Advancements in technology, evolving customer needs, and new competition in the market always influence the business dynamics. Change is always a big constant and hence having a change management strategy is quite imperative.
When the employees embark on the change journey what they need the most is external motivation, assistance, and support to overcome the barriers. This can bring the overall change successfully. This is external assistance that can come from the leadership within the organization, change agents, and third-party consultants.
Who Is a Change Agent?
Also known as the advocate of change, it is a person who works as a catalyst for the change and the management process. They can help the organization or a part of the organization to transform the way how they try to influence and inspire others. A change can enable, promote and support the implementation of change by the organization.
When it comes to the major activities of a change agent, here are some:
- Communicating how change can be beneficial for both the organization and its employees.
- Listen to all the employees and team members to get feedback and then take on the implementation process.
- Engage actively with employees to become champions in change and promote it as well.
- Understanding the reaction of employees to change and reducing their resistance to it.
- Identify and lead other changing agents and consultants to bring success.
- Providing feedback on challenges facing the change management lead.
Internal vs. External Change Agents
Companies or organizations can appoint agents within the company or from outside the company. An internal change agent is mostly a team member like a senior executive or a manager or an HR professional. In some cases, it can also be another team member who can understand the process of organizational development and human intervention quite well.
On the other hand, an external agent is a third-party change practitioner or an outside consultant who has relevant expertise and can encourage change initiatives. The company policies, rules, and regulations do not apply to them and they can deeply analyze the varied scenarios and suggest some suitable change management strategies and models so that one can bring success easily.
When it comes to internal change agents, they are quite aware of the company’s history and social politics. Hence they can work sincerely to establish a very strong relationship to strengthen the attitude and cultural views towards change. But when a company lacks an internal employee with change management skills, they have to take help from the external ones. These external agents come with a fresh perspective and their presence can also threaten the existing employees. But their appointment can also lead to a costly expense in case of a lengthy change procedure.
Types of Change Agents
Every change initiative has unique requirements and for that specific change, agents are needed to provide support.
People-Focused Change Agents
They are the ones who help the individual employees to cope with the changes by boosting the employee motivation and morale. They look into the matters of absenteeism, turnover, and the quality of work along with goal setting and job enrichment.
Organizational and Operational Structure Change Agents
They are the ones who focus on changing the organizational structure to improve effectiveness and efficiency. These agents use various analytical approaches like system analysis, operation research, system analysis, and policy studies to change the structure and technology of the company.
Internal Process Change Agents
The major focus of these agents goes by the name mentioned above. They check the intergroup communication, their relations, and the decision-making process. They opt a lot for a cultural change approach to bring in the permanent change by conducting team building, sensitivity training, and surveys of the employees.
The change agents can take up many roles when they work as agents in an organization. They work as a consultant of change to ensure the bidirectional flow of data and conduct some further analysis. While implementing the changes, the organization may focus too much on the logistics and hence the agents concentrate more on the change of communication process. This is because the better the communication, the better the change.
