Change management and your electrical safety program

A Change Agent understands that their job is not done when their Electrical Safety Program (“ESP”) is approved and funded; in fact their job has just begun. The long-term success and sustainability of an ESP, as with any organizational change, depends on how well people throughout the impacted culture accept and adopt the change(s). But, as we all know from personal experience, change can be unsettling or upsetting to people who feel that change is being thrust upon them. So how do successful “Change Agents” do it? How do they lead entire organizations to adopt new work processes, new job requirements, new department configurations? The change management principals needed to lead a team through rapid growth, or downsizing are similar to those required when a management team sets out to change the culture of electrical safety in their organization. This paper will explore the principals and processes needed to become an effective Change Agent. Note: This paper builds off the one delivered at the 2012 ESW, “Selling Electrical Safety in Your Organization.” However, the concepts herein do not require a prior knowledge of that paper.