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During a 12-month engagement, consultants usually change managers one or two times, on average. Most consultants aren't assigned to the same hiring manager for the entire engagement. It's important to know these details, as they affect the success rate of the person you hire. Here's how.

Most hiring managers look for consultants for personal or business needs. It is part of a larger business decision to support the project owner. In interviews, consultants adapt their style to the hiring manager they interview with. If the consultant fits, they are hired. In most consulting engagements, however, life happens. Employees go on vacation, you run into holidays and PTO. In this situation, the consultant switches hands. In most cases, it's an FTE who reports to the leader.

Did you consider the management style of the FTE the consultant would report to? To your credit you probably did. For some reason, this is where the mismatch begins. Communication lapses, alignment difficulties, all these small mistakes add up to lost progress and decreased opportunity for success.

Contractors and consultants change hands almost inevitably, but be wise. If you were absent, would someone on your team report to your chosen FTE? Would this individual make a great manager? You should apply the same logic when elevating and promoting employees to those who will supervise your consultants.