ADKAR: A Five-Step Model for Leading Organisational Change

Change doesn’t happen by itself, and good intentions aren’t enough. The ADKAR model helps you understand how people move through change—step by step. Read here how to use the model to create real change.

 

By Christina Nielsen, Content Marketing Specialist, October 2025

 

Change rarely fails because the idea is bad – but because people aren’t on board. Even the best strategies and projects can go off track if employees don’t understand why the change is happening, what it means for them, and how they’re expected to act differently.

That’s why the ability to lead people through change has become a crucial leadership skill today. This is where the ADKAR model comes in. The model is a practical tool for understanding what it takes to make change succeed in practice – step by step.

In this article, you’ll gain insight into how you, as a leader, can use the ADKAR model to create real change that isn’t just decided, but actually becomes part of everyday life.

 

What is the ADKAR model?

ADKAR is a change management model developed by researcher and consultant Jeff Hiatt from the consulting and research company Prosci. It’s used to manage and understand the human aspects of change – in other words, how individuals experience change and how leaders can support them throughout the process.

The name ADKAR is an acronym for the five steps the model identifies as essential for successful change management:

Awareness - Awareness of the need for change.

Desire - Desire to participate in and support the change.

Knowledge - Knowledge of how to implement the change.

Ability - Ability to apply new skills and behaviors.

Reinforcement - Sustaining and reinforcing the change over time.

A– Awareness

Every change begins with awareness of why it’s necessary. As a leader, you need to create clarity and direction by communicating clearly about what drives the change and why it’s important – both for the organization and for the employees.

Tell the honest story: What happens if you don’t change? What are you trying to achieve? The more transparent you are, the easier it is for employees to understand and accept the need for change.

Without this fundamental understanding, you risk the change being met with resistance, uncertainty, and rumors. With clear communication and openness, however, you lay the foundation for trust – and thus for a successful change process.

 

D – Desire 

When employees understand why change is necessary, the next step is to build the desire to participate. As a leader, your role is to connect the change to something meaningful – both for the individual and for the collective.

Use motivation, dialogue, and involvement to create ownership. Speak openly about what the change means in practice, and listen to concerns and ideas along the way. When employees can see how the change benefits themselves, the team, and the organization, engagement grows naturally.

A genuine desire for change doesn’t come through coercion or PowerPoint presentations – but through meaning, trust, and influence.


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K – Knowledge 

As a leader, it’s your responsibility to ensure that employees know how to implement the change in practice. Knowledge is what makes change possible — without it, good intentions quickly turn into frustration.

Provide your employees with the training, information, and guidance they need, and make sure they understand what the change means for their day-to-day work. Encourage knowledge sharing and learning across the team or organization so they can support each other along the way.

The more concrete and practical the knowledge you provide, the greater the likelihood that employees can actually act on it. It’s not about big training sessions, but about continuous learning where the work happens.

A – Ability 

As a leader, you need to help your employees turn knowledge into action. This is where change becomes tangible. Even when employees understand what needs to be done, they may lack the confidence, training, or resources to actually do it in practice. Your role is to remove barriers and create the conditions that enable them to succeed.

Allow room for practice, learning, and mistakes along the way. Make sure employees have access to the necessary support, guidance, and time to develop new skills. And demonstrate that you stand behind the change — both in words and in actions.

When you, as a leader, create a safe space to try new things, you not only strengthen employees’ ability to carry out the change — you also build their trust in the process and in you as a leader.

RReinforcement 

As a leader, your job isn’t just to initiate change — it’s to make sure it sticks. The change must be sustained until it feels like a natural part of everyday life. This requires consistent follow-up, recognition, and repetition of key messages long after the initial enthusiasm has faded.

Start by recognizing the behaviors you want to see more of:

  • Praise employees who actively engage with the new processes and make their efforts visible to the rest of the team.

  • Celebrate small wins — it strengthens motivation.

  • Integrate the new way of working into goals, meetings, and evaluations so it becomes part of your regular rhythm.

  • Repeat the messages and show through your own actions that you mean it.

When you, as a leader, consistently act according to the new principles, the rest of the organization follows. That’s how change becomes embedded — not through a plan on paper, but through ongoing action, visibility, and credibility.

Who is Jeff Hiatt?

Jeff Hiatt was an American researcher and consultant who specialized in change management.

He founded the consulting and research company Prosci in 1994 after working with large-scale organizational transformations in industry.

Hiatt was curious about why some changes succeed while others fail — even when they share the same strategy and resources.

His research revealed that the difference almost always came down to people: how they understood, accepted, and acted on the change.

Why is the ADKAR model effective?

