Procurement Perspectives: A guide to hiring a professional consultant

When hiring for professional services, if the first problem is knowing what kind of advice to seek, the second relates to drawing up specifications to use in retaining suitable consultants. In the procurement of services, the specifications for the proposed work constitute an important control mechanism.

As I will explain in detail below, a good rule of thumb is to define a problem that is to be solved in the specifications, rather than to try to dictate the kind of solution that the consultant should employ. The onus should be placed on the consultant to provide what is, in fact, a professional opinion that the service provided will be suited to the problem. A serious risk to avoid in drawing up an RFP for consultants is that of over-specification.

A further problem arises at the evaluation stage: in identifying the firm that is best capable of meeting the specific needs of a municipal client. There is surprisingly little material on the subject in the business literature. As I have previously discussed, in order to preserve the integrity of the competitive process, it is imperative that evaluation of proposals be undertaken objectively, consistently and without bias for or against individual suppliers. Transparency requires that proposals be measured against a predetermined set of criteria, according to the scoring criteria (and weighting of criteria) specified in the RFP documentation.

Since the need for consulting services very often cannot be identified in advance, many municipalities seek to retain a firm that can offer “full service” which can serve as a one-stop shop.

This approach presents two obvious problems. First, many types of professional practice have very little application in the municipal sector. Second, many “boutique” consultancy firms offer much better services in their limited fields of business than are offered by so-called full service firms. The appropriate criteria of assessment vary from one contract to another. Relevant considerations in choosing professional consultant might include the following:

Relevant Experience

In relation to the work to be done, and also with respect to municipal sector or the wider public sector.

Track Record

The degrees of success experienced by other organizations which hired each prospective consultant in carrying out work of similar scope and complexity on the projects concerned.

Understanding the Municipal Environment

There are obvious and very important differences between a private sector and public authority such as a municipality.

Professional Qualifications

A person must be a qualified lawyer to provide legal advice, a qualified accountant to provide accounting advice, etc. There is a tendency at the moment towards credentialism: the belief that unless a person has a suitable degree, they cannot become proficient in the field. Generally, this is untrue, but the presence of a suitable list of credentials certainly helps to substantiate that advice is being given by a competent authority.

Sensitivity to Environmental Conditions

A real grasp of drivers, values, sensitivities etc., and what they mean.

Value Added

Does the consultant offer new ideas and perspectives beyond those already available to the municipality. For instance, does the consultant ask questions that really make clients think?

Capability

Previous research experience, publication record, reputation within the profession, staffing support, presence of other back-up facilities for big projects.

Methodology

Different methodologies are suited to different types of research and report. They generate different types of result and offer different perspectives. A person who lacks suitable experience in the use of the preferred methodology is likely incapable of providing the information needed by the municipality, even if highly trained in the general subject of concern.