topic 7 the change agent or od practitioner

8/10/2019 Topic 7 the Change Agent or OD Practitioner

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INTRODUCTIONWhether an organisation views change from a planned or emergent perspective,as incremental or transformational, or at the individual, group or organisationallevel, change has to be managed. Therefore, someone has to take the

responsibility for making the change. The person who bears this responsibility iscalled the change agent. The change agent can be a manager, a team leader, anemployee with OD expertise or a professional consultant from outside of theorganisation.

Previous topics provide an overview of the nature of planned change and thefield of OD. This topic examines the people who perform OD in organisations. Acloser look at the change agent or O D practitioner helps us understand their rolesand functions in the OD process. This topic describes the types of change agents,the advantages and disadvantages of employing internal and external change

By the end of this topic, you should be able to:

1. Identify various types of change agents;

2. Discuss the pros and cons of using internal or external changeagents;

3. Determine the skills and qualities of the change agent;

4. Explain the contingency model of change agency; and

5. Assess different types of consultant styles of the change agent usinga framework.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

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TOPIC 7 THE CHANGE AGENT OR OD PRACTITIONER76

agents and their required skills and competencies to achieve successful change. Italso presents a contingency view of change agency which recognises thatdifferent situations require different types of change agents. Hence, various

models of change agency and types of consultant styles are discussed. Thevarious models of change agency also reflect the different roles played by achange agent.

WHO IS THE CHANGE AGENT?

The previous topics on models of planned change showed that the concept ofchange agent originated with Kurt Lewin and has been extensively emphasised by the OD movement. However, over the last two decades, as differentperceptions of change have emerged, so have different views of the role of thechange agent. That is, different kinds of people can be perceived as the changeagent. It can be observed from the literature that there are heroic change leaderscapable of turning around the organisation, line managers or functionalspecialists becoming the change agents and a growth of internal and externalmanagement consultants serving as the c atalysts for change .

7.1.1 Types of Change Agents

OD practitioners have traditionally been viewed as internal or external consultantswho provide professional services in organisation change. However, the scope ofOD practitioners has recently been expanded to include (a) professionals in relateddisciplines such as industrial psychology and organisation theory, and (b)functional managers who have acquired OD knowledge and experience to carryout changes in their departments (Burnes, 2004; Cummings & Worley, 2005).

Throughout this text, the term change agent or OD practitioner refers to atleast three kinds of people:

(a) OD professionals;

(b) People who specialise in fields related to OD; and

(c) Managers and administrators who have gained competence in OD.

Change agents These are the people responsible for directing, organisingand facilitating change in organisations.

7.1


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TOPIC 7 THE CHANGE AGENT OR OD PRACTITIONER 77

These three types of change agents are described in detail in Table 7.1:

Table 7 1: Three Types of Change Agents

Type of Change Agent Characteristics

OD professionals These are people specialising in OD as a profession.

They may be internal or external consultants.

OD professionals have training, skills and experience in thesocial processes of organisations such as leadership, groupdynamics and employee participation.

They value open communication, employee involvement andpersonal achievement.

OD professionals are also concerned about the organisational bottom-line performance.

This is in response to the highly competitive demands thatorganisations face today.

People who specialisein fields related to OD

These are specialists in OD-related fields such as industrialrelations, organisation design, total quality management,management consulting, business strategy and work design.

These fields are increasingly becoming integrated with OD because OD interventions have become more comprehensive,involving multiple parts and levels of the organisation.

A growing number of specialists in these related fields aregaining experience and competence in OD.

They gain the competence through OD training and workingwith OD professionals on large-scale interventionprogrammes.

They may be internal consultants, or external consultants ifthey are specialists from outside of the organisation.

Managers andadministrators whohave gainedcompetence in OD

OD has become a general management skill.

These line managers and administrators have gained OD skillsand knowledge.As they gain OD competence, they become the firms internalchange agents.

They gain the competence from interaction with ODprofessionals, on-the-job training and formal OD education.

This type of change agents is also in response to the rapid paceof change affecting organisations today.


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7.1.2 Internal and External Change Agents: Pros andCons

A major decision to be made in OD is to determine who will be responsible foractually making the changes and controlling the change process. The choices areto employ either an internal or external change agent (Rollinson, 2005).

Internal change agents are organisation members who are either OD specialistsor who have gained experience and competence in OD. External change agentsare usually OD experts who are employed on a consultancy basis. Managers inorganisations generally need assistance in managing the process of change. Veryoften, they are not able to identify the real cause of the problem and determinethe right solution to the problem. In other words, they need help to solveorganisational problems. They need to be trained to identify the problem andfind the remedy so that they can improve things on their own. Finally, they needto learn to diagnose the problem and manage their own strengths andweaknesses to implement organisational changes more effectively.

Appointing a change agent from inside the organisation has its inherentadvantages and disadvantages (Grieves, 2010; Paton & McCalman, 2008). SeeTable 7.2 and Table 7.3.

