All too often companies hire outside consultants to suggest ways for the company to operate more efficiently If companies were to spend more time listening to their own employees such consultants would be unnecessary Write a response in which you discuss

Some might claim that companies hiring outside consultants to suggest ways for these companies to operate more efficiently is unnecessary if these companies could instead spend more time to listening to their own employees. However, complex issues such as this one are rarely black and white. While there are advantages and disadvatages to both sides of this issue, I believe that companies hiring outside consultants while listening to their own employees is far much better than pursuing either initiative alone.
-
—
There are several upsides for companies to listen to their own employees instead of hiring outside consultants. Firstly, doing so would save companies a lot of money. Saving money from not needing to hire outside consultants would lead to decreased costs and increased profits, which could be reinvested in a company's product and people. More money could be spent on product innovation and differentiation, thus increasing product quality which consumers could benefit from. Better products mean higher customer satisfaction, increased word of mouth about the product, and even more revenue for the company. Decreased spending on consultants could also mean more money can be spent on the company's people maybe more money is invested in diversity and inclusion groups, education budgets, and wellness programs. This will lead to happier employees who will then perform better, get promoted, and increase their salaries. This increase in salaries can lead to higher income tax revenue for the government, which could then be reinvested in the citiziens of the country leading to happier and healthier citizens. Secondly, companies listening to their own employees instead of outside consultants could mean better advice on how the company can operate more efficiently, because these employees know the business inside and out. As such, the company can increase their operational efficiencies, further decrease costs, and increase profits. Again, the company would then be able to invest these higher profits back into the product and its people. Moreover, companies listening to their own people will lead to employees feeling heard, feeling fulfilled, and thus becoming more motivated to work more, which will lead to higher profits for the company (with more motivated employees).
On the other side of the coin, there are several upsides for companies to hire outside consultants instead of listening to their own employees to think of ways to operate more efficiently. First, consultants bring a wealth of expertise to the company with their fresh new set of eyes. These consultants won't bring any biases based on how operations currently or used to work at the company - thus, these consultants can come up with better ideas than the employees themselves. Also, if the company is a startup and doesn't have someone leading operations, then hiring a consultant will bring that missing skillset to the company. As such, companies with outside consultants can increase operations successfully, increase their revenue, and increase their profits. As such, companies can invest these increased profits back into the product and people. Companies can create new product lines or hire new personnel, such as an operations person, or even a company events person to increase employee satisfaction. Moreover, companies listening to their own employees instead of hiring outside consultants can prevent potential company espionage. There may be malicious consultants hired by competitors. If these consultants gave away intellectual property to competitors, companies may lose their shares of the market, lose profits, and go backrupt. Employees would be let go and investors won't be happy.
All in all, there's no black and white answer to this issue. I believe that if a company has the means to hire outside consultants, they should do so while listening to their own employees to increase the quality of ideas when it comes to brainstorming ways to operate more efficiently. Of course, companies will have to vet these outside consultants to ensure they are not spies from competitors. Once vetted, this compbination of outside expertise coupled with inside insights from current employees will maximize the quality and potentially, the number of great ideas to improve operations. As such, companies can indeed operate more efficiently, decrease costs from smoother operations, and increase profits which can then be invested back into the product and its people.