In a world where we are all watching the stock market rise and fall with bated breath, analytics and data seem all-important and all-consuming. Investors make predictions in light of data-driven insights and past performance. Businesses alter how they interact with audiences based on engagement rates and statistics. People often determine whether or not they should move somewhere, purchase a product, or engage in an opportunity according to projected outcomes.
Everything seems to be driven by the bottom line.
Of course, data, analytics, and statistics are vital tools that businesses must use. How else can companies properly measure and learn from sales, product launches, or engagement efforts?
The problem comes when businesses solely focus on the numbers. When organizations are only concerned about the bottom line, the very tools that help them make informed decisions can be the very ones that steal the life from companies and limit their overall impact.
That’s why a human-centered perspective is important in every field.
Particularly in the consulting industry, taking a human-centered approach is vital in order to achieve long-lasting results. After all, when businesses engage with consultants, it is a very relational experience. Business leaders enter a partnership with an expert, who is going to help them move their business forward by providing solutions, addressing pain points, and creating opportunities for future growth. For the partnership to be successful, both parties must be vulnerable, trust one another, remain true to their missions, compromise where necessary, develop creative methods, and take deliberate action.
The importance of human-centered consulting
Thanks to advances in technology and our ability to connect with others from practically anywhere, people can easily find consulting firms or engage consultants through the gig marketplace. Because so much is available with the click of a button, it can be easy for consulting to fall into the “Bottom Line Trap,” where both business leaders and the consultants they partner with are so committed to achieving measurable results, they inadvertently neglect the relational aspects in business consulting and overall growth.
According to a study from 2020, 7 out of 10 CEOs recognize that the strategies that have driven growth in the past are now “obsolete.” Something must change and business leaders know it.
Human-centered consulting provides businesses with the right person to reorient their perspectives and posture them for growth.
One of the concerns that owners have with a typical consulting engagement is that the consultant will take over their vision and undermine their established culture in order to produce measurable results; however, a human-centered consultant will ensure that they pay attention to the bottom line, but that they also pour their efforts into elevating the business owner’s mission, helping their team, and benefiting their audience.
This type of consulting is still informed by business data, but, instead of strictly focusing on the quantifiable aspects, it allows business leaders and consultants to view one another as human beings who are on the same team. While human-centered consulting uses analytics to measure the consultant’s subsequent results so they can adjust accordingly, it also takes into account the long-term relational value that the consultant’s efforts provide. Ultimately, human-centered consulting benefits businesses, business owners, and consultants because it elevates the most important resource a company has: the people.
For example, a technology consultant may be brought in to improve a telecommunications company and they recognize that the company must improve its cybersecurity. Certainly, with 61% of IoT buyers attesting that “digital trust” and "privacy" are primary factors in their purchase decisions and less than 50% of providers deeming that these elements are critical, this scenario is likely.
The consultant can assess the cybersecurity gaps in the company, strategize solutions for how to fill those gaps and prevent potential data breaches in the future, and then communicate those solutions to the business owner. Because the consultant has a human-centered perspective, they will ensure that their efforts are aligned with the business owner’s mission and posture the team toward that vision. Instead of viewing the team in light of whether or not they meet the bottom line, the consultant can also determine and suggest ways that the members of the team will function best. They can highlight pitfalls that undermine team unity to the business owner and offer solutions to avoid them.
Furthermore, the consultant can ensure that the business’s emphasis on cybersecurity and data protection is effectively communicated to the business’s existing customers and determine ways to share it with a wider audience. This will ultimately strengthen consumers’ trust in the business and result in higher sales, more referrals from existing customers, and increased loyalty. Although the quantitative data will show a business’s growth in numbers due to these changes, the consultant recognizes those numbers are just the numerical representation of more people enjoying worry-free communication, stronger relationships, and a maximized ability to earn an education or livelihood.
What’s the bottom line?
Human-centered consulting acknowledges that consultants are not just offering strategies to a company in exchange for money, they are providing insights that help the company strengthen relationships with its team and those it serves. This allows the company to yield better results and increase its capital.
Regardless of the industry, utilizing human-centered consulting is how businesses can move beyond the bottom line and reach new heights.
