The ADKAR Model and Senior Leadership 1

THE ADKAR MODEL

AND SENIOR
LEADERSHIP

Applications of ADKAR Research Study

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 The ADKAR Model and Senior Leadership 2

CONTENTS

Introduction 3

Using ADKAR to Equip Senior Leaders 4

Results of Having Senior Leaders Use ADKAR 5

Introducing ADKAR to Senior Leadership 7

Aspects of ADKAR That Resonated With

Senior Leaders 8

Conclusion 9

Success Story: Texas Religious Organization 10

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 The ADKAR Model and Senior Leadership 3

INTRODUCTION

A good leader can increase efficiency, increase effectiveness, and drive results in an organization.
A bad leader can bring a strong organization to its knees by communicating poorly, refusing to
be an early adopter, and not sponsoring change. The positive impact of effective senior leaders
has been documented in numerous best practices studies over the last two decades. It is not
surprising that this positive impact is also observed when senior leaders effectively participate in
the change management process.

Equipping senior leaders with a model of change 96% OF PARTICIPANTS SAID

helps them effectively participate in the change THAT ADKAR WAS EITHER
management process. Further, employee adoption SOMEWHAT OR EXTREMELY
has been shown to increase when senior leaders EFFECTIVE FOR EQUIPPING
are seen adopting and actively using a change SENIOR LEADERS.
management model.

In a research effort to understand how organizations

use the Prosci ADKAR® Model (ADKAR), Prosci
explored how to equip senior leaders with ADKAR and
the impact it has.

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 The ADKAR Model and Senior Leadership 4

USING ADKAR TO EQUIP

SENIOR LEADERS

4%

About one-fourth of study participants

Extremely effective
reported that they had equipped their
senior leaders with ADKAR, and nearly 35%
Somewhat effective
all of these participants said that ADKAR 61%
was either somewhat (61%) or extremely Neither effective or
ineffective
effective (35%) for this particular use.

Percent of Study Respondents Who Used ADKAR to Equip Senior Leaders

USE CASE FREQUENCY

Leverage a structured approach and methodology

Facilitate individual change

Measure change outcomes

Create a common language for change

Integrate with project management

Empower managers

Equip senior leaders

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 The ADKAR Model and Senior Leadership 5

RESULTS OF HAVING SENIOR

LEADERS USE ADKAR

1 Role understanding

Participants reported that their senior leaders,

after being introduced to ADKAR, had a better
Immediate mindset change [for
understanding of their role in leading an effective
senior leaders] in terms of how
change process. More importantly, senior leaders
to prioritize change programs,
were able to act on their role and aid in the
identify those with the most/
change process in a meaningful way.
least chance of success and a
common framework/language
to describe change programs
and methodologies.
2 Common language

Participants reported that ADKAR enabled their

senior leaders to talk about the change initiative
and the change process using a common
language, and that the common language
cascaded through the organization. This helped
participants talk about change in a meaningful way
throughout their organization from the top down.

3 Identifying resistant leaders

ADKAR helped participants identify resistant

senior leaders. Participants reported that
ADKAR, when coupled with additional change
management training, had a clear call to action
for senior leaders. This forced those senior
leaders who did not support the change to make
their resistance more vocal.

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 The ADKAR Model and Senior Leadership 6

While participants who reported on senior leaders

ADKAR ENABLED SENIOR
found that their understanding of their role
LEADERS TO TALK ABOUT THE
increased from the use of ADKAR, participants still CHANGE INITIATIVE AND THE
encountered the following challenges with senior CHANGE PROCESS
leaders:

1 Second-guessing methodology

While senior leaders understood the

methodology, understanding did not always
result in buy-in.

2 Unwilling to step up

Either because they were not bought into the

change or because they did not think it was
necessary, senior leaders were unwilling to step up.

3 Taking the easy way

Participants reported that senior leaders, while

understanding the benefit of ADKAR, looked for
an easy way out.

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 The ADKAR Model and Senior Leadership 7

INTRODUCING ADKAR TO
SENIOR LEADERSHIP

When research participants were asked how senior leaders at their organizations were introduced
to ADKAR, participants reported various methods of training:

Training sessions for sponsors

Participants reported undertaking training

sessions with their sponsors. These
sessions focused on all aspects of the role
We held a specific PROSCI-
of sponsorship, not just introducing ADKAR.
led half [day] course for the
These sessions were reported as being
senior leadership. We made
facilitated by either internal resources or
change management one of
an external change management training
the themes of our annual
company.
leadership meetings where
we explained the ADKAR
methodology. We have
embedded the assessments
in to [sic] our projects’
Building ADKAR into current planning phases so that senior
development plans leaders understand change
dynamics prior to approving or
The second most frequently used approach launching projects.
was to add a change management module
into either their leadership development
curriculum or annual leadership meetings.

