One of the benefits of bringing a consultant or interim manager into your organisation, apart from expanding resources temporarily to achieve some critical objective, is that you can gain a new perspective on an issue.

I attended an Institute of Interim Management event last week about the new Agency Worker Regulations (main message: don’t panic, so long as you know what you’re doing and ensure everything is documented, all will be well) and was struck by a remark made by Clive Sexton of Veredus in describing the current interim manager market. He said “Employers are no longer seeking a safe pair of hands but a fresh pair of eyes”, thus making the point that innovation and change are the key requirements today in a successful business.

Of course the person who has safe hands and a keen ability to observe and identify solutions and opportunities is the perfect combination and it is for the commissioning organisation to encourage contribution even outside the specific contractual remit.

But it’s not just consultants and interims whose views should be encouraged and listened to. Organisations, and in particular voluntary organisations, with their unique mix of service users, donors, staff, trustees and volunteers can gain so much from actively seeking the ideas and views of the people most closely connected with them; and from doing it proactively on a regular basis.

Often it is only in times of major change, such as restructuring, when individuals across the organisation are consulted (and often only because it is legally required if jobs are likely to be affected). Outgoing employees may have an exit interview with HR and, from time to time, the organisation may arrange a staff satisfaction survey to check how things are going. During an annual appraisal interview there may be the opportunity to harvest some ideas and thoughts from the appraisee (though few appraisal systems are structured to encourage these contributions).

And yet, it is at the point of joining an organisation that the individual’s perspective is at its freshest and most acute and before the newcomer has become acclimatised and fully inducted it could be really useful to gather their first thoughts and ideas on what works well and what doesn’t. Sometimes people will be reluctant to provide honest feedback in case they will be thought disloyal or negative, especially when they’re still in their probationary period, and it’s in the interests of the organisation to be open and encouraging and to create a climate of Appreciative Inquiry in all its conversations. Innovation is not a natural by-product of fear.

New ideas and creative solutions to long standing problems are invaluable in moving an organisation forward. Successful leaders know how to keep an open mind in considering options, and hearing the views of people not so steeped in the complexities or history of the organisation can bring new insights. It is well worth spending some time working out the best ways to do this and how to make it a formal part of the planning process.

Innovation is becoming more and more crucial to organisational success and the challenge is how to embed innovation in the daily processes rather than it being a bolt-on when there’s some spare time (when is there ever spare time?).

So, some suggestions:

1. Listen to the views of the newcomers.
2. Plan how to listen to your people even after they stop being new.
3. Encourage them to think afresh about how the work is done and to fight against a culture of complacency.
4. Reward thoughtful questioning and communicate clearly your expectation that people will offer active and positive suggestions of how to change things for the better.

In fact, treat them as if they are consultants who bring with them a fresh pair of eyes.