ADKAR works because it’s built around people – not just plans and processes. Many change models focus on the organization as a whole but forget that any change only succeeds if individual employees are on board.

The model helps you, as a leader, see change through the eyes of your employees. It considers what people understand, feel, and do along the way. This makes it easier to identify where resistance arises and to work purposefully on creating motivation and engagement.

In short: ADKAR makes change tangible – one person at a time.

The model also provides a practical tool for tracking how the change is progressing. By assessing where employees are in the five stages of the ADKAR model, you, as a leader, can quickly identify where additional support, training, or communication is needed. This makes it easier to act in time – before resistance grows or energy fades.

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Implementing the ADKAR Model in Your Organization

For the ADKAR model to create real value, it must be applied broadly across the organization — not just by individual leaders or project teams. The model works best when it’s integrated into leadership, HR, and communication, ensuring that every level operates according to the same principles of change. This requires a systematic approach in which the organization supports employees through all five stages of the model — from understanding to reinforcement.

     1. Communicate the Need for Change

Start by ensuring that everyone in the organization understands why the change is necessary. Explain the background, goals, and underlying challenges. Use meetings, presentations, and internal communication to build a shared understanding of what the change means and why it matters.

     2. Create a Desire for Change

To gain employee support, make the benefits clear. Share a vision of how the change will make work easier, more efficient, or deliver better results. Success stories and examples from early initiatives can strengthen motivation and engagement.

     3. Educate and Train

Invest in learning and skill development so employees have the necessary knowledge to work with new systems and processes. This can be done through workshops, courses, e-learning, or peer training. What matters most is that everyone knows how to implement the change in practice.

     4. Support the Development of New Abilities

Give employees the opportunity to practice and apply new skills in a safe environment. Ensure they have access to support, guidance, and feedback so that uncertainty and mistakes can be handled constructively. A culture that allows learning along the way makes lasting behavioral change easier to achieve.

     5. Ensure Continuous Reinforcement

For change to stick, it must be made visible and recognized over time. Celebrate successes and acknowledge employees and teams that actively contribute. Use follow-ups, evaluations, and reward systems to ensure that new ways of working become a natural part of daily life and organizational culture.

 

ADKAR in Practice: A Case Example

Imagine an organization implementing a new digital project management system to improve collaboration and efficiency across departments. The leadership team decides to use the ADKAR model to guide the change process.

  1. Awareness: The leadership communicates clearly why the new system is necessary: the old tools caused delays, miscommunication, and limited transparency across teams. Through meetings and internal updates, employees gain a shared understanding of how the new system will help the organization work smarter and more efficiently.
     
  2. Desire: To create enthusiasm, leaders share stories from pilot teams that have already experienced faster project delivery and fewer errors using the new system. They also involve employees in shaping how the tool will be used in their workflows, ensuring that the change feels relevant and meaningful.

  3. Knowledge: All employees receive targeted training through workshops and online tutorials. Leaders and superusers are available to provide hands-on support, helping everyone understand how the new system works in their daily tasks.
  4. Ability: Employees begin using the system in real projects. Managers provide continuous feedback and remove obstacles, such as unclear processes or lack of access to necessary resources. Over time, confidence grows as employees see the benefits of the new way of working.

  5. Reinforcement: To sustain the change, management celebrates early wins, such as improved project delivery times and better communication across teams. Success stories are shared internally, and the use of the system becomes a key performance indicator in evaluations and meetings.

    Through this step-by-step approach, the organization doesn’t just implement a new tool — it creates a sustainable change in mindset, collaboration, and everyday practice.



ADKAR and Change Management at CfL

If you want to learn more about change management and gain practical tools to implement models like ADKAR in your organization, CfL offers change management courses that can help you navigate complex transformation processes. We also provide specialized consulting to ensure that change projects succeed across the organization.

Get support for change management and strategic transformation

At CfL, we help organizations turn strategy into action. Our consultants and coaches work closely with you and your leadership colleagues to create direction, involvement, and momentum in your change processes – whether you’re in the midst of a strategic transformation, developing a new strategy, or looking to strengthen leaders in driving change.

You can receive sparring, guidance, and practical tools to lead change in practice – from analysis and planning to execution and anchoring. We always tailor our approach to your culture, situation, and ambitions to ensure that the change is both meaningful and sustainable.

The ADKAR model is a powerful method for ensuring that changes are successful and long-lasting. By focusing on the individual’s journey through change, you can help create a more engaged and motivated workforce. Whether your organization is undergoing a major transformation or you want to strengthen your personal change management skills, ADKAR is a tool that can help you achieve your goals

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