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Introduction
Page 1... ADKAR Overview
Why do some changes fail while others succeed? After extensive
research with hundreds of organizations undergoing major change, I have
observed that the root cause of failure is not simply inadequate
communications or poor training. Success is not to be found in excellent
project management alone, or even the best vision or solution to a
problem. The secret to successful change lies beyond the visible and
busy activities that surround change. Successful change, at its core, is
rooted in something much simpler: How to facilitate change with one
person.
The ADKAR model presented in this book is a framework for
understanding change at an individual level. This model is then extended
to show how businesses, government agencies and communities can increase
the likelihood that their changes are implemented successfully.
Page 143... ADKAR Applications
Once the ADKAR perspective is rooted into your process for analyzing
change, you can readily apply it to any number of situations. You can
develop a “new lens” through which to observe and influence change. You
may be working for change in your public school system or in a small
city council. You may be sponsoring change in your department at work.
You may be observing large changes that are being attempted at the
highest levels of government or you may be leading an enterprise-wide
change initiative. The perspective enabled by the ADKAR model allows you
to view change in a new way. You can begin to see the barrier points and
understand the levers that can move your changes forward.
After 10 years of applying the ADKAR model with businesses,
government agencies and local communities, I have observed the “light
bulb” coming on time and time again. This simple model enables business
managers to see change as a process.
The best phone call I ever received was from a business manager who
was a former student in one of my classes. He started the call by
saying, “I thought this model was too simple to be applicable.”
I was unsure where the call was heading from that introductory
remark, but before I could ask he went on to say, “But today I had an
employee in my office who was struggling with one of our changes. This
was a valued employee and I wanted to do the right thing, but found
myself at a loss for what to say. I looked down at the small pencil box
with the engraved ADKAR model, and thought, why not, let’s give it a
try.”
He paused for a moment, leaving me somewhat anxious for the outcome
of his meeting. Rather than tell me the details, he simply said, “That’s
why I called. Just to say thank you. It worked. I just wanted to let you
know.”
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Page 6... on Awareness
In a 2005 study with 411 companies undergoing major change projects,
the number one reason for resistance to change was lack of awareness of
why the change was being made. Project managers of these major change
initiatives stated that employees and managers alike wanted to know the
business reasons for the change so they could better understand the
change and align themselves with the direction of the organization. When
asked what messages were the most important to share with employees,
project managers stated:
Communicate the business need for change and explain why the change
is necessary; provide the compelling reasons for the change and
emphasize the risk of not changing.
Some managers argue, however, that employees do not need to know the
reasons behind every change. They hold the position that employees are
compensated for performing a job, and if that job should change,
employees should just do those new tasks rather than ask why a change is
needed.
When an organization has a high degree of control over an
individual’s actions and choices, whether through circumstance or mutual
agreement, this viewpoint may not be an obstacle to change. For example,
medical first responders and firefighters have established protocols and
a clear chain of command. When emergency circumstances dictate a change
in their response, rescue personnel do not stop to ask why. Likewise,
when soldiers are operating under a crisis situation, the long-honored
nature of military relationships enables rapid compliance to change.
However, these extraordinary, time-critical situations are more the
exception than the rule.
In many high-performing workplace environments, an organization’s
control over an individual’s day-to-day work is low. For example,
manufacturing employees using Six Sigma techniques are engaged in the
everyday improvement of work processes. These employees take ownership
of both the work product and associated procedures. They assume
accountability for the results of their work. In these circumstances,
organizations have a lower degree of direct control over their
employees’ day-to-day activities. When changes are mandated from above,
these employees are the first to ask “Why is this change being made?”
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Page 17... on Desire
Desire is the second element of the ADKAR model and represents the
motivation and ultimate choice to support and participate in a change.
Creating desire poses a challenge, in part because of the limited
control we have over another person’s choices. Unlike
awareness-building, where we can take definitive steps to generate
awareness of the need for change, creating the desire to change remains
elusive and, by definition, not under our direct control.
For example, the pineapple growers in Ghana could not be forced to
follow the codes of practice, but they could be made aware of the
potential consequences and benefits so that they could make the best
business decision. People may be aware that certain vehicles produce
lower emissions through Graz’s reduced parking fees campaign, but that
does not mean they are going to rush out to purchase a new hybrid car. I
may be aware that my PC monitor contains some lead, based on the EPA’s
program with Dell, but I may not be willing to recycle my computer.
Awareness enables people to begin the process of evaluating a change,
but does not necessarily result in a desire to change.
Likewise, in the workplace, managers can develop new processes, tools
and organizational structures. They can purchase new technology and
promote new values for their organization. However, they cannot force
their employees to support and engage in these changes.
