How do you choose the right skills for change management hires?

As a talent management professional, I recognize the importance of assessing the change context thoroughly. Understanding the unique challenges and dynamics surrounding the change is crucial for identifying the right skills in change management hires. By delving into the scope, urgency, and resistance levels, I can pinpoint the expertise needed to navigate through the complexities of the change process successfully. Tailoring the approach based on the specific context ensures that our team and clients receive the most effective and relevant support, maximizing the chances of a smooth and positive transition.

There’s a preceding step which is understanding the organizational context. This will influence the kind of individual and experience you’re looking for. The reality is most companies will be going through all these kinds of changes at the same time (minor AND transformative, planned AND reactive, etc.) Therefore, it’s important to find someone that can first be a successful change agent in that company at its stage of growth. Is startup experience a must have? Experience with a global footprint? What about industry experience? They won’t be able to influence change if their experience doesn’t match the org context or they don’t have sufficient credibility to influence the people.

It's also important to consider the purpose or reason for change. Beginning with the end in mind is always a great place to start from!

The size of an organization and the complexity of the environment are also important to consider when assessing the context of change. It is also important to determine the change is structural, systems related, or technological. A question to ask is whether the change is being imposed or has many partners at the table?

In change management, determining the scope the transformation is to cover is a fundamental aspect in which other activities will rely.

Inclusive design principles are also important for architecting a change programme that is inclusive to everyones needs and can help mitigate the resistance that seems to be an expectation of change programmes - when actually inclusion could be an enabler

Strategic foresight and the ability to produce information for the subject matter experts and lay audiences are also desirable skills. The ability to translate the change in oral, written, and visual form is key.

As a talent management professional, I value the core competencies required for change management professionals. Communication skills enable effective articulation of the change vision and fostering open dialogue with stakeholders. Collaboration builds trust and ensures alignment, promoting a cohesive approach to change implementation. Problem-solving expertise allows for proactive identification and resolution of challenges, ensuring a smoother transition. Emotional intelligence helps understand and address the emotional impact of change, fostering empathy and support for individuals affected. Resilience ensures adaptability and determination, crucial for navigating uncertainties and pressures during change.

As a talent management professional, recognizing the need for specific skills in change management is essential. Understanding the unique context and approach of each change initiative allows us to seek out professionals with the right expertise. Project-based change requires talents in project management, stakeholder analysis, and assessing change impact and readiness. For culture-based change, we value skills in organizational development, change leadership, coaching, and facilitation. Embracing a hybrid approach means finding individuals who can blend the necessary skills effectively. By tailoring our search for specific skills, we ensure our teams and clients receive expert guidance, fostering successful and adaptive change.

its important to realise that values can change in the current, interim and future state models especially if its a cultural change, a merger or an acquisition. An individual with higher level values and less ego centric is going to be more of an enabler to a change programmes and the Barrett Values model is a great way to visualise this

Evaluating the fit and potential of change management candidates is crucial for successful transformations. Ensuring they align with our culture, values, and vision ensures a harmonious collaboration. Identifying candidates' willingness to adapt and improve promotes growth and resilience during change initiatives. Selecting the right skills based on context and approach tailors the hiring process for optimal results. By making informed decisions, we empower organizations and clients to embark on change journeys confidently and achieve their goals.

When hiring people to bring about change, whether it be a project or culture based change, alignment to rules and values as well as maintaining boundaries is critical to contain a change process. Values drive what will be made of value and ultimately what becomes valuable enough to be a product, service or asset. Values are important to change as is their conversion to what is of value and ultimately a valuable. The person hired has to have a mastery for identifying working rules, values and boundaries as well as shifts that may be needed for the change process. Without effective oversight of those shifts the change initiative can start to have its integrity undermined.

Truly, there's is no one cap fits all in change management. The assessments at various levels helps with determining what works.

Change management is everyone's job in an organization, not just the team or function responsible for running/governing it. Given that, when hiring for a role/function leading it, you want to make sure they have the skills to drive change through others. Given this, you may find there is a lot of overlap in people management skills like effective communication, storytelling, influence, delegation, coaching, etc... You may also want to look for examples or samples of work where the individual built resources designed to be leveraged by others. This will showcase their skills in user-experience design and empathy.