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 The ADKAR Model and Senior Leadership 8

ASPECTS OF ADKAR THAT

RESONATED WITH SENIOR
LEADERS

Participants reported on what aspects of ADKAR they found resonated well with senior leaders at
their organization:

1 Provided a simple and easy-to-follow

structure

Senior leaders appreciated the simplicity of The steps of first holding

ADKAR, as well as the structured process it awareness even if things aren’t
provided individuals to follow. It was cited as certain, getting ahead of the
being something any person could use, as well change and communicating
as being easy to facilitate with others. clearly helps in building trust
and in mitigating the rumor
mill. It [ADKAR] had a lot of
2 Provided an awareness building tool buy-in because they were
concerned about the anxiety
Many participants reported that beginning levels of employees.
with awareness of the need for and impact of
change, rather than training for the change, was a
revelation to a lot of senior leaders.

3 Provided a tool to identify and align

change management milestones

The ability to use the ADKAR steps as milestones

and the ease at which those steps could be
aligned to and integrated with project plans
(i.e. timelines, objectives, toll gates, etc.) were
consistently cited as effective tools that helped
senior leaders identify and communicate change
milestones on projects.

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 The ADKAR Model and Senior Leadership 9

CONCLUSION

Using ADKAR with senior leadership proved to increase understanding change and buy-in of
methodology within the organizations studied. For many leaders ADKAR created clarity around
their roles during change. It also allowed the organization to cascade the common language of
ADKAR throughout their employees. The simplicity and scalability of the model was very attractive
to senior leaders, and they also appreciated the alignment of the model with the project timeline.
When senior leaders start with awareness, messaging to their employees tends to be received in a
much more receptive manner.

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 The ADKAR Model and Senior Leadership 10

SUCCESS STORY: TEXAS

RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATION

Graham’s organization—a large religious conference located in Texas—was looking for ways to
consciously develop into a more effective and efficient organization that had more resources for
ministry work. More than six hundred local churches reported to nine district superintendents,
and these superintendents were so focused on the minutia of local church issues that they did not
have time or capacity to focus on growing their churches.

“The superintendents were being called to address

every local issue with individual churches…We
needed them to focus on the bigger picture rather
than running off to bury a grandmother’s cat,”
Graham said. He needed a tool to refocus his ADKAR flattened the
superintendents on the key responsibilities of their management structure.
jobs while at the same time empowering the local Everyone was following the
ministers and church councils to address local ADKAR approach and could
start sharing success stories
issues on their own. He found that tool in ADKAR.
and advice on their own. The
superintendents were able to
They had been looking for ways to help shift their empower the local churches
to resolves their own local
superintendents’ work priorities to larger church
issues by equipping them
issues for the past six years without success.
with ADKAR, which freed up
Then, in 2013, Graham attended a Prosci Change the superintendents to better
Management Certification Program. He took ADKAR manage change.
back to his organization and, after introducing
it to his superiors, began introducing it to the
superintendents.

Graham viewed this project as a move to efficiency that had many parts. His superintendents
were convinced that the issues they faced in their districts were entirely unique, each district was
already saturated with countless changes, many of which local churches did not understand or
want, and the superintendents were too risk averse to tackle and enforce some of these changes
head on. This was a complex issue, but one that Graham knew ADKAR could address.

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 The ADKAR Model and Senior Leadership 11

Graham introduced ADKAR to the superintendents over the course of a four-hour training. They
were resistant at first, thinking that the model was too simple to address their needs, but once
Graham walked them through practical demonstrations, the superintendents were willing to try
viewing their problems through its lens. Once Graham had gotten the superintendents to look at
the changes they faced through the lens of ADKAR, they stopped viewing each of their individual
changes as completely unique from any other change and started seeing them as a change
that dealt with individuals and, more importantly, one that they could successfully manage by
addressing each of the ADKAR phases.

The superintendents began using ADKAR with their local churches, and those churches began to
become more successful at change. This freed up time for other projects and lowered the feeling
of saturation when it came to change. Finally, once the superintendents started using ADKAR, they
started being proactive on large-scale projects and took steps to minimize the risk involved in each
project. The superintendents started to feel more comfortable taking on changes because they felt
that they could minimize the risk by using ADKAR.

Graham highlighted one specific success story regarding a local church:

A superintendent had let me know that a church in his district was dying. Attendance was
dropping off and there was very few young families in the congregation. I asked him ‘Is your
church council aware of this?’ He said yes. ‘Does your church council have a desire to fix
this?’ Again yes. ‘Does your church council know how to address this?’ This time the answer
was no. I told him, ‘Well that is where you need to have them spend their energies. You are
already 40% of the way there. Just focus on this knowledge phase.’ That superintendent left
that meeting fired up. He had a focus, he knew where to put his energies. Three months
later, a huge amount of progress had been made by him and the local church council. All
they needed was a way of understanding and addressing the problem.

Graham’s organization took to ADKAR very quickly. The superintendents quickly adopted the
model because it was simple and easy to use, and it provided them a mental framework for
thinking about and addressing the changes in their organization. When the superintendents were
charged again with focusing their time more on the big picture and less on local issues, they used
ADKAR to identify the unique and larger issues that kept each of them for using their time and
resources on the larger work required to grow their congregation.

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