A common mistake made by many business leaders is to assume that by
building awareness of the need for change they have also created
desire.
Resistance to change from employees takes them by surprise and they find
themselves unprepared to manage this resistance. Understanding the
underlying factors that influence an individual’s desire to change is an
important first step to achieving this element of the ADKAR model.
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Page 23... on Knowledge
“Green” Hotels Association introduced a change in 1993 that has
spread throughout hotels in the United States and impacts many business
and vacation travelers. After a trip to Germany, Patricia Griffin,
founder and president of “Green” Hotels Association, returned with an
idea to change the way hotel guests treated bath towels. On the surface
this could appear to be a daunting challenge. How could one person
initiate a change that would impact thousands of hotel guests? It began
with the printing of a small card that would hang on the towel rack in
hotel guest rooms. The card, which you may have seen while traveling on
business or vacation, essentially says:
Each day we use millions of gallons of water and tons of detergent in
hotels to wash guest towels that have been used only once.
Decide for yourself. A towel on the rack means: “I will use it
again.”
A towel on the floor or the tub means: “Please exchange.”
By 2005, “Green” Hotels Association’s guest cards could be seen in
more than 150,000 guest rooms. Hotels are reporting significant savings
in water, utility and detergent costs. This change has helped conserve
water and reduce operating expenses while protecting our environment.
Fifteen years earlier most hotel guests would have scoffed at the
suggestion that towels be reused. Many people would consider this
nothing more than a cost-savings attempt by a “cheap” hotel manager.
Imagine the reaction of hotel guests to a sign that reads, “Please reuse
your towel. It saves us money.” Yet, in this case, “Green” Hotels Association was able to
successfully implement this change, and nearly every major hotel chain
now uses similar towel cards in their guest rooms. What was different
about how this change was managed that made it a success?
If you analyze the simple text on this card, notice that awareness is
the starting point. Many hotel guests may have never considered the
implications associated with the simple process of washing towels.
Decades of washing every towel and sheet in guest rooms have made us
insensitive or perhaps unconscious of the impact this has on the
environment. The card then states clearly: “Decide for yourself.” This
simple expression captures the essence of desire. It is ultimately up to
each hotel guest to participate or not participate in the program.
Finally, the card states how to change: “Hanging up the towel means
I’ll use it again” and “A towel on the floor means please exchange.”
This phrase captures the how or the knowledge component of the change in
very simple terms. Within this simple card the first three elements of
the ADKAR model are realized. Since the fourth phase, ability, is the
simple act of placing towels back on the towel bar, the change took
hold. The reinforcement for sustaining the change comes from two
sources; first the hotel guests’ gratification that they have helped in
a small way with a large environmental issue, and second, the hotel’s
expense reduction from using less water, electricity and detergent.
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Page 43... The ADKAR model
The ADKAR model has five elements that define the basic building
blocks for successful change:
- Awareness
- Desire
- Knowledge
- Ability
- Reinforcement
By its nature, ADKAR is an individual change management model. In
other words, ADKAR represents the essential elements of change for a
single person. When a group of individuals experience change, ADKAR can
be used:
- As a coaching tool to support individuals through the change
process
- To guide change management activities like communications, sponsorship, coaching and training
- To diagnose a
struggling change by performing an ADKAR assessment
In the workplace, missing or weak elements of the ADKAR model can
undermine business changes. In the absence of awareness and desire, you
can expect more resistance from employees, slower adoption of the
change, higher turnover and delays in implementation. If awareness and
desire are extremely low, project failure is likely. In the absence of
knowledge and ability, you can expect lower utilization throughout the
organization, incorrect usage of new processes and tools, a negative
impact on customers and a sustained reduction in productivity. In the
absence of reinforcement, you can expect individuals to lose interest
and revert to old behaviors. Each of these consequences impacts the
probability of success for a change and lowers the return on investment
(ROI) for the project overall.
When the ADKAR elements are achieved, employees become engaged and
energized. The change is adopted faster. Employees contribute ideas and
seek out new ways to support the change. Employees have the knowledge
and ability to implement the change such that the business goals are
realized or exceeded. Employees celebrate success. Flexibility and
adaptability become part of the organization’s value system; a more
change-capable organization results.
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Page 63... on Building Awareness
A common assumption is that awareness building is equal to
communications. Yet, sharing information does not always produce
awareness. Recall from Chapter 2 the factors that influence the degree
to which individuals internalize awareness messages, including:
- Their view of the current state
- How they perceive problems
- The
credibility of the sender of awareness messages
- The circulation of
misinformation or rumors
- The contestability of the reasons for change
Because of these factors, the act of communicating does not always
produce the result of awareness. For example, employees at an energy
services company were interviewed after attending a meeting that
announced a major restructuring effort. The goal of the meeting was to
share the nature of the change and the business reasons for the
restructuring. The following quotes from different employees show the
range of awareness, from skepticism to total conviction, in the
business’s reasons for change.
