Roles and Analysis of Change Leaders Roles - Essay Example

Managing change through responsible leadership Name Institution Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Background 3 Interview with Wesfarmers leader Richard Goyder 4 Roles and analysis of change leader’s roles 6 Effectiveness and traits of change leader 8 Lessons learnt from the interview 9 Conclusion 10 References 11 Background Change in an organization can and has most times been viewed in different perspectives depending on the form of technicalities that present themselves in every case. Whereas some people are intrigued and in fact embrace the concept of change in their workplaces, others loath it. The end result of change as a factor is determine by the way people perceive it. Change can be both positive and negative. The positive aspect of change ensures that there is a positive development of either the company, the employees or other proponents of the corporation. The negative aspect of change is the vice versa of this concept. Change is then observed to be a key concept in management business in this aspect. For change to work, there must be in existence several factors that contribute towards change in an organization. The management must have a concrete reason that has both economic and social value to come to a decision warranting change in either the way they conduct their businesses or other forms. Basically, in an organization, change can occur in multiple facets. Some of these facets include ethical lines and standards, company practices, employee remuneration and delivery amongst others. For change to be effective and applicable on a wide scale, it must spread from a central focal point like a ripple and encompass other avenues. This focal point is more often than not very key to the definition, implementation and follow-up of change in an organization. Many times, this change is denoted and championed by a specific individual. This individual is the person who has the role, and the capacity to offer the necessary drive and motivating factors to enable change to take effect in the organization. This paper illuminates the concept of change management in an organization through leading responsibly. It takes a look into how responsible management practices influence change, the leaders of change in an organization and their effectiveness in the implementation of change as a concept in this case. The analysis covers a report of a brief interview of one of the change champions in a choice company in Australia and an analysis of the same. Interview with Wesfarmers leader Richard Goyder Interviewer: Tell us about Wesfarmers and the scale of your business Goyder: Wesfarmers is a corporation that deals with retailing, resources, chemicals, insurance, energy, fertilizers and industrial and safety products. Currently, the company has over 200,000 employees across these divisions. Interviewer: What makes Wesfarmers Company such a success? Goyder: I believe that at Wesfarmers, each of the employee is self driven. There is a lot of hard work in this company. Each of these employees is unique and versatile in their own way and capacity. People know and understand what they should do and they do it to perfection. The system of management that we have also managed to develop at Wesfarmers, in my opinion, has also been a key contributing factor to our success in the company. We have an open policy of management. As much as the roles and designation of every employee is made clear, the bureaucratic and red taping inhibitions have been done away with a great deal in the company. This makes it easier for us to communicate policies and have avenues through which employees can air their opinions pertaining variety of issues. At the company, the opinions of different employees, irrespective of rank are treated equally. Interviewer: What is your management style and how do you effect change in such a huge Organization and how do you manage change in the organization? Goyder: It is simple really. I envision myself as a cog in a big machine. We rely mostly on values of the employees in the company. These are out driving forces. Am proud to say that we have a wealth of employees who are determined and who share and believe in the values of the company. My style of leadership is very autocratic but systematic, so to say. However, I leave enough room for accommodating opinions from my employees ranging on variety of issues. Iam charged with steering the organization towards the attainment of the goals and objectives. So technically, change starts with me. I have to be a role model to the other employees. When change is to be enacted, I find myself on the spotlight. I have to embrace change before I can expect the other employees to embrace the same. Interviewer: Sounds like a lot of responsibilities is placed on your shoulders. What characteristics should a leader possess so that he or she may be able to drive change the way you do? Goyder: Well, I cannot speak in general terms. However, in my case I would attribute the success of change in Wesfarmers from the fact that I have a number of attributes that are quite agreeable and in sync with the concept of change. I embrace change first. This means that I lead by example. I also engage other leaders in different roles and capacities to embrace the concepts and it trickles down to the other workers. When my schedule allows, I take tours of various divisions and try to engage various employees in their own capacities. Through this format, I get to understand even better how this change will affect them and whether I should continue with a certain change program or not. Roles and analysis of change leader’s roles There are a number of roles that one engages him/herself in their capacity as change leaders. These roles define the way they lead their organization towards the implementation of change programs in the company. These roles have been discussed in the following paragraphs. One of the major roles of the change leader is human resources management. The management of people is key towards an effective organization (Ryan et al 1996). This means that every organization is driven towards the maintenance of its goals and objectives by its human resource. Thus stated, it then becomes the mandate of the change leader to be able to manage these resources in such a way that change in the organization will be realized. Every organization has the goals and dreams of perpetuity. These goals could be attained only through purposeful handling and management of the human resource personnel (Hartman et al 2012). The workers are the ones who determine the direction that a certain organization takes. To be able to come up with a concept of change and ensure that it is applicable on a whole scale, it is vital to ensure that the human resources tasked with the task of implementation of the same are well conversant with the concept. The change leader is supposed to be a motivating factor to the human resource. He or she should have intricate knowledge of the change effects, the direction that the change concept will drive the company and the outcomes in general. Another role that change leaders are expected to perform is the role of decision maker (Kain, 2012). As much as these leaders encourage and analyze the contribution that employees make through voicing their opinion, they have the prerogative of making concrete decisions based on these