The Impact of Traits and Attribute of Change Agent on the Success of Change Process - Essay Example

The Impact of Traits and Attribute of Change Agent on the Success of Change Process Student’s name Institution The Impact of Traits and Attribute of Change Agent on the Success of Change Process Organizational change is a process whereby, many organizations and business entities cannot evade. For an organization which wants to have competitive advantages compared to their competitors, they must embrace change according to the forces which come to play in the market and industries which they operate in. As the saying goes, if you do not embrace change, change will change you, it is important to bear in mind that change is an important aspect if any organization have to remain relevant in the industry. Organizational change can be defined as a process by which an organization optimizes performances as it works towards its best ideal state (Anderson 2011). Canal (2008) defined it as the process by which an organization adjusts toward their goals and objectives and towards reaching more clients. Organizational change brings about a lot in the organization and needs to be looked at from the leaders and the subordinate point of view. Organizational change may be brought about by different issues. First, it may be brought about by reaction on ever-changing environment. In every sector an organization is in, there are ever-changing aspects brought about by change in technology, change in client behaviors, or even change in organization goals. When this happens, leaders, managers, and their subordinates have to change to redirect their energies, personal goals toward the new directions. Another cause of organizational change may be brought about by a response to crisis. A crisis may befall an organization and the way the management deals with the crisis, it may trigger a need to carry out overall or partial organizational change. The change may arise from failures occurring during the process of trying to solve the crisis, lesson learnt from dealing with the crisis, or learning from other organizations’ way of dealing with crisis. Another cause of organizational change as discussed by Dawson (2010) is that the process may be trigger by leaders. Visionary and progressive leaders may see the need to trigger organizational change so that they push the agenda and goals of the organization to a notch higher. Only visionary and progressive leaders may have the gut to see the need for change in their organization and lead their subordinates in realizing this. Change can be divided into two broad categories. First there is evolutionally change. This type of organizational change takes a long time to implement and is done slowly. It is gradual, intermittent and narrow focused. This type of change is well thought of and may keep on changing in the course of its implementation. The main purpose of this kind of change is to have and make continuous improvement in order to adjust to environmental changes. This can take quite a long time as it is not urgently required by the organization. The other type of change is revolutionary. When an organization realizes that their strategies and method of production or the way they do their work can no longer fulfill the demand of their clients or the environment, they have to plan immediately for a change if they have to remain relevant to their clients. This kind of change which is rapid, dramatic, and broadly focused is called revolutionary change. When an organization is reengineering, restructuring, and coming up with innovations to rapidly keep them relevant in the environment they work in, it is changing revolutionarily. Change agents can be defined as a person who is responsible for organizing and coordinating overall process of organizational change. According to Burke (2011), there are change agents who provide predetermined solution for organizational change. This kind of change agents are thinkers who study the organization, especially where it is and where it wants to go. They then design strategies for change and provide the results to their organizational clients. In this regard, there is less involvement of stakeholders in designing and implementing the process of change. On the other hand, there are change agents, who believe that learning and mutual understanding with stakeholder in development process is important (Burke, 2011). This group of change agents involve stakeholders from the word go. They work hand in hand with the stakeholders from early planning to implementation stage of the change process. It is important to note that change agent can be either internal or external. Internal change agents are those who are drawn from within organization or external agents. External change agents are either consultants or managers who are expert in the process of organizational development and change. In this process, change agents traits, attributes and the agency itself are very important in determining the change process - the fastness and effectiveness of the change and stakeholders’ manner of adoption to the change process. People who are involved in organizations that are undergoing organizational change sometimes resist change. Fear of unknown, risks involved and lack of role models are some of the factors that make people to resist change. Due to this reasons, change agents are faced with problems of making sure that all the stakeholders involved embrace change. The way they react to these stakeholders, their personalities and agency itself determines the process. To do this, change agents are supposed to have better understanding of the field. By having this expertise, they will easily guide their clients in the process of change. Clients will see them as role models and look up to them for guidance. They should understand themselves. In this regard, the change agents should make sure that they are aware of what they can handle and when to refer. This will help them in instilling confidence to their clients. They should also have clear understanding of the organization. In this aspect, not only knowledge about the organization is needed but also knowledge about the industry the organization is in. Organizational goals, vision and mission act as the foundational stone and engine that fuels the organization to where it wants to be. It is important to note that change may be gradual or rapid. In this aspect, change agent should have information, knowledge and strategies that better work for the industries. This will help them to be ever