External change agent An outside consultant who is an expert in managingchange. This person may be an OD professional or a specialist in an OD-related field.

Internal change agent Someone from within an organisation who isknowledgeable about the situation to be changed. This person may be an ODprofessional, a specialist in an OD-related field, a manager or anadministrator who is a member of the organisation.

Who can be a change agent in OD?

SELF-CHECK 7.1


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Table 7 2: Advantages of Appointing an Internal Change Agent

Advantages

(a) Internal change agents are more familiar and less threatening to organisationmembers than outsiders.

(b) They easily gain the rapport, trust and acceptance of the organisation members.

(c) They know the appropriate approach to change since they are part of the systemand are familiar with the change situation.

(d) They have access to a variety of data and information (that the external agent doesnot have). For example, they have access to direct observations.

(e) Given their abundant knowledge about the organisation, internal change agentstypically save time in diagnosing organisational problems.

(f) It is more cost effective to engage internal change agents.

Table 7 3: Disadvantages of Appointing an Internal Change Agent

Disadvantages

(a) Organisation members may perceive internal change agents as being politicallyinvolved in the changes and biased toward certain parties.

(b) Internal change agent may give special treatment to his own unit, or find ways ofexempting it from change.

(c) They may fail to see the true cause of the problem as insiders can be too involvedin what is going on within the organisation.

(d) Internal change agents may lack certain skills and experience in facilitatingorganisational change.

(e) They may not have the clout that is often associated with external experts.

(f) They may fail to remain objective with regard to the change situation due to peerpressure and the power influence of the supervisor.


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The advantages and disadvantages of employing an outside consultant or changeagent are shown in Table 7.4 and Table 7.5:

Table 7 4: Advantages of Appointing an External Change AgentAdvantages

(a) Organisation members perceive the external change agents as being unbiased andsee things objectively.

(b) They can bring in fresh ideas for change from a different perspective.

(c) They are able to provide a particular expertise that is unavailable internally.

(d) They are likely to be perceived as being less influenced by internal politics andpower struggle.

(e) They have the advantage of being able to probe difficult issues and to question thestatus quo.

(f) They often gain some expert power because of their perceived expertise andobjectivity, and they can use this to influence organisation members for change.

Table 7 5: Disadvantages of Appointing an External Change Agent

Disadvantages

(a) An outsider can be viewed as someone who has no understanding of theorganisational culture and how things work internally.

(b) External change agents have to take time to gain confidence, trust and acceptancefrom the employees affected by the change.

(c) They also need to take extra time to gain a working knowledge of the organisation.

(d) External change agents can be strongly mistrusted. Hence, they may be denied ofcertain information needed for change diagnosis.

(e) Organisation members may view the external consultants negatively. They may believe that, should problems arise, external consultants can simply walk awaywith little adverse consequence to themselves.

(f) They are expensive. The cost of one change project can run into tens of thousandsof Malaysian Ringgit.


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COMPETENCIES OF THE CHANGE AGENT

Irrespective of whether the person is appointed from inside or outside of theorganisation, the change agent is required to have certain aptitudes andcompetencies. The literature on what constitutes effective OD practitionersindicates a mixture of personality traits, skills and knowledge that can be assumedto lead to effective practice. These personal qualities, skills and knowledge arelisted in Table 7.6:

Table 7 6: Competencies of Change Agents

Personal Qualities Skills Knowledge

A sense of humour

A strong belief in theOD method

Awareness andsensitivity to socialissues

Awareness of ownfeelings and intuitions

ConsistencyEmpathy

Energy and self-direction

Ability to do self-assessment

Ability to establishtrust and rapport

Ability to influencepeople

Ability to listen

Ability to model

credible behaviourAbility to see thingsobjectively

Ability to teach andcoach others

Group dynamics

Job design

Human resourcemanagement

Knowledge of behavioural sciencetechniques

Knowledge of the

theories and methodswithin the consultantsown discipline

Management policyand strategy

7.2

1. Distinguish between internal and external change agents.2. What are the major advantages and disadvantages of employing

internal and external change agents?

3. Why do you think that a change agent is needed in organisations?

SELF-CHECK 7.2


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Imagination

Integrity

Flexibility

Honesty

Rational-emotive balance

Self-confidence

Tolerance forambiguity

Trustworthiness

Analytical anddiagnostic skills

A capability to confrontdifficult issues

Active learning skills

Communication skills

Computer skills

Counselling andcoaching

Designing andexecuting changeinterventions

Goal-setting ability

Good conceptual skills

Interviewing skills

Leadership skills

Motivational skills

Negotiation skills

Organisationaldiagnosis

Personal stressmanagement skills

Presentation skills

Problem-solving ability

Research skills

Team-building skills

Training skills

Writing proposal andreport skills

OD theory

Organisation theory

Organisation design

Social psychology

Theories of learning


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intervention programme. They must be able to lay out an action plan and togain organisation members commitment to the programme.

