How interims and big consultancy firms can work together for the greater good

It’s not uncommon for businesses to turn to large consultancy firms or interim executives to navigate complex situations. But there are circumstances when using both simultaneously can be beneficial, as transformation specialist Siva Shankar explains.

If you’re considering external expertise, experienced interims and consultancy firms have their unique distinct advantages.

Although seemingly more expensive, big consultancy firms have the reputation, strategic expertise, comprehensive frameworks, and deep-pocket resources to tackle many challenges. It is often said that you will get one less question from your investors if they know that a big-four consultancy is in place.

An interim, on the other hand, can be more cost-effective, can hit the ground running, and will have years of in-depth operational experience. Typically, they’re used to being parachuted into businesses during times of change and stress. They rapidly adapt to new environments and are good at quickly grasping the intricacies of situations.

In particular, interims can quickly gain a holistic view, uncovering deeper problems across functions, and help the leadership team prioritise accordingly, and support them with managing delivery.

But it doesn’t have to be an either-or scenario.

Best for the client. 

As an Interim Manager I’ve been involved in some situations where I’ve advised clients to bring in a consultancy firm and we’ve then worked symbiotically, and I have walked the client through how this would result in a better solution through combining the distinct advantages of interims and big consultancy firms. 

For example, I was brought into a client who was grappling with a very tight working capital situation amongst other challenges. Investors and management believed it was “very difficult but manageable”. Further to analysis and forecasting based on probable scenarios, I concluded it was more serious and that a more fundamental rethink was needed regarding the financing of the business. However, given the history of the business and the complexity of the financing in place, there was the likelihood of significant equity dilution as a result but would provide vital headroom for the business to be navigated through its challenges. Progressing this thinking that would entail some “pain” for stakeholders, I suggested bringing in a big-four consultancy firm to kick the tyres on proposed refinancing options. I worked together with them, they conducted more wide-ranging analysis and came to the same conclusion. 

For some clients, it can also be about having validation from a reputable consultancy before making radical changes

Justifying major change. 

In another scenario, I was brought in to help a company facing business-critical risks due to a rapid major systems rollout across multiple countries that had developed major issues from launch. I developed a dashboard from the tens of thousands of lines of systems data being received daily, used the dashboard to keep the leadership updated daily on the situation across a multi-national footprint, got buy-in for putting boots on the ground to stem the blood-loss, while fundamental “repairs” were commenced. 

However, this was an extremely complex stakeholder environment with vested interests and invested political capital, with some powerful individuals feeling severely exposed and therefore not always “helpful”. I recommended bringing in a well-known consultancy firm with expertise in systems rescue to support and reinforce this vital project. They were able to use the framework that I had already set in place together with the overarching diagnostic and monitoring dashboard I had built. However, with a “blue chip” consultancy firm now on board, the few disruptors to the process quickly withdrew from the scene. This helped deliver a successful rescue and stabilisation of the new systems in a symbiotic interim-consultancy firm partnership. 

For some clients, it can also be about having validation from a reputable consultancy before making radical changes. On one assignment, I could see following detailed analysis of business performance and positioning in a highly competitive sector, that a substantial part of the business wasn’t competitively viable in its current form – and would require fundamental and very painful restructuring to create viability for a significant part of the business offering but would inevitably also require some parts of the business to be discontinued.

It doesn’t matter how experienced or persuasive you are as an interim, it would take an extraordinarily brave CEO or board to go ahead with such a painful decision based on the say-so of one person. So having that consultancy firm, who everyone’s heard of, come in and validate the above, provided the cast-iron justification for very painful steps to be taken.

Agreeing the way forward. 

When interims and consultancies do work together, it’s important that terms of engagement are set out to avoid inefficient overlap and make sure each party’s skills complement the other. 

A key role of the interim will be to leverage the understanding they already have of the organisation, in terms of its culture and organisational nuances. Sometimes you get big ticket consultants who don’t yet have the organisation specific knowledge to navigate what can be complex organisational dynamics. In a symbiotic partnership, while the big consultancy firm frames and articulates compelling rationale for a radical restructuring or transformation, the interim can support the generation of a workable implementation plan based on their deeper knowledge of organisational capability and culture, manage critical relationships, and secure quick wins. 

For example, I once stepped in and stopped a senior big firm consultant from going directly to speak to a head of country about a relatively minor aspect of a transformation plan without “bothering” the regional head. However, due to knowledge of the culture in that part of the world and the organisation, I knew the regional head had to be included in the discussions, however minor the detail, otherwise the whole thing would get off on the wrong foot with a regional head who would have “lost face”. 

Interims are typically brought in when there’s trouble. Our job is to get the client through their challenges in the best way possible. Sometimes that necessitates a broader solution with an interim and consultancy firm working symbiotically.