ready in case of rapid change. These portray them as experts and instill confidence in their clients. Research has found out that some traits are linked with success in employees and change agents. Traits such as a self-efficacy which is defined as the self-conviction that one can successfully execute the behavior and produce positive effects are crucial in change agents. These traits when possessed by change agents may help in guiding others in believing in themselves. Self-efficacy has been found important in situations that are unpredictable and stressful. It is important to note that the process of change is unpredictable and in some cases is marred with stressful situations. From people who resist change, to those who lack motivation to change, change agents must make sure that all of them are actively involved in the process. Intensive research has linked self-efficacy with careers that involve change. Change agents who believe are capable have a better chance of success in the process of bringing in change and making people accept it. In addition, other traits that are crucial in the process are linked with high self-efficacy. Effective problem solving, persistence, resilience, self-control among others are traits that are normally found in people with high self-efficacy. Change agents who have these traits have been found to be more successful comparing to those who have low self-efficacy. Another trait is locus of control. This can be defined as the individual’s perception on his or her ability to exercise control over the environment. There are those who have internal locus of control and those with external locus of control. In this case, internal locus of control is desirable for one to be an effective change agent. It is believed that one has control over what happens to, in, and around him (Anderson, 2011). Those with internal locus of control have been found with better problem solving skills, and are more positive to change. Change agents who has internal locus of control will definitely be more effective and successive in their work as compared to those who have external locus of control (Anderson, 2011). The traits and attributes are also important in helping people deal with change. Those with internal locus of control have been found to be more persuasive with people and are also found to be effective in making people change. The other core attribute that is linked with the way change agent can be successful in guiding others in the process of change is core self-evaluation. These are basic conclusions or bottom line expectations individuals hold about themselves. In this regard, those who have high expectations about themselves have been found to be doing well in the field of organizational change than those with low self-evaluation. The link between this trait and work is that those who believe high of themselves are always confident of their work, what they do and are found to instill the same confidence to others. In an environment that is occupied by different people who react differently to change, there is need for those who are in charge of change to have these changes. They are seen as role models and leaders in the process of change. Changes agents communicate to different groups that are involved in the process of change but do not specifically belong to any of the group. To do this, they must be able to communicate effectively and precisely to the people they want to work with. They are supposed to be excellent communicators and sources of information. These traits are cemented by having stronger networks and better relationships with peoples in the same field. When giving information to the stakeholders, change agents are supposed to have this information on their fingertips. It is also important to note that the process of change in the organizational requires interviewing people and management and leadership skills. This will require change agents to have better communication skills. They require them to be able to motivate the people they work with. When motivation lacks in the process, there will be problems in implementing it. Research has shown that change agents may apply different methods in the process of implementation but their personal attributes and traits play a great role in its success. Another aspect of organizational change is the view the agent will take in the process of planning, deciding, and implementing change. The perspective of change process from the change agent point of view can take different views. Change agent can approach it as a leader or a manager. As a leader, change agent will articulate an inspiring vision, and guiding the formulation of the strategy to pursue organizational goals, visions, and mission. When the process is viewed from a leader point of view, majority of the stakeholders are motivated to own the process. The other strategy which can be used is viewing it from a managers’ point of view. Under this strategy, change agent acts as the manager and this influences the way the process is carried out. It is important to finally point out that the process of organizational change is important in every organization and is inevitable. As the market, customer and technology change, organizations have to change in order to remain relevant (Canal 2008). The process need to be managed in a way that everybody owns the process. In case stakeholders own the process of change, resistance to change among employees in the organization is reduced or eradicated. This eases the process for both the change agent and stakeholders. In conclusion, it is important to point out that, change agents are the main engine and facilitators of change process. If the right agents are not chosen, the process may stall or the stakeholder may not own the process. To make sure the process is smooth, there is need to critically choose those to lead the process and make sure that all the stakeholders are brought on board and involved in the entire change process. Traits and attribute of change agent therefore greatly impact the success of change process References Anderson, L. A. (2011). The change leader’s roadmap: How to navigate your organization’s transformation. New York, NY: Routledge. Burke, W. W. (2011). Organizational change: Theory and practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Carnall, C. (2008). Managing change in organizations. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Dawson, P. M. B. (2010). Managing change, creativity and innovation. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Read More