Title of Paper

Successful organizational change management and the right change agent.

Audience
This paper is intended for human resource practitioners and other administrative personnel
tasked with overseeing major changes in their organizations.

Purpose
This paper aims to look at the relationship between successful organizational change
management and the appointment of the right change agent.

Introduction

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The recent Covid-19 pandemic sent organizations into a frenzy at the start of 2020. The virus
moved at a rapid pace spewing unexpected changes in how organizations operated on a daily
basis. The changes were unpredictable and unprecedented and left many organizations
unprepared. Organizations struggled to implement the changes needed to ensure that their
businesses remained viable and their labour force safe. Fusch et al., (2020) stated, “the Covid-19
global pandemic appears to be a crisis in which business leaders need to quickly implement
change initiatives to respond to the social needs of public safety, safety of the employees in the
workplace, and market their products in order to survive the crisis” and “the International Labour
Oragnization (ILO) estimated that four hundred and thirty-six million companies will experience
disruption in operations due to the pandemic, affecting sixty-eight percent of the world’s labour
force”. Considering the aforementioned, this paper aims to examine the relationship between
successful organizational change management and the appointment of the right change agent.
Afterall, it was Benjamin Franklin who said, “by failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail”.

Organizational change as defined by Zainol et al., (2021), “is the movement of an organization
from a current known state to an unknown desired future state”. According to Fusch et al.,
(2020), for organizational change to be successful, employing a change model is imperative. This
view is supported by Errida and Lotfi (2021), who by virtue of extensive research, generated a
list of twelve (12) critical success factors from the thirty-seven (37) models of change
management found. The list was categorized according to the similarities found, of which the
need for a change agent remains constant.

At the end of this paper, readers will be left with an understanding of organizational change
management and the process involved, the role the right change agent plays in the process and
the relationship between the change agent and the factors that are deemed critical to the success
of a change management exercise.

Change management and the right change agent

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Organizational change management is a simple process. It is a series of events that must occur
from start to finish. Whether the change is planned or unplanned, like the Covid-19 pandemic, in
order for change to occur a process is involved. Zainal et al., (2021), describes the change
process as three (3) phases of continuous fast movements. The principles of which are derived
from Lewin’s unfreezing, moving and refreezing model of change. In other words, the
organizational change process is one where you must stop and examine the problem, get going
on the solutions identified to correct the problem and finally, evaluate the solutions to ensure that
the problem is fixed.

Stop, slow, and go. Think about it, did your organization employ a business continuity plan to
combat the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic? Can you imagine the level of efficiency in
Government run organizations if a business continuity plan was create for each entity to response
to any crisis? Whilst many organizations struggled to enact a plan, most found their way after
many attempts. So, whether it be a linear or an ad hoc organizational change process, I am sure
there was a whole series of steps involved.

Zainol et al., (2021), in their research, stated that, “leaders must become the change agent in
promoting change by creating vision”, Errida and Lotfi (2021), stated that, “change agents must
be highly motivated” and Fusch et al., (2021), stated that, “change initiatives are usually best
implemented internally by those who know how each component may impact others”. From this,
the deduction is made that the right change agent for organizational change is an internal
employee with leadership capabilities who is able to motivate staff and share the change vision.
The right change agent is the most important element of the change process. This individual is
responsible for bridging the gap between the employees and employers, informing both parties of
the mutually beneficial advantages of the change or changes needed in the organization. The
right change agent can communicate with employees at varying levels in the organization and is
able to command the respect needed to alleviate resistance and galvanize the demotivated. The
role of the change agent in the organizational change process is to investigate, evaluate,
motivate, and mediate. Can you recall and identify the person in your organization that played
this role during the implementation of operational changes at the peak of the Covid-19
pandemic? Who kept you motivated and focused on the objective of moving to a work from
home modality and grasping the use of unfamiliar technologies such as the Zoom platform?

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Whomever that person was, I am sure you were grateful to have them onboard to help guide this
change.

Change is constant and ever evolving. However, you can tell if your change management
exercise was successful if you have a method to measure if the change was successfully
implemented. According to Zainol et al., (2021), change management critical success factors
include communication, a governance structure, and a change agent. Errida and Lotfi (2021),
added resistance management, leadership, and a measurement plan to the list of critical success
factors. With the success factors in mind, organizations must communicate the strategic vision
and new direction to all stakeholders. At this juncture, the right change agent must be positioned
to communicate the vision and settle resistance when they emerge. Errida and Lotfi (2021),
stated that resistance is the biggest barrier that can make change difficult, if not impossible.

Before, during and after the change process, it is vital that organizations keep focus on their
desired vision and ensure that their leadership is able to guide the process. Fusch et al., (2020),
concurs in their research where they found that, leaders must provide resources to their
employees and understand the need for delegation of tasks. Change management is a fragile
process and easily broken if the plan for change is not properly communicated, executed and
evaluated. Did the agent of change in your organization during the covid-19 pandemic help to
reduce the negativity around remote work and the new culture that formed? With the critical
success factors in mind, can you say if the changes implemented to combat the covid-19
pandemic in your organization was successful?

The relationship between a successful change process and the appointment of the right change
agent is the most critical part of a change management exercise. The right change agent is not
necessarily the a senior member of staff but an individual who is able to communicate with all
stakeholders and remains unbiased for the benefit of most. During the height of the covid-19
pandemic, government run entities struggled to appoint an agent of change to communicate the
need for new behaviours to ensure the continued operations of their entities. With no business
continuity plan in place, the covid-19 pandemic crippled productivity and forced the government
of Jamaica to implement wide spread lock downs across the island. Can recall an emergency
situation where you needed to visit a government run facility in 2020, were you able to conduct
your business seamlessly? Do you believe that mandating government entities to have a

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designated change agent and a business continuity plan would aid change management exercises
when the need arises?

Conclusion

This paper began with a recap of the covid-19 pandemic and the need for instant change. I
looked at definitions and research that provided insights to the change management process and
the need for a change agent. At the end of each point, you were asked questions to help you
access the need for mandated change agents and plans to combat crisis in government facilities.
You were also asked to reflect on the events at your work organization to aid your understanding
of the change process and the critical success factors involved. Communication, leadership,
resistance management, a change plan and the right agent of change became critical during the
covid-19 pandemic. In a world where being adaptable is vital to organizations survival, leaders
must ensure that their governance structures include a plan for change and an agent to lead said
change.

Whilst Jamaica was praised by the World Health Organization for its implementation of
measures following the first positive case of the covid-19 virus, other reports highlighted the
struggles faced by Government Ministries. Can you image working for an organization or
conducting business with an organization that is constantly evolving and implementing changes
that make operations efficient? Are you an agent of change that will help guide your organization
to successful implementation of best practices?

References

1. Errida, A., & Lotfi, B. (2021). The determinants of organizational change management
success: Literature Review and Case Study. International Journal of Engineering Business
Management, 13.

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2. Fusch, G. E., Ness, L., Booker, J. M., & Fusch, P. I. (2020). People and process: Successful
change management initiatives. Journal of Social Change, 12, 166–184.

3. Zainol, N. Z., Kowang, T. O., Hee, O. C., Fei, G. C., & Kadir, B. B. (2021). Managing
organizational change through effective leadership: A review from literature. International
Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 11(1).