(d) O rganisation Development TheoryThe change agents should have a general knowledge in OD. They shouldhave a good understanding of the concept of planned change and thecontemporary approaches to managing change. They should also befamiliar with the range of available interventions and the ways ofinstitutionalising the change programmes.

CHANGE AGENTS CONSULTING STYLES

OD practitioners or change agents may engage in different consulting styles orapproaches in managing organisational change. Their consulting styles areshaped by the skills they possess, the change techniques they use, the values they bring to their client organisations and the manner in which they carry out theirchange programmes. In order to understand the consulting styles of changeagents systematically, a framework based on two interrelated goals ordimensions of the change process has been developed. This framework, whichrefers to the C onsultant Styles Matrix , provides a classification of consultantstyles that involves the change agents orientation to the following twointerrelated dimensions (Waddell, Cummings, & Worle, 2004):

(a) The degree of emphasis on effectiveness or goal accomplishment; and

(b) The degree of emphasis on relationships, morale and satisfaction of

organisation members.

Based on these two dimensions an emphasis on morale and an emphasis oneffectiveness, five different types of consultant styles can be identified. Figure 7.1shows the Consultant Styles Matrix.

7.3

Determine the important skills of an OD change agent.

SELF-CHECK 7.3


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Figure 7 1: Consultant styles matrixSource: Waddell, Cummings & Worley (2004)

Table 7.7 describes the characteristics of each of the five consultant styles.

Table 7 7: The Five Consultant Styles

Consultant Style Characteristics

The StabiliserStyle

This style does not emphasise on goal accomplishment and membersatisfaction.

The consultant wants to maintain a low profile and refrains frommaking critical changes.

Often, the underlying motivation is survival; or merely following thedirectives of the top management.

Such a style is usually found in large organisations wheredevelopment programmes are part of the staff function and are nothighly regarded by the top management.

It is characterised by a low degree of effectiveness and a low degreeof morale.


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The CheerleaderStyle

This style places high emphasis on member satisfaction, motivationand morale.

The assumption is that if member satisfaction is high, effectivenesswill also be high.

The cheerleader seeks warm working relationship and prefers non-confrontational situations.

It is characterised by a low degree of effectiveness and a high degreeof morale.

The AnalyserStyle

This style places high emphasis on efficiency with rational problem-solving process.

The analyser adopts a rational approach to solving problems and

believes in fact-based solutions.The analyser has the expertise, knowledge and experience to solvespecific problems.

This type of consultant can be quite confrontational; the authoritymay be called upon to resolve conflict.

It is characterised by a high degree of effectiveness and a low degreeof morale.

The PersuaderStyle

The aim of this style is to achieve something that is good enough.

Such a style yields a relatively low-risk strategy, avoiding directconfrontation with any party.

This approach may be used when the power of the consultant is lowrelative to other organisation members.

It is in the middle position, characterised by a medium degree ofeffectiveness and a medium degree of morale.

The PathfinderStyle

This style emphasises both on effectiveness and employee morale.

The pathfinder believes that greater effectiveness can be achievedwhen all members are involved and problem solving is done

through teamwork and collaboration.Hence, the pathfinder uses collaborative problem solving approach.

Confrontation and conflict are deemed to be a means to a moreeffective organisation with satisfied members.

It is characterised by a high degree of effectiveness and a highdegree of morale.

Source : Waddell, Cummings & Worley (2004)


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Generally, managers need special help from the change agent in diagnosingand solving organisational problems.

There is a mixture of personality traits, skills and knowledge that can beassumed to be effective OD practitioners.

All OD practitioners or change agents should possess the following basicskills and knowledge intrapersonal skills, interpersonal skills, generalconsultation skills and OD theory.

Five consulting styles of the change agents can be identified by theConsultant Styles Matrix. They are the stabiliser style, the cheerleader style,the analyser style, the persuader style and the pathfinder style.

Catalysts for change

Competencies of change agent

Consultant styles matrix

External change agent

Internal change agent

OD practitioner

OD professionals

Types of change agent

Burnes, B. (2004). Managing change (4th ed.). Harlow, England: Prentice HallFinancial Times.

Cummings, T. G., and Worley, C. G. (2005). Organization development andchange (8th ed.). Mason, Ohio: South-Western.

Grieves, J. (2010). Organizational change: Themes & issues . Oxford: OxfordUniversity Press.

Paton, R. A., & McCalman, J. (2008). Change management: A guide to effectiveimplementation (3rd ed.). London: Sage Publications.


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Rollinson (2005). Organisational behaviour and analysis . Harlow, England:Prentice Hall Financial Times.

Waddell, D. M., Cummings, T. G., & Worley, C. G. (2004). Organisationdevelopment and change (2nd ed.). Southbank Victoria: Thomson.

topic 7 the change agent or od practitioner

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