The individual as the unit of change
Two ADKAR articles from the archives 

The two ADKAR tutorials presented below were first released in early 2007 leading up to the release of Jeff Hiatt's book ADKAR: a model for change in business, government and our community - a complete description of the model. The tutorials presented here are:

• The Essence of ADKAR: a model for individual change - a short article written by Jeff Hiatt focusing on the individual as the unit of change and ADKAR as a tool for describing individual success
• Why you need an individual change model - this tutorial addresses the individual more generally, covering the role of an individual model, the risks of not having an individual model and applications of an individual model for change

The Essence of ADKAR: a model for individual change

By Jeffrey M. Hiatt
Author of the definitive book on ADKAR: ADKAR: a model for change in business, government and our community

Consider that when a group undergoes a change, it is not the organization that changes, but rather the behaviors of individuals. This change in collective behavior is what produces different outcomes for the organization. For example, when a company reorganizes, it is not the restructuring that represents the change, but rather the shift in accountabilities and responsibilities for each person. New behavior results, and different business outcomes are achieved. In other words, organizations don’t change, people within organizations change.

With this basic principle of organizational change, a simple connection can be made between change projects and business results. The link between any strategy, process or system change and the associated business results is the collection of individual changes that occur one person at a time.

Understanding how to achieve change at an individual level, therefore, is essential to achieving the objectives of any large-scale change. This is called individual change management. Organizational change management and individual change management must be used together to manage change successfully.

The ADKAR model reflects the necessary building blocks for individual change and was developed based on analysis of research data from over 900 organizations over a 10 year period. The abbreviation stands for:

These elements represent the most basic requirements for a person to achieve and sustain a change. By their nature, they cannot be skipped or reordered. For example, you cannot manage change with employees in a business by simply sending them to a training class. They may not know why the change is happening and may be resistant to both the training and the change.

The link, therefore, between strategy, process or systems changes and associated business results is the collective achievement of the ADKAR elements by individuals in an organization. Specifically, the ultimate business results are a function of how many individuals work through the elements of the ADKAR model leading to the ability to implement the change, and to what degree that capability is reinforced.

With this working model for individual change management, organizational change management models can now be applied more effectively and more deliberately. Said another way, organizational change management approaches are not as effective without a method for measuring success at an individual level.

For example, consider the many different forms of organizational change management including:

• Communications
• Sponsorship
• Employee involvement
• Training and education
• Resistance management
• Rewards and recognition
• Coaching by managers and supervisors

Successful change does not result by merely completing these activities. Our goal, and what we can subsequently measure, are the outcomes of awareness, desire, knowledge, ability and reinforcement. This is also true for structured approaches for managing change including processes from John Kotter, Daryl Connor, Jeanenne LaMarsh and Prosci. You can map or align nearly all change management techniques to an ADKAR element, allowing your change management team to connect “activities” to a measurable standard for moving individuals through the change process. The ADKAR model is that link between individual performance, organizational change management and business results. 

Why you need an individual change model

This tutorial examines why an individual change model is critical for change management to be successful. It shows the need for and uses of an individual change model and the risks of attempting to manage change without an individual model.

Email this tutorial to a friend

Summary of the need for an individual perspective of change

Reasons we need an individual change perspective

An individual model for change is necessary for organizational change management to be effective. It defines the outcomes or results that organizational activities are trying to achieve. Ultimately, an individual change model is critical because:

