Change Management Strategies and the Role of Leaders and Change Agents

This article discusses strategies and motivators that can be used to decrease resistance to change and make it more acceptable to workers. It also explores the role of leaders and change agents in the change management effort and how senior management can assess the success of their change management strategies.

CHANGE MANAGEMENT – 887717

Question 1  What strategies and motivators can be employed to decrease resistance
and make change more acceptable to workers?
Answer 1  resistance to change is a natural process that occurs when employees are asked
to make a transition or to accept a workplace change. It is a natural tendency of human beings
to resist workplace changes that might bring them out of their comfort zones. Resistance to
change can lead to the failure of a change program, which makes it imperative for managers
to deal with resistance to change and make change more acceptable. Certain strategies and
motivators that can be used by employed to decreases resistance to change and make it more
acceptable are discussed below:
First of all, improving communication channels to inform stakeholders about the change
program can be a great strategy to decrease resistance to change. When stakeholders are
properly informed about the change program, they feel involved and do not feel scared of the
unknown (Al-Haddad and Kotnour, 2015). As a result, they offer lesser resistance to change.
Secondly, employee involvement and engagement in the change program, right from the very
beginning, can also be helpful in dealing with resistance to change. When the employees are
involved in the planning phase of the change program, they feel valuable and try their best to
cope up with the change. Employee engagement also enables the employees to get a deeper
insight into the benefits of the desired change, which makes them more open to workplace
changes rather than resisting them (Siddiqi, 2015).
Thirdly, implementing a planned approach to change management can help in dealing with
resistance to change. Implementing a workplace change is not an easy task and requires a lot
of administration. By adopting a planned approach, it can become easier for managers to
implement a change without committing mistakes that could lead to resistance to change
amongst the employees.
Fourthly, developing project teams and employing change agents can also be helpful in
dealing with resistance to change. Change agents can be chosen from managers and leaders
of an organisation or a division and must be the people to whom the employees listen and
follow. When the employees would hear about the benefits of the change program through
their leaders, they will not offer resistance to change and would be convinced to adopt the
desired changes (Carnall, 2018).

Fifthly, to motivate the employees to accept a change, the management can establish a reward
system, which would be aimed at rewarding those employees who would help in bringing
about a change or would have demonstrated the desired change in their behaviour. One of the
best rewards for motivating the employees to accept a change is appreciation. A system of
reward would not just motivate the employees but will also be helpful in reinforcing the right
behaviour amongst them.
Lastly, setting clear expectations and goals for the employees and also offering them job
autonomy side by side can be helpful in keeping them motivated. Job autonomy would
provide them with a control over their job and they will be able to change it, according to the
expectations or goals of the company, on their own.
Question 2  What role does the Leader or Change Agent play in the change
management effort?
Answer 2  a change agent is a person who helps an organisation in introducing the desired
changes in the workplace by focusing on organisational effectiveness, improvement and
development. A change agent can be a person from within the organisation or from the
outside of the organisation. The following roles can be played by a change agent while an
organisation is undergoing a transition:
Investigation
Managing a change program is not an easy task and requires a lot of planning. Dealing with
the behaviour of stakeholders can sometimes be tedious and requires digging below the
surface to understand an organisation’s dynamic. As change agents are closely related to the
employees (and other stakeholders), they can investigate the factors that are preventing a
change from becoming successful in an organisation (Ferri-Reed, 2014).. The findings of the
investigations can then be used to remove the obstacles to a change program and bring
success.
Advocate
As discussed above, change agents are those people who are closely linked to the
stakeholders or the ones whom the stakeholders follow. Because of their influence on the
stakeholders, they can play the role of a mediator and can advocate on behalf of the company.

They can be highly vocal and persistent about the change program and can communicate the
benefits of the change program.
Encourage
Change agents are usually closely related to the employees and are aware about the feelings
that they go through when a change is being introduced in their company. During a change
program, employees are forced to come out of their comfort zones, which can have an impact
on their sense of stability (Fullan, 2012). Change agents can better deal with the feelings and
emotions of employees and can use appropriate techniques to encourage them to accept the
desired changes.
Mediate
During a change program, there can be a lot of groups and politics in the workplace. A
situation of total unrest is developed, which can lead to conflicts between individuals and
groups. In such cases, change agents in an organisation can mediate and help in solving
conflicts by reducing friction between individuals and groups.
Manage
One of the most important roles that a change agent plays is the role of a manager. Change
agents are responsible for managing the entire change program and it becomes their duty to
plan goals, targets & due dates and checking whether they are being achieved in the desired
time or not (Bordia et al, 2004). They also distribute authority to people and make sure that
they are rewarded for the efforts that they put in for the successful implementation of the
change program.
Reporting
Senior level managers of an organisation cannot stay with the stakeholders at all times but
during change programs, it is really important for them to be aware of all the things that are
going around in the workplace. In such a scenario, change agents play an important role in
reporting all information related to employees and stakeholders to the management of the
company.
Question 3  How might the senior management team assess whether their change
management strategies have been successful?

Answer 3  as a lot of resources and the overall performance of an organisation is put to
stake during a change program, it is important from an organisational point of view that an
assessment of the effect of the change program is carried out by the senior level management.
Following are the ways that can be used by the senior level management to assess the
effectiveness of a change program:
Measuring individual performance
The best and the most commonly used technique for analysing the effectiveness of a change
program is to analyse the difference in individual performance levels that have been achieved
as a result of the change program. A change program is implemented when an organisation
wants to increase its competitiveness through the performance levels of its employees (Mone
and London, 2018). A change can be considered to be successful when an actual
improvement in the performance levels of the employees is experienced by the senior level
management.
Observing behavioural changes
Another objective of implementing a change program is to bring about a change in the
behaviour of the employees. if the senior level management feels that the employees have
been able to demonstrate a change in their behaviour, in comparison to their past behaviour,
the change program can be considered to be successful (Frankland et al. 2013).
Work operations and process
Another reason for implementing workplace changes is when organisations feel that their
work operations or processes are not competitive enough and can be streamlined for
becoming more productive and efficient (Elsmore, 2017). By keeping a check on such
operations and processes, senior level management of an organisation can check the
effectiveness of a change program. Metrics, such as time taken for a process, wastage of
materials, quality of product or services, etc. can provide an idea about the changes that have
been achieved in work operations and processes.
Employee feedback
One of the best ways to assess the effectiveness of a change program is to take feedback from
the employees through properly designed questionnaires. Senior level management can
design close-ended questionnaires as well as open-ended questionnaires and can distribute it

to the employees to get them filled up anonymously (Wang et al., 2016).. Some example
questions are listed below:
 Do you believe that the change program was beneficial for you and for the
organisation?
 How has the change program affected your job?
 Have you been able to gain new skills or competencies as a result of the change
program?
 Has the change program made your job easier?
 Has the change program affected your job performance?
Assessing the feedback of the employees will enable the senior level management to check
the impact that the change program has been able to have on the employees and conclude
whether the change program was successful or not.

Reference
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Bordia, P., Hobman, E., Jones, E., Gallois, C. and Callan, V.J., 2004. Uncertainty during
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Carnall, C., 2018. Managing change. Routledge.
Elsmore, P., 2017. Organisational Culture: Organisational Change?: Organisational Change?.
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Ferri-Reed, J., 2014. Are millennial employees changing how managers manage?. The
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Fullan, M., 2012. Change forces: Probing the depths of educational reform. Routledge.
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Siddiqi, M.A., 2015. Work engagement and job crafting of service employees influencing
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