Why change agents fail - and what to do about it
09/12/2011
If you’ve been in a typical large organisation for some time, you will no doubt have experienced a number of change management initiatives. If your organisation has managed to implement these successfully in the long term, it will certainly be in the minority.
Organisations tend to implement change management initiatives as part of a continuous improvement drive. There is a vast variety of tools available and a host of ‘change agents’ to select from. Making the right choice is of key importance if you want the organisational change to last longer than just the initial enthusiastic phase.
Unfortunately, this vital choice is often based on factors that have no real influence on results, such as where the change agent used to work, or the company’s ‘brand name’. Using tools in isolation to drive continuous improvement also doesn't work and as a result many change initiatives fail in the long run. This results in a number of very negative outcomes, such as a blaming others by coming to conclusions such as "They are stuck in the old way", or "They don't want to change”. There are a number of reasons why change leaders can struggle to engage with people and influence organisational change –typically these are down to behaviours such as leading by example, effective communication and respect for others. At the core of these behaviours is self awareness and integrity.
Having been involved in change management programmes for many years, it became clear that there is a real need for a mechanism to identify the actual reasons why people change. As a result CLAW 360 was developed. By using a tool such as CLAW 360 those responsible for leading change can get direct feedback on how others view their behaviours – giving them the insight they need to become more self-aware and focus on the elements for their leadership role that need to improve.
To truly reap the benefits of an organisational change initiative, change leaders need to lead with the right set of behaviours. This can only happen through a deeper understanding of how they themselves may need to change.