opinions. From the interview highlight in the introductory part of this report, it has been observed from Goyder’s responses that he is a key person when it comes to the decision making process in the company. as a change leader, it is his roles to analyze the opinions of different employees pertaining a certain change acumen and come up with a decision on what to implement, when to implement and how to implement it. The change leader is also given the complete mandate to offer communication to various entities and parties involved that will ensure that every employee is kept abreast of the impending change. The change leader is also tasked with the role of ensuring that he or she supervises how a new concept that would bring in change to the organization is applied (Abbas & Asgar, 2010). The new concept could be a new system, a new form of employee and client handling among other factors. As the main driver of the change, the change leader, more often referred to as the team player has the mandate of ensuring that every person in the organization embraces this change and that the applicability of the change is wide-felt (Schuster-Cotterell, 2005). To be able to do this, he or she must assume a leadership and supervisory role. Goyder manages over 200000 employees. Even though it would not be possible for him to manage these employees without the assistance of other personnel, it is vital that he is seen championing the change in the company. This makes it easier for the employees to be able to embrace and internalize the change. A change leader is also tasked with the role of motivating his employees (Ajmal et al, 2011). The change leader has a duty to ensure that the company’s goals and objectives are attained. Since employees are a major factor in the attainment of these goals, it is vital for the change leader to ensure that these employees are motivated enough so that they may be able to assist wholesomely in the attainment of these goals and objectives. When an employee is duly motivated, it becomes easier for him or her to work even harder. This hard work is translated directly towards the attainment of the goals and the objectives of the organization. It is therefore the role of the change leader to motivate these employees so that they can implement new changes in the organization and be set on a journey of effective change management. The change leader also acts as the enforcer of the changes in the organization (Schuster-Cotterell, 2005). He is the person who ensures that every employee in the organization implements the new changes that are inherent in the corporation. As an enforcer, he has the capacity to discipline those employees who do not embrace the change in the corporation. Sometimes you may find that in a given organization, there are those employees who are static and who do not wish to change their disposition in any way pertaining to a new form of change. These are the employees that do not support the changes and as a change leader, it is within his or her duty to ensure that these employees fall into line. Effectiveness and traits of change leader For a change leader to be effective in their capacity, they must possess a number of qualities that give them the gist to be change management personnel. The traits that these change leaders possess have been discussed in the following paragraphs. Being a change leader requires drive (Chew et al 2006). One must be able to influence other people to their way of thinking or perception of issues in the organization. The drive that these change leaders have is inherent and intrinsic. It should be their main motivator towards the attainment of the goals and objectives of the organization. Having self-drive gives them the capacity to lead other people in such a way that will result into the attainment of the goals of the company. Another trait that change leaders should have is the confidence in themselves and in the change they are championing. From the interview on Goyder, it can be established that he has a lot of confidence in his organization and the capacity of the human resource in the organization to effect change in the organization. Having confidence allows the change leader to offer insightful guidelines on how the change would be enacted. Honesty and integrity are other aspects of change leaders (Sun, 2009). People should be able to trust them and trust the information that they are given by them. In a business environment, honesty and integrity are paramount in advocating for effecting change in the organization. Change leaders should also have cognitive abilities (Hansma & Elving, nd). This will assist them in defining the exact proponents of this change and breaking it down in such a manner that will ensure that the human resource tasked with implementation of the change is fully conversant with what they should do (Gilley, 2005). Lessons learnt from the interview There are various lessons that can be learnt from this interview. These lessons have been highlighted in the ensuing sentences. One of the lessons learnt here is that change leaders need to be confident in the change that they wish to bring as well as in themselves. Having confidence in themselves gives them the power to surge forward and accomplish their goals. From the interview, it can be observed from Goyder’s responses that he is confident in his capacity to lead his team. This can be deduced to be one of the reasons he has acquired so much success. Another lesson from this interview is that change leaders should be role models. They should be able to apply the concepts which they wish the other employees to apply. Employees should be able to identify these leaders by their own accord and through their capacity to embrace change themselves. Change leaders should be motivators. They should be people who have the capacity to encourage others to enact change in their organization. The interview depicts Goyder as an avid motivator. He has the capacity to motivate his employees to be able to deliver quality and change in his organization. Conclusion This report has offered an insight into the change management concepts. From the anecdote provided here following an interview with Goyder, it has been established that change management is a factor of the change leader. For change management to be effective, the change leader must also be a person who has the capacity to propel this change to levels so desired. The various roles of change leaders have been defined here. These roles, in a nutshell, include enforcing the change, supervisory roles, motivation and being a role model. To be an effective change leader as the report has shown, one needs to have a number of traits. These traits have been shown to be self- confidence, cognitive capacity, good communicator, honesty, integrity and self- drive. Lessons that have been learnt from the interview conducted in this report have also been highlighted and these include being a role model, a motivator and self confident. From this report, it has become apparent that being a lead changer requires some zeal and special capacities so that the attainment of the goals and objectives of the organization is not compromised. References Ajmal et al (2011). Role of Leadership in Change Management Process. Abasyn Journal of Social Sciences. 5(2): 111-121 Chew, MM, Cheng, JL and Petrovic-Lazarevic, S. (2006). 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