Facilitation – When to Outsource?
It isn’t untypical for organisations to assume that all in-house programs should be facilitated internally by their People and Culture or Training, Learning and Development businesses. I mean, this certainly forms part of their role, and they often have sound skills and capabilities in this area of work. They understand the business they partner with, and their client needs. Undeniably, they have also built trusted relationships with their business partners, often making sensitive and delicate situations less confronting. Acknowledging all of this, why would organisations choose to engage with an “external” facilitator? What does an external facilitator offer, that your internal partners cannot?
Time is Everything!!
Often an organisation’s People and Culture and Training, Learning and Development businesses have numerous key deliverables that are both urgent and take priority. Facilitation of key corporate programs, focus groups or even workplace investigations take an enormous amount of planning, structuring and time. As a previous Head of People and Culture, I highly appreciated the time and effort that teams would put into creating and developing the most engaging and creative workshops and business planning sessions. However, I also acknowledged that the time spent on these activities would equate to time away from their business partners and matters of critical importance, often tied to a strategic partner role. In some situations, a few hours in a day, to a whole day of facilitation and often days across an entire week. In my view, outsourcing facilitation is often money well spent. It introduces expertise into your organisation, whilst allowing your internal specialists to focus on their outcomes and their client’s needs.
How do external facilitators get the best outcome when they don’t understand our organisation intimately?
This is a great question and within the rights of any organisation to ponder. Undoubtedly, any internal employee will have a more intimate knowledge of the organization they work for. The strong understanding and appreciation for its’ culture, workings and leadership will be more proficient than that of an external facilitator or consultant. However, a good external consultant will make it their priority to familiarise themselves with the business they will be facilitating for. As a facilitator who regularly works with differing organisations, across varied industries, I make it my point to become knowledgeable about the “way things are done” in the organisations I work with. It is highly beneficial for me to understand the way the leaders inspire, what motivates and engages employees, how decisions are made and what is important to their clients. These factors, overlaying the projects/programs, specific expectations and key deliverables, enable external facilitators/consultants to closely align with and replicate the “style” of their client.
Impartiality is a Game Changer!
Whilst familiarity and knowledge can build trust and partnerships quickly, it can also be an obstruction or inhibitor to honesty and allowing employees to “let their guard down”. Focus groups are a powerful and engaging way to invite employees to share what their employer is doing really well, where they can lift their game and encourage them to ponder and explore alternate ways and strategies to drive the business forward. In focus group settings, participants will often feel more comfortable to express their raw and honest thoughts and recommendations when it is an external facilitator running the workshops. Why? The perception is that the facilitator is taking an unbiased approach to the feedback. There are no pre-conceived ideas about the outcome, and minimal insight into what may or may not have happened in the past. An external facilitator will often bring fresh perspectives to the table.
Having facilitated many focus groups in the past, I have seen some real culture change and shifts in the way businesses lead and manage, through the constructive feedback received and reported from engaging and tightly facilitated focus groups. These types of changes can really make the difference between semi functioning to good and then, good to great!
Finally, from time to time, employee disputes and misconduct occurs within the workplace. They can often be complicated, personal and challenging to resolve in-house. If the process is not resolved thoroughly and without perceived bias towards either the complainant or the accused employee, continued workplace problems and unnecessary costs to the employer may occur. Outsourcing workplace investigations, such as bullying, harassment, discrimination and fraud to an independent specialist is an efficient and cost-effective option.
All in all, there is no disputing that internal knowledge and skill is a true asset to any organisation. It is crucial however, to review facilitation of workshops, focus groups, planning sessions and workplace investigations in light of time, expertise, impartiality and fresh thinking. Choosing an external facilitator may just be the magic to initiate the desired shift in your organisational culture, as well as a thankful time saver to your internal support teams.