Change Agent Role

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Consultant

A consultant is a professional who provides professional or expert advice[1] in a

particular area such as management, accountancy, the environment, entertainment,

technology, law (tax law, in particular), human resources, marketing, emergency

management, food production, medicine, finance, life management, economics, public

affairs, communication, engineering, sound system design, graphic design, or waste

management.

A consultant is usually an expert or a professional in a specific field and has a wide

knowledge of the subject matter. A consultant usually works for a consultancy firm or isself-employed, and engages with multiple and changing clients. Thus, clients have access

to deeper levels of expertise than would be feasible for them to retain in-house, and may

purchase only as much service from the outside consultant as desired.

'Consultant' is also the term used to denote the most senior medical position in the United

Kingdom,Australia and Ireland (e.g., a consultant surgeon).

Ways in which consultants work

Some consultants are employed by a consult staffing company, a company that provides

consultants to clients. This is particularly common in the technology sector. Consultants

are often called contractors in the technology sector in reference to their employment

contract.

Strategy consultants are common in upper management in many industries. There are

also independent consultants who act as interim executives with decision-making powerunder corporate policies or statutes. They may sit on specially constituted boards or

committees.

Consultants work at client places on behalf of a consultancy or billing company.
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Some consultants are individuals hired by companies to do work for them on a

contractual basis. They are not employees of the company hired to do a specific work.

They are expected to do their job ethically and responsibly with minimum supervision.

Change Agent

A change agent is an event, organization, material thing or, more usually, a person that

acts as a catalyst for change. In business terms, a change agent is a person chosen to bring

about organisational change. Corporations often hire senior managers or even chief

executives because of their ability to effect change.

What is the Change Agent Role?

The label change agent is often accompanied by misunderstanding, cynicism and

Stereotyping. Managers, employees and HR professionals alike have questioned the value

of this role in their organization.

However, as organizations of all kinds face unrelenting changes in their environment, the

need for individuals who are capable of turning strategy into reality has created a new

legitimacy for the change agent role which is often located within the Human Resource

function. There are several reasons for this trend:

Human resource professionals have made significant strides over the past decade

in becoming business partners; demonstrating the value they can add to the

business.

Executives are looking for where the change process can best be managed.

Most business strategies require major changes in people-related issues; Human

Resource professionals develop and manage the key people systems needed to

support organizational change


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Dave Ulrich in Human Resource Champions (1997) goes even further advocating that

creating a renewed organization is the deliverable expected from the change agent role

in Human Resources. Virginia Murray an Executive Search consultant comments that

almost all searches for the senior HR role now include change leadership in the job

specifications.

But what, exactly is the change agent role? Is it to represent management with

employees as change is implemented? Is it to introduce and champion new initiatives

intended to improve organizational performance? Is it to monitor and influence climate

and morale?

Broadly speaking the most important contributions to be made through the change agent

role are those that sustain the organizations current performance and assure its future

performance i.e.

Enabling people to work effectively as they plan, implement and experience

change

Increasing peoples ability to manage future change

Competencies Required for Effectiveness

Despite the multi-faceted and ever changing demands on HR professionals as change

agents, there are definable competencies that can be understood and learned.

The Hay/McBer group an international consulting firm specializing in the competency

field have identified change management as increasingly important for organizations of

the future.

Dave Ulrich has completed extensive research in this area as well. His research, validated

by HR professionals and their line manager clients, showed that successful change

agents had the ability to:


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Diagnose problems

Understanding both the business drivers and the organization well enough to identify

performance issues and analyze their impact on short and long term business results

Build relationships with clients

Forming partnerships with mutual responsibility for the outcomes of the change effort.

Because the risk is higher than with most other . HR roles the level of trust required is

much higher. Management consultant Ric Reichard uses a simple formula to describe the

issues which are usually at play

TRUST = perceived competence + relationship

RISK

Often the client and the change agent over emphasize one or the other (competency or

relationship) especially when the risk increases while the challenge is to balance both

to achieve the necessary level of trust.

Ensure that the Vision is Articulated

Interpreting the hopes and motivations of

the workforce through the Vision statement.

Set a Leadership Agenda

Defining the ongoing role for leaders, such as communications, role modeling,

reinforcement of desired behaviours etc. This requires the HR executive to understand

intimately the dynamics, history and competencies of the leadership team and to have the

tenacity to insist on the agendas


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accomplishment.

Solve Problems

Recommending solutions, a common expectation of HR professionals is not the same as

solving problems. When it comes to the change agent role, the problems encountered are

often loaded with emotional and political dynamics. The change agent must possess the

insight to recognize the problem, the sensitivity to see its importance to those involved,

the courage to take honest and often difficult measures to resolve it and the credibility to

be heard.

Implement Plans to Achieve Change Goals

Successful organizational change on any significant scale can be attributed to the right

strategy and appropriate change in organization culture. Culture change, in turn, relies

heavily on aligned and supportive people policies, systems and processes. In short, the

implementation plan is an HR plan for both the HR function and for management.

Complementing the competencies identified above, we would add the following as

essential for effectiveness as a change agent:

superb communications ability in all directions

knowledge of the business; products/services and core work processes

keeping a business perspective both macro (mission/vision) and micro (what

line managers cope with)

planning and project management skills

ability to tolerate ambiguity

managing resistance

risk taking


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managing conflict

It is apparent that these are a blend of personal attributes and developed skill sets. A

change agent working at the strategic level cannot be effective without them.

Having a clearly articulated competency model for the change agent role is one thing;

acquiring the knowledge and skills to function effectively in this role is another.

Effectiveness in any role is a combination of competence and confidence Following are

four elements that are essential in developing both:

Education and Training

Formal education and training that is comprehensive enough to really equip an HR

professional for the change agent role is quite limited in this country. However, several

Universities, such as University of Toronto and Queens University are now offering

change management programs within their Executive Development divisions. These

range from 3 days to 15 days of professional development sometimes with a practicum

component.

Practice Opportunities

Five years ago we would have encouraged HR professionals to find some neutral

territory for practicing their new skills. Today this is clearly impractical as organizations

demand that the skills be put to use immediately. The change agent is not exempt from

this reality but the practicing is often more visible and the risk higher than in other

aspects of the HR role. This is where the next two elements come into play.

Feedback & Reflection

Good judgement comes from experience, experience comes from bad judgement the

simple (however painful) truth in that expression is familiar to everyone The most

important thing you can experience as a change agent is not success. Nor is it failure. It is


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honest feedback about your performance and impact and the time to reflect on and learn

from it.

Support System

For HR executives functioning as change agents, there is often no one inside the

organization to talk to. The issues are often too strategic or too sensitive to discuss

openly. A support system should include people who know the nature of your work and

the satisfactions, stresses and risks associated with it. One of the most important people in

your support system will be the colleague whom you can count on to challenge you, help

you see your shortcomings and follow-up on what specifically you are doing about them.

Change Agent Role

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