Methodical Approach to Evaluating the Effectiveness of Consulting

Abstract

The effectiveness of external consulting for road construction companies is considered. It was found out that the companies-clients of consulting, as a party of consulting interaction, need practical convenient tools for evaluating the effectiveness of the ordered consulting services. It is determined that the effectiveness of consulting should not be assessed by two indicators of the ratio of results to goals — efficiency and results to costs — efficiency. The third equally important indicator for assessing effectiveness is the indicator of expediency as the ratio of the established purpose of consulting to the problems of the enterprise, which company-client identifies and plans to solve with the help of consulting. Thus, the first step in consulting interaction for the customer is to diagnose his problems by interviewing staff at all levels. This parameter determines the features of the industry in which the company operates, because the problems of each industry, their structure are specific. The goal is calculated by an integrated indicator based on the desired growth rates of the main performance indicators for the customer. The ratio of the set goal to the problems of the enterprise determines the feasibility. Two other parameters that allow in addition to the feasibility of calculating efficiency and effectiveness are cost and result. The latter is also an integral parameter based on the growth rate of the actual performance of the enterprise after the implementation of consulting services. Thus, the performance indicator as a ratio of results to goals allows you to determine how effective external consulting is precisely on the basis of achieving the set goals. The cost-effectiveness indicator is traditional and is defined as the ratio of the result to the cost of consulting. The cost parameter is proposed to be determined taking into account not only the payment of the consultant for the work performed, but also the exposure — the level of interaction between the customer and the consultant, and the probability that the consultant’s recommendations will be implemented by the customer. The level of consulting efficiency is determined by the above three indicators as critical, sufficient or high. Interpretation of the three-component model for evaluating the effectiveness of consulting services is based on the criteria and qualitative characteristics of these indicators.