Change management has quickly become a very important sector in almost all business industries. Since change is vital but difficult to implement, most organizations are maintaining change management teams who deal with change programs that are happening often in the organizations. ADKAR change management model helps the organizations to face the change processes with minimum disturbances.
To face the change successfully, change management is vital. Due to the importance of managing the change well, several change management models are introduced by experts. ADKAR change management model is one such model introduced by Jeff Hiatt in 2003. It is considered a powerful change management tool that can be very useful for organizations in managing the change process for smooth goal achievement.
ADKAR change management model can be considered as a tool that helps the organizations to identify the reasons why the change is difficult, why some change programs become successful while others become a failure. ADKAR is an acronym that stands for five factors that help to achieve successful change
A – Awareness
D – Desire
K – Knowledge
A – Ability
R – Reinforcement
Awareness
This is the first factor of the ADKAR change management model. It is important to identify that there is a need for change in the organization. The expected change should be communicated with the employees as it will require the employees to come out of their comfort zones. Employees won’t be willing to do such commitments if they are not clear about the entire change process and the benefit they are getting after completing the change process.
There are several ways to identify whether the employees are thoroughly aware of the change process.
Active reaction from employees – If the employees are showing excitement about the change process and if they are willing to contribute to the change, then it can be identified that the employees are well aware of the need for change and they are eagerly waiting to be a part of it.
Willingness to give up old habits – If the employees are willing to give up the old ways of doing things and are excited to work in the new ways, it can be identified that the employees are well informed about the necessary changes.
Desire
Understanding the need for the change for profitability and survival is a necessity for the change management process. To create a desire for change, the employees should understand that the change is good for them and their work. Once this is identified, they will be motivated to go the extra mile to create a better change in the processes.
It is also important for the change team to identify that the thinking patterns of the employees are not similar and there can be some people who are not willing to make sacrifices for the change while others are willing to come out of their comfort zones. The change management team should identify the different thinking patterns of the employees and should have a plan to approach the employees accordingly.
Knowledge
An effective change process requires a well-trained set of employees who are educated about new processes and procedures. It can be as easy as telling the employees what to do. But sometimes, changes in the activities require specialized training and additional knowledge. The change management team should be able to provide the required training the knowledge in order to take the maximum benefit from the change process.
Ability
It is important to identify the ability of the change process. When implementing the change, the change management team should be able to identify the realistic processes that are surely going to be successful. If the process is implemented and if it is not successful, it is going to be a waste of time, money, and effort of the entire team who are engaged in the process. To avoid that type of situation, the change management team should conduct a change analysis and implement measures to evaluate the success of the change plan at every stage.
Reinforcement
This is the last step of the ADKAR change management model. Creating the change is not sufficient for the success of the change process. The change team should make sure that the employees have embraced the change and create it a habit in their working processes. The changed processes should be continues and should be used to take maximum advantage of them. Only if it is continued in the organization, the change can be identified as a successful change created.
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