Although there has been a long debate and discussion surrounding why companies hire and work with consultants, consultants bring a lot of value to companies, and hiring them could grow your business exponentially.

One of the key benefits of hiring a consultant is that they bring an unbiased, outside eye to your business and whatever problem you may currently be experiencing. It’s hard to see and solve problems when you either close to the problem or heavily invested in the solution and a particular solution. Consultants bring fresh eyes, fresh perspectives, and opinions—experience and vetted experience—to the table. Hiring consultants can often lead to new ideas, business strategies, and an overall refresh to your business and your work environment.

Hiring and training full-time staff can be quite the undertaking, and it can be costly and hiring consultants can help you manage your workload, achieve a goal and grow your business without completely overloading or burdening your employees. Highly specified skills and expertise are hard to find, expensive to hire, and expensive to maintain. If there is a job that requires a very specific skill or set of skills consultants are not just cheaper to hire, they are trained to adapt and adjust quickly thus being more efficient and effective at completely particular tasks. This saves you time and money while accomplishing the necessary goal.

Companies have also been known to use consultants to create a safety zone or environment in their workspace. They will hire consultants to do emotionally high tasks such as firing someone, preparing the company for a merger with a lot of moments or potential layoffs, or as a backup when pitching a new idea. This allows companies to maintain a united work culture while still moving forward in business.

While there are many things to consider when hiring a consultant, just remember that they are there to work with you and are designed to solve a problem. Although they are designed to be temporary, they can add so much value to your company if used correctly.