Implementing

Change
Change Agent
One of the key underpinnings of change management process is the role of the
consultant acting as a facilitator of change.

More often than not, an outsider is needed to move the part of the organization
contemplating change to its new position. However, this outsider may well come
from another part of the organization and thus be an internal figure. To this end, we
prefer the term change agent. Whether internal or external, the change agent
facilitates change in the particular area in which it is needed.
Reasons for using CHANGE AGENT!
Schein (1988) cites seven reasons for using a change agent:
1. Clients/managers often do not know what is wrong and need special help in
diagnosing what their problems actually are.
2. Clients/managers often do not know what kinds of help consultants can give
to them; they need to be helped to know what kind of help to seek.
3. Most clients/managers have a constructive intent to improve things, but they
need help in identifying what to improve, and how to improve it.
4. Most organizations can be more effective than they are if they learn to
diagnose and manage their own strengths and weaknesses.
5. A consultant probably cannot, without exhaustive and time-consuming study
or actual participation in the client organization, learn enough about the
culture of the organization to suggest reliable new courses of action. Therefore,
unless remedies are worked out jointly with members of the organization who
do know what will and will not work in their culture, such remedies are likely
either to be wrong or be resisted because they come from an outsider.
Reasons for using CHANGE AGENT!
6. Unless the client/manager learns to see the problem for himself and thinks
through the remedy, he will not be able to implement the solution and, more
importantly, will not learn to fix such problems should they recur.

7. The essential function of process consultation is to pass on the skills of how to

diagnose and remedy organizational problems so that the client is more able to
continue on his own to improve the organization.
Why to invest for CHANGE AGENT!
Many organizations have invested resources to establish their own internal
organization development consultants as a means of instigating change.

Why would a company wish to become so heavily resourced in the area of

organization development? One reason is that it is an investment in getting ahead
and being able to manage change.

Similarly, the costs involved in external change agents getting up to speed with
the culture and values of an organization is expensive in time and money. There
are several organizations willing to invest heavily in this field as a means of forgoing
external costs via change consultants.
Internal Change Agent Pros and Cons

The benefits of using an internal change agent are linked directly to two key issues
1. Cost factors
2. Access to information.

By comparison, the costs associated with training an employee in the techniques

and practices of OD are minimal when the alternative is the use of an outside
consultancy firm over a lengthy period of time.

External consultants charge by the day and more often than not, the cost of one
change project can run into a very big amount. The external consultancy firm has to
build in overhead costs, which run up the bill.
Internal Change Agent Pros and Cons…

The internal change agent may also have the benefit of having access to
information that the external agent cannot hope to get, no matter how long the
project runs.

To be effective, the internal consultant is required to maintain a marginal status

between being internal and being objective. The value of the internal change
agent rests with being inside the organization and able to have information at hand
whilst remaining objective with regard to the problem and the client organization.
This is a particularly difficult situation for an employee of an organization to be in.
Internal Change Agent Pros and Cons…

There are a number of factors which may hinder the internal change agent’s
objectivity:

• being too close to see what the problem is;

• being part of the problem;
• being willing to confront issues when promotion and pay issues are forthcoming;
• being part of the power system being examined;
• being aware of the needs and demands of superiors.
Internal Change Agent Pros and Cons…

The use of internal change agents, who have been effectively trained in the
techniques of managing change, will obviously benefit the organization. However,
there are a number of issues that the change agent should be aware of that may
inhibit their ability to influence change within the organization. Two of these relate
to the method of entry into projects and, the nature of the voluntary relationship.

In terms of entry into a change management process as a facilitator, the internal

change agent has to convince management and employees within a particular
part of the organization of their expertise in this area. There is also a need to
display the willingness to help. These issues are no different from those
experienced by the external change agent and confidence and trust will come from
successful change management projects within the organization over time.
However, the internal change agent needs to use these successful interventions as
an open education process for the organization far more than the external ever has
to.
Internal Change Agent Pros and Cons…

The internal change agent may not be given the opportunity to pick and choose
clients from within the organization. Nor can they always expect to be free in
their choice of the manner and mode of facilitation employed.

The internal change agent must not and cannot become involved in change within
his/her own area. For most internal change agents this rules out the development
of projects for change in the personnel area, but leaves them free to deal with
issues related to sales and marketing, manufacturing, etc.

Ideally, any organization training internal change agents would select a number of
them from different departments to be able to deal with this difficulty.
The Change Agent’s Approach to Change
The first problem faced by the change agent is one of definition. They have to ask
the following:

What is causing the problem?

This should be in terms of trying to define:
What is going wrong?
What/ who is causing the problem?
Why does it continue to be a problem?

At this point, it is essential to be able to describe to oneself what the current

situation is, why it exists, and what is going on, etc.

This ability to be able to apply a descriptive-analytical capability combines with the

skill of diagnosis to enable the change agent to focus on the symptoms of the
problem before drawing attention to the causes.
The Change Agent’s Approach to Change…
Why do I want to enter into this relationship?
The change agent(s) has(have) to be clear about his(their) own goals and the
reasons for motivating and influencing others. This is related to who sets the goals
for the change process. The client organization and the change agent should define
these together.

More often than not, this is people within a particular setting within the
organization, and the change agent has to assist in helping people change
themselves.

Having begun the process of defining what the problem is, in alliance with the
client organization, the change agent should also look at what potential there is for
change. The change agent needs to be sure that there is, within the organization, a
motivation towards change.
The Change Agent’s Approach to Change…
Who should I be at certain points in time?
It involves movement from information gatherer towards a more active training
role. Lippit et al. (1958) identified seven phases of change within what they term
the consultant–client relationship:

1. Development of the need for change;

2. Establishment of the consultancy relationship;
3. Clarification of the client problem;
4. Examination of alternative solutions;
5. Transformation of intentions to actual change;
6. Generalization and stabilization of a new level of functioning or group structure;
7. Achieving a terminal relationship with the consultant and the continuity of
change-ability.
The Change Agent’s Approach to Change…
The first crucial area is the move from change agent as information and
opinion-seeker towards that of facilitator and adviser/trainer. This
occurs between stages 4 and 5 and involves taking on a more directive
role with the client organization. This prevents the organization
regressing backwards by allowing individuals to focus on the application
of the alternatives they helped to develop. In this scenario, the change
agent takes on more of a driving role for change. In this way the client
organization will see what happens during the change process and will
be able to learn from it, and hopefully, apply the techniques the next
time.

It is better for the change agent to deliberately separate the

information gathering from the diagnosis and recommendation stages.
The Change Agent’s Approach to Change…
The second issue directly concerns the question of learning in the
organization. The change agent should, during the change process, ask
how to get constant change within the organization.

It involves the design of an opinion survey questionnaire, the running

of a number of workshops on issues of concern and critical success
factors with operating staff and conversations with managers within the
business.

By worked through the process of information gathering and analysis

and providing feedback on how the teams were operating, what were
the critical success factors and a number of issues that gives cause for
concern.
The Change Agent’s Approach to Change…
Having used the teams to help design and run the questionnaire and
the workshops, the organization may decide that this method of data
collection and analysis could be successfully adopted inside the
business and uses as a mechanism for assessing where they are, what
changes are likely to affect them, and what issues staff feels are likely to
be problematic. The change agents, themselves, had left the
relationship, but the mechanisms for making change ongoing remained
and had been built into the business.
 Unit 5
Implementing Change