Management as Change Agents

“Courage is the power to let go of the familiar.” - Mary Bryant

The Leaders as Change Agents

The leaders in the organisation, as change agents, need to translate opportunities or threats arising in the external environment into a business case for change and then take the following actions to align the organisation. Hence, they have three primary responsibilities:

• Identify the need for change and develop the business case
• Align the management team
• See that management align their divisions

Leaders of change must be willing to go first. They demonstrate the behaviours and attitudes that are expected of everyone else. Employees watch leaders for consistency between words and actions to see if they should believe the change is really going to happen. Leaders are self-aware and deliberate.

Managers as Change Agents

When businesses want to introduce change, they depend on effective communication from management to win acceptance from employees, reduce uncertainty and minimize resistance. Managers play an important role in informing and motivating employees to ensure that they understand and respond positively to major changes such as new business procedures, new technologies or corporate restructuring. By acting as agents of change, managers ensure that the process flows smoothly from one phase to the next until the change is complete.

To communicate effectively with employees, managers must have a complete understanding of the reasons for change, the potential benefits, and the impact on employees. Leaders must ensure that managers are fully informed about both the REASON for change as the WHAT will change.

Managers are the Face and the Voice of Change [Digs a Well]

They communicate often to share information, keep people updated and offer encouragement. When employees hear multiple messages in the organisation, the one they listen to mostly is their immediate boss. Leaders interpret the change message to be relevant for their reports, while still matching the overall message. Managers need to be transparent and consistent.

Getting into the Employee’s Shoes, Whilst Marching On [Motivating]

To act as an agent of change, managers must have good communication and interpersonal skills so that they can explain the benefits and implications of change. They must be able to empathize with employees who feel threatened by change and uncertain of their future role in the company. Communication is essential throughout the change process. By explaining the implications of change to groups and individual employees, managers can build understanding and trust and dispel rumours that could create barriers to implementing successful changes. Managers must make themselves available to answer questions or discuss individuals’ concerns. They must also motivate employees so that they can maintain the momentum of change and keep their departments operating productively.

They also must be good motivators to encourage employees to embrace change and make a positive contribution to its successful implementation.

Paving the Way for Change [Take action]

Managers must make plans to implement the changes in their own areas of responsibility. They need to ensure that they implement the changes effectively. If a company is introducing new technology, for example, managers must decide how it will change working practices in their departments. They must decide if the employees in their departments have the skills to use the new technology. If necessary, managers plan training programmes to develop skills. They must also decide if the technology will reduce the number of employees they need to handle the workload. If the company does not want to make any employees redundant as a result of change, managers must decide how to redeploy employees. They must make the practical preparations to effectively enable the change process to roll out.

Monitor and Evaluate Progress

The measure-and-evaluation step is crucial to ensure that institutional change efforts produce successful results in meeting goals. To measure success, evaluation is needed.

Effective evaluation:

• Provides a framework and information to support strategic planning efforts.
• Confirms that actions being taken are proving effective or are in need of adjustment
• Identifies opportunities for new or increased improvement.
• Helps justify actions to others for validation, increased support, and future resources.

Managers must constantly evaluate progress and monitor the organisation to assess the level of alignment and progress.