • Develop strategies for employee engagement 
  • Build a culture with intent 
  • Assess reasons for high turnover and develop an action plan 
  • Develop employee and leadership videos, website, and eLearning strategies and tools 
  • Conduct industry and competitive research 
  • Improve communication with the public 
  • Develop a digital communication plan 

The list could go on and on because the answer to the question "What does a management consultant do?" depends on the reason the consultant was retained. Think of the management consultant as a problem solver of complex business challenges. The goal of management consulting is to improve overall organizational performance by tackling specific challenges to help your business achieve its organizational purposes.  

The purpose of a #consulting firm is to bring expertise to your company. It could be expertise in a particular area, like union avoidance or leadership communication improvement. #managementconsulting #consultingfirms

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What Is The Purpose of a Consulting Firm? 

The bottom line purpose of a consulting firm is to bring expertise to your company. It could be expertise in a particular area, like union avoidance or leadership communication improvement. The expertise may be in conflict or crisis management, improving a toxic culture, management coaching, negotiating a first-time collective bargaining agreement, contract analysis, or media relations 

Management consultants: 

  • Are strategic thinkers who understand the complexity of the workplace and interpersonal relationships 
  • Understand leadership challenges 
  • Comprehend strategy development, implementation, and execution 
  • Know how to identify problems and develop solutions 
  • Have a process improvement mindset 
  • Can do critical research based on needs and turn raw data into actionable intelligence for decision-makers 
  • Develop employee engagement tools 
  • Identify needed employee communication tools and resources 
  • Develop leadership training initiatives and resources 
  • Access a wide network of expert resources cultivated over time 
  • Develop and conduct the appropriate risk and vulnerability assessments 
  • Work as team members  

Organizational leaders are frequently too close to the challenges they must meet. They have difficulty stepping back and making an objective assessment. Your leaders may be uncertain about the right approach to take to problem solve. In some cases, it is simply there is not enough available time to properly address issues. They may also be dealing with a situation they have never dealt with before, like a union organizing campaign.

Management Consulting Firms

Delivering What Your Organization Needs 

What does a management consultant do? The consultant does what your organization needs to do. The key is to find the management consulting firm that can deliver the advice and resources that best fit your needs. The firm you choose, like Projections, should speak from a position of authority gained through experience across industries. 

You need to look for: 

  • Type of products and services offered 
  • Proven experience  
  • Positive reputation 
  • A strong network of resources 
  • Proven results 
  • Adaptability and innovativeness 
  • Proven diversity in thought and approaches 
  • Honesty in actions and relationships 

IRI and Projections are proud to be able to offer support for a multitude of issues facing organizations today. From labor relations and negotiations strategy, to leadership training and coaching, and internal and employee communications. Whether you need help with management consulting or need to increase employee engagement and retention, our team of professionals would love to talk and find a solution that's right for you. Let our experience support your positive employee relations strategy!

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