It's been a while since my past post on employee engagement. It seems to be a topic that gets me a little cranky. So it was some-what amusing when I was asked to participate in a panel at the World PR Forum in an IABC track on employee engagement and change. Always up for being the contrarian on a panel. Except as it turned out we were all in agreement really. Violent agreement.

"True" OCM Managers are those professionals who have a blend of business acumen, hard nosed project management and delivery skills, deep knowledge of change models (and the wisdom to use or switch to the right models) as well as the breadth and depth of experience honed over extensive years of "walking the talk". They are the rare breed that can blend the logical with the emotional to drive sustainable improvement.

How do you identify a 'real' change manager? Gee whiz - a loaded question that one hey?It’s starting with the assumption that there is such thing as a “real” change manager, which I am not really comfortable with. I maintain that people come from all sorts of disciplines to play critical roles in change, and add significant value, and I get wary of the desire to “pigeon hole” or create a cookie cutter template of a “real” change manager.on.

Sometimes dealing with uncertainty during workplace change can be worse than the change event itself. Actually, most times. And it can be really surprising who in your team or immediate colleagues copes with the uncertainty and who doesn’t.