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Working with management consultants can accelerate change within your organization—but it also comes with real (and expensive) risks if the fit or approach is wrong. Here’s what to watch for before you sign a contract, as well as key questions to ask when evaluating potential change management partners.
What to Watch Out for When Choosing a Change Management Consultant
- Expensive recommendations that don’t get implemented. Large consulting firms like McKinsey & Company or Boston Consulting Group are happy to provide a polished, 100-page deck with dozens of recommendations, but no plan for actually implementing those recommendations. One client NOBL worked with paid over a million dollars for one of those Big Consulting PowerPoint presentations, and received 30+ recommendations. When they asked what they should prioritize, the consultant told them they’d be happy to assess that—for another million dollar fee.
- “One-size-fits-all” frameworks. Some management consultants rely heavily on standardized methodologies (including popular programs like Prosci) with little room for nuance or organization-specific needs. Or worse, they’ll copy+paste the same “best practices” or recommendations, regardless of the client: NOBL has seen literally the same deck from a Big Consultant at two companies in completely different industries and with distinct challenges.
- Dependency instead of capability building. Frankly, Big Consulting is optimized to increase billable hours, so they’re not incentivized to transfer skills and knowledge to their clients. That means that every time a team goes through change, the management consultants have to be hired back.
- Paying for the brand, not expertise. It’s the consulting world’s (poorly kept) secret: organizations pay a premium for a brand name, but often get junior teams (and/or AI) doing most of the work. This is such a widespread issue that one of the questions NOBL hears in initial calls is, “Who’s really doing the work?”
Procurement Checklist: How to Evaluate Change Management Consulting Firms
Choosing the right firm is less about brand and more about fit and impact: can this consultant truly create behavior change in our organization? Use the checklist below to evaluate and compare firms during RFPs or partner selection.
1. Change Philosophy & Methodology
- Does the firm have a clearly defined change methodology?
- Does it account for the two different types of change?
- Is it people-centered and outcome-driven?
- Can it adapt to the culture and requirements of the organization?
2. Evidence of Impact
- Can they provide case studies with measurable results?
- What metrics do they use (adoption, behavior change, value realization)?
- Are these metrics realistic or are they too generic to be useful?
3. Customization
- How much of the approach is tailored vs. standardized?
- How do they adapt to organizational culture?
- What flexibility exists as priorities shift?
- How do they adapt to failure or uncertainty?
4. Enablement
- Who will actually deliver the work?
- What role do employees play in shaping the change?
- Do they build internal change capability?
5. Cost & Value
- How is pricing determined?
- What tradeoffs exist between cost, speed, and impact?
- What happens after the engagement ends?
Choosing the Right Change Management Consultant
The best management consulting firm for change management isn’t necessarily the biggest. It’s the one that helps your organization actually change. Firms like NOBL stand out for putting adoption and people at the center, while larger firms offer scale, analytics, and technology integration. Learn more about our methodology and why we’re different.