We have heard all of this before. When things are not going well
around here, a reorganization is usually the answer.
This is just another attempt to reduce costs.
We are changing so that we can remain competitive and streamline our
processes.
Given the current market conditions, we must reexamine how we do
business. Our current cost structure is too high and we risk losing
business to competitors if some type of action is not taken immediately.
All of these employees were provided the same information. The first
employee discredits the information. The last employee demonstrates a
strong conviction for the need for change. Because employees internalize
information about change in different ways, several observations can be
made about the strategy for building awareness. Building awareness is a
process; you cannot assume that a single message or event will result in
uniform awareness of the need for change. Awareness is not achieved
based on the messages sent, but rather how the messages are received and
internalized by each person.
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Page 79... on Creating Desire
Ultimately desire is about personal choice. Even in circumstances of
great pain or promising hope, the choices people make can appear to defy
logic or be unpredictable. It is, perhaps, this uncertainty and lack of
control over another person’s desire to change that cause some leaders
to disengage from this part of the change process.
Yet, the actions and words of managers and executive leaders have a
tremendous influence on an employee’s desire to support a business
change. Even if managers and business leaders cannot dictate the
decisions of their employees, they can greatly impact the process.
As a basic principle, managers must first view the task of creating
desire as more than managing resistance. Adopting a “resistance
management” focus can take a business leader down a trail of reactive
management actions that often turn into fire-fighting and damage
control. In other words, you should not introduce a change and then wait
to identify those groups or individuals who are resistant to that
change. Rather, you should adopt those strategies and tactics that have
been used by effective leaders of change that are positive and
proactive. Your goal is not to drag along the unwilling and uncaring,
with all your attention focused on this minority. Your objective is to
create energy and engagement around the change that produces momentum
and support at all levels in the organization.
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Page 119... on Reinforcing Change
Reinforcement is the final element of the ADKAR model and is achieved
when the necessary mechanisms are in place to sustain the change.
With effective reinforcement, you avoid losing momentum from the
initial deployment of the change and you can prevent employees from
reverting to old ways of doing work. By building reinforcement
mechanisms, the probability that project objectives are met increases
dramatically.
An example of a failed change that resulted from a lack of
reinforcement occurred with a bank that was attempting to deploy
quality-improvement tools and processes throughout their entire
organization. The project was started by the information systems vice
president. He formed a cross-functional team from departments throughout
the business. After an extensive selection process, his team chose a
methodology and tool set. The team carefully crafted a project plan and
followed that plan to the letter. Executive business leaders were
engaged to sponsor the change. The training department created a
training curriculum with the help of an outside vendor. The IT group put
tools and resources online. The IT vice-president effectively
communicated the need for quality tools to employees and other senior
business leaders.
When the training program was initially deployed, the implementation
team provided direct oversight for the program. They managed the
communications and orchestrated each training event. They worked
actively to “sell” the need for quality tools and processes across the
organization. The implementation was going well. Classes were full. The
program was working.
Then a critical error was made. Early in the implementation, the
project team disbanded. The program was transferred to an existing staff
group responsible for quality in manufacturing. The training group added
this quality improvement program to their standard courses and treated
it like business as usual. The course became part of an open enrollment
program. Within one year of disbanding the team, six courses had been
cancelled. Interest in the program had evaporated and, for all practical
purposes, the program was dead.
What happened in this case study can happen to any change that lacks
reinforcement. The first mistake the implementation team made was to
assume that managing change is essentially completing activities in a
project plan. They completed the plan and disbanded without ensuring
that the change had taken hold and that reinforcement mechanisms were in
place. They failed to assess the progress of the change and to take the
pulse of the organization after deployment was underway. They did not
create processes for ongoing accountability. Measurement systems were
not in place to evaluate success. Corrective action was not implemented
to address problems that surfaced. Sponsorship that was strong at the
onset faded in the time of greatest need. Recognition and reward
programs were absent. The change was not cemented into the
organization’s culture or value system. This was a prescription for
failure.
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Page 131... ADKAR Summary
ADKAR is a model for enabling change. ADKAR provides a goal-oriented
framework that helps change leaders realize their objectives more
quickly and completely. Applications for the model include:
- A learning tool for teaching change management, especially when
analyzing case studies of successful and failed changes
- A tool for
change management teams to assess the readiness of their change
management plans and guide their activities
- A coaching tool for
managers and supervisors during change
- An assessment tool for
diagnosing changes underway and identifying potential barrier points to
change
- A planning tool for change
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