What Is a Change Agent? (Plus Skills Useful for the Role)

Updated February 3, 2023

Three people in discussion around a table with a laptop.

Change agents inspire and lead planned change in their workplaces. Through formal and informal leadership, they can increase employee satisfaction, optimize organizational efficiency and increase a company's ability to meet its goals. If this sounds appealing to you, it might be helpful to learn more about being a change agent.In this article, we discuss what a change agent is, list the key characteristics and provide tips for developing your skills as a change agent.

What is a change agent?

A change agent is an action-oriented leader who seeks to improve an organization's logistical, technical and interpersonal functions by changing policies, systems, processes or operational norms. They can work in many professional settings where they communicate why something is a problem, generate specific ideas for change and identify individuals to implement changes with them.Change agents can be internal employees who oversee change processes or external consultants who improve an organization's systems and outcomes. By taking initiative and showing leadership, they may give colleagues the confidence to also initiate change. For example, colleagues may join a current project or develop their own changes to improve the organization.Related: Why Is Change Important in an Organization? (And How To Encourage It)

Characteristics of effective change agents

Change agents work to challenge and improve existing practices, propose solutions for problems they've identified and work with colleagues to implement solutions. Some of their key characteristics include:

Ability to develop ideas

Change agents typically have a plan for specific changes they want to implement in an organization, including big and small details for a final product and a change process. Specific ideas can help them build an action plan, stay organized and lead others. Describing their ideas to colleagues can help them generate support for the desired change among their peers and supervisors. An example of a specific idea for change is presenting a detailed description of a replacement system for an existing one.Related: Change Management: Definition, Types and Benefits

Strong interpersonal skills

Many change agents have strong interpersonal skills, including building and maintaining relationships, communicating effectively, demonstrating empathy and providing constructive criticism. These skills can enable them to understand the impact of an organization's systems and processes on its employees, whresultingn more informed decision-making and stronger leadership. They can use their interpersonal skills to explain the importance of changes to their colleagues and generate peer support for a proposed change.Related: Interpersonal Skills: Definitions, Examples and How To Improve

Willingness to challenge ideas

Being a change agent may involve taking some risks, such as challenging ideas or making suggestions that may not be popular with peers or supervisors. Change agents can consider the potential benefit to the organization and its employees when determining when and how to take risks. They can also prepare for challenging situations by creating backup plans. Being willing to take risks for the organization's benefit may help build respect from colleagues and help advance needed change.Related: Change Leadership vs. Change Management (Plus Definitions)

Flexibility

Change processes are often complex, so having flexibility can be important for change agents. They may adjust their strategies or find alternative solutions when confronted with obstacles. For example, they may work with the human resources department to identify alternative solutions if they encounter challenges when changing the educational requirements for prospective new employees. Together, they might adjust other required qualifications or company recruitment strategies to attract candidates with diverse professional backgrounds and skill sets.Related: 17 Change Management Principles

Industry expertise

Regardless of what industry they work in, change agents require an understanding of how their industry works and how to organize and implement systems, policies and structures. This includes knowledge of employee-facing systems like hiring, termination, performance reviews and benefits. It also includes knowledge of operations, such as budgeting, teaming structure, contracting and procurement. With this knowledge, they can make informed recommendations that may help improve the organization while adhering to industry regulations.Related: Everything You Need To Know About the Planned Change Process

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Tips to develop your skills as a change agent

Specific skills can help you succeed as a change agent, such as passion, initiative, analysis, critical thinking, problem-solving, planning and communication. To develop these skills, consider following these tips:

Observe your environment

Start your development by observing your current work environment and noting areas you want to change. This can help you develop data collection, analysis and critical thinking skills. Keeping formal records, informal notes or tracking information about a certain challenge may help ensure you're prepared when it's time to implement change. Observing the change and decision-making culture of your work environment, including which change strategies are effective, can also prepare you to initiate change.Related: 6 Methods of Data Collection (With Types and Examples)

Learn from your peers

Learning from other change agents can help you develop your skills, whether in a personal or professional environment. Examine how other change agents create or change policies in organizations, noting how they suggest new methods of doing things. Observing their approaches, successes, failures and techniques can help you build similar skills.Related: 11 Change Management Activities for Effective Workplace Change (With Examples)

Practice on a small scale

Making changes on a small scale can allow you to develop strategies and analyze results before making larger changes. This can also allow you to learn from potential mistakes. You can begin by testing changes within your own team and then deciding if you want to implement these changes at the organizational level. For example, if you want to change the form of communication the company uses, you might test out new communication strategies with smaller groups before implementing change within the entire company.Related: Top 10 Communication Skills for Career Success

Seek feedback from others

Seeking and incorporating feedback from trusted peers, mentors or supervisors who understand the change management process is a great way to develop your skills. Asking for specific feedback can help them provide you with helpful, actionable advice. For example, rather than asking general questions about your overall performance, you might ask for feedback specifically about the effectiveness of your communication in reaching diverse audiences.