It is always an interesting topic to discuss the needs of capable human resources and its availability in the market. In every field of business, the key to success of a company depends on whether the company is run or supported by good pool of human resources. This is important particularly in the service industry where its revenue depends much on the performance of its employees.
We often think that there is mismatch between the qualification of new graduates and the industry’s requirements. In a fast-changing environment, such as Information Technology, there are gaps between what industries currently do and the curriculum that students take. As a result, new graduates are not immediately ready to contribute to the business world. They need to be trained which takes time and resources.
In IT consultancy business, this has become a great challenge. With the fast-changing development in technology, consultants are required to have capability to learn new things/skills fast.
So what are actually needed of a good ERP Consultant? But before we touch this topic, I would like to recommend you to read my previous blog on the difference between ERP Consultant and ERP Implementer. ERP Consultant vs ERP Implementer.). I often interview candidates for ERP Consultant position in our company.
Most of them have gone through few cycles of ERP implementation, and hence they possess good technical knowledge of ERP. But having technical knowledge only does not guarantee us to become a good consultant where expectations from clients are high. There are other skills that are required, such as:
1. Communication Skill, There are many smart consultants that lack adequate communication skills. Often this results in misunderstandings among team members or even with the clients. In ERP project, clarity is very important to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings which can cause delays or other negative consequemces.
2. Negotiation Skill, A good consultant must possess negotiation skill as well. Consultants are faced with difficult situation/dilemma where he or she has to convince ideas among other interests without appearing too “pushy”
A consultant needs to master and understand the business process of the client. The more projects the consultants undergo the more experiences/knowledge he/she has in terms of business processes. Clients demand consultant that not only understands their business processes but also has capability to offer new ideas as well as solution to their problems.
The following illustrates what skills consultants need to learn in order for them to offer values to their clients.
