Five reasons why companies need to hire Subject Matter Experts

Consultants are as much a staple in the marketplace as coffee in a cafe. However the word ‘consultants’ as we know it usually refers to management consultants. While widely accepted in management there are other areas of business that benefit from temporary expertise. A competitive marketplace calls for creative solutions for problems arising in research and development. Usually, the solution lies in staffing the right individual.

There are a number of other reasons why a company might hire a subject matter expert on a project basis, here are a few to start:

1) Analytical horsepower

Your project needs to move forward and for that to happen you simply need to expand your skillset and knowledge base. You have an excellent in house team, but hiring a research expert to move a project forward can shave months or years off the development of your new product. Perhaps you have piles of data that requires analysis, a proposal that needs to be written, or other projects not coming off the ground because you do not have sufficient man-hours to cover it. In many organizations these needs change cyclically, which means that you will never hire a full time research associate, but there are time during the year when you would be grateful to have one.

A subject matter expert can help on projects lasting from a day to months or years. Imagine how much you can accomplish if you hire a researchers for e.g., data mining and analytics, primary market research, or project management. Kolabtree makes it possible to hire highly qualified individuals on a project basis.

 

2) Staff augmentation

Partially explained in the first point, you may have staffing needs that are short to medium term in length because of internal factors such as recent down sizings, or sudden expansion. Hiring a researcher in this situation bridges the gap you experience by filling the role of a full time employee, but for a limited period of time. With Kolabtree it is possible to hire a researcher who is an expert in the subject area you require on a project basis. Perhaps your organization does not have a dedicated R&D department, and relying on a flexible R&D workforce can provide your organization with on demand R&D.

 

3) External change force

When driving change, proposing a new research direction for a project, or when moving a project forward it can be helpful to have external expertise to back up your position. Operational or strategic shifts in projects often meet with resistance, and the advise from a recognized research expert in the appropriate field can help push a project from undesirable to executed.

 

4) Best practices

Researchers who consult have likely seen a range of projects and have accumulated experience in a specific subject area. You can benefit from this deep level of expertise as researchers with this wide scope of experience across industries and companies can spot best practises across projects and sectors. These professionals are more likely to spot effective solutions to the problems you are facing, as they likely encountered similar challenges before.

 

5) Fresh perspective

Last but certainly not least: you can benefit from fresh perspective on a project. Research professionals are analytical, meticulous and detail oriented. With a fresh set of eyes they can spot the problems in your project that you have missed being immersed in it. Research professionals can provide critical perspectives and contribute to improving analysis and measurement of your data.

 

6) Transfer skills and educate

Subject matter experts can provide lasting benefits by offering their expertise and in the process train some of your full time team members. When hiring a researcher with deep knowledge of a particular area, you are temporarily and permanently augmenting the skills available in your organization.

 In summary

Hiring a highly skilled researcher to contribute on a project, or run the entire project. Whether that be contract research and running experiments, to editing and drafting experimental designs. Kolabtree makes it easy to connect highly educated research professionals to your specialized R&D projects.