The role of the Change Agent

 
A ‘Change Agent’ is an individual who promotes change initiatives within an organisation.  These individuals understand what the change entails, the benefits and the impacts, and communicates these to others in the organisation.
Change Agents make it possible to communicate with all levels of staff.  The Change Agent Networks (CAN)  – i.e. many change agents – makes it possible to spread the news of the change throughout the organisation. 
 
Change Agents should be chosen carefully as their actions, attitude and demeanour can positively or negatively impact the change initiative. 

Characteristics of Change Agents 

These individuals should be:

  • Well respected among their peers
  • Great communication skills
  • Has a willing attitude to be trained if necessary
  • Has the ability to coach and mentor other employees
  • Shows empathy and is open and honest with employees
  • Believes in the success of the initiative
 
Change Agents do not necessarily have to be in a senior or managerial position; they can be ordinary employees with a ‘gung ho’ attitude. This can be the mature, grounded individual with a  ‘can do’ attitude or the young, energetic individual who has great people skills and is thirsty to contribute to the organisation.
 
Employees can be forced to embrace a change by their Manager i.e. ‘they have to do it’, but when a colleague (change agent) swears by a change initiative, their peers have a better chance of adoption because ‘they want to do it’.
 
 

Working with Change Agents

Once the Change Agent is chosen it is important that the Change Manager:

 1. Introduce them to the Change team and staff.

2.  Provide them with a background of the change initiative.

3.  Outline their role, responsibilities and what is expected of them.

4.  Allow the Change Agent to provide initial feedback on concerns or issues with the task at hand.

5.  Let them take ownership of their responsibilities but monitor performance.

6.  Invite them to meetings with the Change team.

7.  Allow the Change Agent to provide feedback to the Change team on staff sentiment, successes and improvements they need to make on the change initiative.

8.  Provide guidance as required and support and motivate these individuals.

9.  Impress upon line management and the Change Team to publically acknowledge their contributions to the change initiative.

10.  Capture lessons learnt from the Change Agent’s perspective.

 

Working with Change Agent Networks

1.  Encourage knowledge sharing in the Change Agent Network where successes and failures are shared  for everyone’s learning.  This will help strengthen the strategy and hence the present change initiative and those in the future.

2.  Utilise the Change Agent Network until the change is embedded, staff are comfortable and have adopted this new way of working i.e. Business as Usual is achieved.

Skilled Change Agents are a valuable resource to change initiatives so be sure to choose wisely, capitalise on their offerings and reward them for their efforts and contribution to the organisation.

Tag:, ,

Change Consult Ltd

The trainers at Change Consult Ltd have over fifteen (15) years experience delivering operational efficiencies to organisations across Europe and the Americas. They have worked with companies which include Royal Bank of Canada, JLT, Sage Global, HBOS and the UK National Health Service. They are members of the Change Management Institute and have served in some capacity. Our aim to drive awareness of the field by consulting on initiatives and training individuals on how to manage change in organisations. This skill ensures competitiveness and longevity in the marketplace.

You may also like

CM activities
Change management activities during system implementations
19 August, 2020
Role of the PM
The role of the Project Manager in organisational change
19 August, 2020
fail
5 reasons why change efforts fail
24 July, 2020