1. Successful organizational change only results when individuals are successful at change
   • How valuable is a new process that no one adopts? How valuable is a new web-based tool that no one uses? How valuable is an ERP if no one is using it correctly? The answer to these questions is the essence of the fact that organizational change is only successful when each impacted individual makes their own successful transition. In fact, a poorly managed change can actually have severe adverse impacts. I remember hearing a story about a man working in a warehouse who was being told by the system that he could not ship product, despite the fact that it was sitting in front of him on the shelf. A customer was being deprived of a product because someone upstream had not used the new ERP system correctly. Any organizational initiative that impacts how people do their jobs is only as successful as each employee at making the personal change.
2. While we are all different, as human beings we respond to change fairly predictably
   • At first glance, your reaction might be "oh no, everybody is unique" - and you are correct. However, the way we as human beings respond to change is actually very similar. For instance, it is basic human nature to be curious about why a change is happening and what has resulted in the need for change.
3. An individual change model like ADKAR provides the key building blocks for successful individual change (and hence successful organizational change)
   • Following the two principles above, we can directly connect an individual change model to achieving organizational goals and objectives. What has sometimes been considered the "soft issues" is actually at the center of meeting the goals our projects and strategic initiatives. An effective individual change model, like Prosci's ADKAR model, describes what successful change looks like from the individual's perspective.

Risk of not having an individual change perspective

There are a number of risks to attempting change management without a solid foundation in how individuals go through change. This is perhaps one of the biggest risks of 'recipe-driven' change management approaches. We cannot think of change management as merely checking the box and moving forward. Because of principle 1 above, we must focus on how well each individual is moving through their own personal transition for change management to be successful.

Two major risks of trying change management without an individual change model:

• We do the activities, but do not have the appropriate focus on the individuals undergoing change
  • The individual change model defines the outcome we are trying to achieve when we implement change. In the absence of this individual perspective, project teams run a significant risk of completing activities but not achieving results. In the face of significant resistance, a team might say "but we sent 43 communications" or "everyone went through the training program". This is evidence of doing change management activities without a focus on what the activities were trying to achieve.
• We have no way of knowing if we have succeeded
  • Since the individual change model describes the desired outcomes, it also establishes a framework to know if we have been successful. Without the individual change model, it is impossible to tell whether or not change management activities are achieving their desired results.

Applications of the individual change perspective

The ADKAR model has proven to be so effective that it is taught in Prosci's 3-day certification, 1-day managers program and 4-6 hour executive sessions. Our clients have been very successful when they get each of these very different groups thinking about change in terms of ADKAR. Speaking practically, there are several main applications of the individual change model:

• Provides focus to organizational change management activities
  • Individual change models provide focus for the numerous change management activities we complete. For example, it is commonly accepted that communication is critically important to succeed at change. But what should we communicate about? In the absence of an individual change management model, project teams resort to telling others what they have been doing, describing the solution in detail. ADKAR reorients the focus of efforts from "communicating" to "building awareness", or from "training" to "building knowledge". This seemingly subtle shift in perspective is what differentiates mediocre change management from exceptional change management. It is what enables project and change teams to truly achieve results.
• Gives direction measuring effectiveness and for corrective actions
  • How do we know if our change management activities are working? For change management teams, an individual change model like ADKAR allows them to collect data from different groups across the organization to 1) understand how effective their organizational change management activities have been and to 2) take corrective action. For example, if the team determines that awareness of the need for change is low, then adjustments can be made to the communication plans and sponsor plans to correct this situation. If, on the other hand, knowledge and ability are low, then adjustments to training and coaching plans can be made. Without a focus on the outcomes described in an individual change model, it is not always clear what actions should be taken to correct a situation. The individual change model provides a way to assess where the individuals in the organization are related to the change and how to help them move forward.
• Gives managers and supervisors a real tool to use when coaching employees
  • An individual change model provides managers and supervisors with a tool for managing change at an individual level, the essence of coaching an employee through change. If we want our managers to have effective conversations with employees about a change, then we must equip them with the tools they need. Teaching them about ADKAR and how to use it with their employees prepares them to fulfill their role in making change successful.
• Is an effective tool for both project and 'non-project' changes
  • Not all change in organizations take place in the context of a project. Each and every day, employees, supervisors, managers and senior leaders face change. An individual model of change gives them a tool that can be used to manage these 'non-project' changes.

Next steps

Prosci's ADKAR model is one of the most popular and widely used individual change models. Participants in our 3-day certification programs often comment that the work around the ADKAR model is the most important part of the program.

###

Email this tutorial to a friend

Options for learning more about ADKAR: