Which Type of Consultant Should You Hire? 9 Types of Consulting Compared, and Strategy vs IT vs HR Consulting

Executives facing problems like "the team is slow" or "costs are high but work isn't moving" often start by contacting a consulting firm they know. What is rarely said is that the answer you get depends on who you ask. Not because anyone is dishonest, but because each type of consultant is built to deliver something different. This article explains this phenomenon using well-established consulting concepts, compares the three types of consultants executives hesitate over most, and maps all 9 types of consultants so you can choose correctly the first time.

Why the answer depends on who you ask: 3 concepts that explain it

1. The Law of the Instrument

The philosopher Abraham Kaplan named this idea in 1964, and the psychologist Abraham Maslow put it memorably in 1966: if the only tool you have is a hammer, it is tempting to treat everything as if it were a nail. The idea describes the consulting industry precisely: the expertise, teams and products a firm has shape the lens through which it sees a problem. A firm with a systems implementation team sees problems as systems problems first; a firm with training programs sees problems as skills problems first; and strategy consultants have a hammer of their own: they tend to see problems as calling for more analysis or restructuring. All of this is a result of structure, not intent.

2. Buying expertise or buying diagnosis

MIT professor Edgar Schein divided consultant–client relationships into 3 models. In the purchase-of-expertise model, the client diagnoses the problem and buys a solution, which works when the diagnosis is correct. In the doctor–patient model, the consultant diagnoses and prescribes treatment, which is risky if the doctor has only one kind of medicine to offer. And in process consultation, the consultant helps the organization see the problem for itself and own the solution. Hiring IT or HR Consulting directly is usually the first model, which is appropriate once you are confident in your own diagnosis.

3. Brains, Grey Hair and Procedure work

David Maister, an expert on managing professional service firms, classified consulting work by how new the problem is. Brains work is a new, complex problem that requires original thinking. Grey Hair work is a problem others have faced before and that calls for experience. Procedure work is a problem whose solution is already known and that needs efficient execution. Most system implementations and standard training programs are Procedure work, which is excellent value when the problem is clear. But if the problem is not yet clear, what you need first is Brains or Grey Hair work that helps define the problem correctly.

Comparing the 3 types executives hesitate over: Strategy, IT and HR

Example: a slow team, three consultants, three answers

Suppose your operations team regularly delivers late. IT Consulting will see old systems and scattered data, and propose a new system or ERP. HR or Training Consulting will see a team without enough skills, and propose a skills development program. Either answer may be right, but both may be wrong if the real root cause lies elsewhere.

Common causes of low productivity that are not systems or skills

• —Redundant approval steps. Work waits for signatures longer than it takes to do.
• —Unclear accountability. Work falls between departments because nobody owns it.
• —Conflicting KPIs. Each department follows its own KPIs, which pull against each other.
• —Work tied to individuals. There is no SOP, so when a key person is on leave, work stops.
• —Duplicate data entry. The same figures are entered several times in several files.
• —Genuinely insufficient skills. In this case, training is the right answer.

Different causes need different solutions. If you buy an ERP before fixing the approval steps, you get the same slow process, just in a more expensive system. Diagnosis must come before prescription, the same principle as Schein's doctor–patient model.

A map of 9 types of consultants: what question each one answers

The International Labour Organization (ILO) defines management consulting as an independent professional advisory service that helps managers and organizations achieve their goals by solving management problems, discovering new opportunities, enhancing learning and implementing changes. In practice, the consulting market splits into several types according to the questions each is best at answering:

The firm's business model also shapes its advice

Besides the type of work, the adviser's business model also determines which solutions tend to be proposed.

• —Large global strategy consulting firms focus on top-management problems, with large teams, high standards and correspondingly high fees.
• —Large accounting and advisory firms (such as the Big Four) offer many services under one roof, from accounting, tax and risk to technology. Many countries have independence rules that restrict certain consulting services for clients whose accounts the firm audits.
• —Boutique firms go deep in one area or one industry, with small teams that work closely with the client.
• —System or training vendors that bundle consulting charge low or no consulting fees, but their advice usually leads to their own products, per the Law of the Instrument.
• —Independent consultants are flexible and affordable, but quality depends on a single person.

Examples of firms in each group in Thailand, with their strengths, budgets and the problems they suit, are in our comparison of business consulting firms in Thailand.

What a good consultant should deliver

Arthur Turner wrote in the Harvard Business Review in 1982 that consulting has 8 hierarchical purposes: providing information, solving the problem as defined by the client, making a diagnosis that may lead to redefining the problem, making recommendations based on the diagnosis, assisting with implementation, building consensus and commitment, facilitating client learning, and permanently improving organizational effectiveness. The step most often skipped is step 3, diagnosis. Consultants with ready-made solutions tend to start at solving the problem as defined by the client, or skip straight to implementation, which works only when the problem has already been defined correctly.

When to hire which type of consultant

Hire IT Consulting directly when

• —You already know you need to change or add a system, and you know what the system must do
• —Your work processes are already clear and you just need tools to support them
• —You need someone to implement, integrate and maintain systems over the long term

Hire HR or Training Consulting directly when

• —You already know the problem is people's skills, not systems or structure
• —You need training programs, competency assessments or leadership development programs
• —Your organizational structure and roles are already clear

Start with Strategy Consulting when

• —You are not sure what the real problem is and can only see the symptoms
• —The problem cuts across several functions and cannot be solved by one department alone
• —You are about to make a major investment and want to be sure it goes to the right place
• —You need help prioritizing what to fix first and how much spending is worthwhile

5 questions to check whether a consultant's advice is impartial

Whatever type of consultant you are talking to, the answers to these questions tell you whether they are solving your problem or selling what they already have.

• —Do they ask about your business goals before proposing a solution? Consultants who propose a solution in the very first meeting have usually not yet diagnosed the problem.
• —Do they offer more than one option? With the pros, cons and costs of each.
• —If the best option is not what they sell, do they say so? Ask them directly in which cases they would not recommend their own services.
• —Is the proposal tied to their own licenses or training programs? If it is, get a second opinion before deciding.
• —How do they measure success? By business results, or just by finishing the installation and completing the training?

Where NXT fits in this picture

NXT Consulting Group is a management consulting firm specializing in strategy and evaluation that follows through to implementation, covering corporate strategy, operations, market research, data analytics, AI adoption planning, organizational restructuring and KPIs, and SROI impact measurement. Every engagement starts with diagnosis before proposing a solution. For work outside our expertise, such as ERP implementation, auditing or legal opinions, we tell you plainly and help write the brief for specialists, so you can hire with a clear brief and compare proposals. We work closely with your team, as one team, from day one to delivery.

Tell us about your challenge

References

• —Kaplan, A. (1964). The Conduct of Inquiry: Methodology for Behavioral Science. Chandler.
• —Kubr, M. (Ed.). (2002). Management Consulting: A Guide to the Profession (4th ed.). International Labour Office.
• —Maister, D. H. (1993). Managing the Professional Service Firm. Free Press.
• —Maslow, A. H. (1966). The Psychology of Science: A Reconnaissance. Harper & Row.
• —Schein, E. H. (1999). Process Consultation Revisited: Building the Helping Relationship. Addison-Wesley.
• —Turner, A. N. (1982). Consulting Is More Than Giving Advice. Harvard Business Review, 60(5), 120–129.