Prosci change management is a framework for organizational change that focuses on one individual at a time. It was developed by Jeff Hiatt, founder of the company Prosci which partners with organizations to deliver change management certification.
One foundational component of Prosci’s methodology is the ADKAR model, a framework Hiatt himself developed after studying change across more than 700 organizations.
The other component is the Prosci 3-Phase Process which helps institute change at the broader, organizational level.
According to Prosci founder Jeff Hiatt, 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.”
Table of Contents
Understanding Prosci change management
Prosci change management is a framework for organizational change that focuses on one individual at a time.
Prosci is a company that partners with organizations to deliver change management certification.
Under its Change Management Certification Program, individuals are equipped with the skills, tools, and knowledge to drive successful change initiatives.
At the conclusion of the interactive three-day course, each participant becomes a certified change practitioner.
Some of the most common course attendees include change leaders, project managers, IT professionals, continuous improvement specialists, HR business partners, and project team members.
In truth, however, any employee tasked with driving change in their company will benefit from the program.
The ADKAR model is a management tool designed to assist employees and businesses in transitioning through organizational change. To maximize the chances of employees embracing change, the ADKAR model was developed by author and engineer Jeff Hiatt in 2003. The model seeks to guide people through the change process and importantly, ensure that people do not revert to habitual ways of operating after some time has passed.
The ADKAR model was developed by Hiatt after analyzing change across more than 700 organizations.
It focuses on change at the individual level by helping employees move past any obstacles along the way.
ADKAR is an acronym for five outcomes the individual needs to achieve for a change initiative to be successful:
Awareness
Employees need to first understand why change is required.
Desire
To move from change awareness to change adoption, the employee must desire for it to happen.
This can be facilitated by identifying benefits relevant to the individual or the root causes of resistance.
Knowledge
The third outcome concerns training and education.
Each member of the team needs to understand how their role within the organization will be impacted by the change initiative.
Where necessary, training should also be provided for new skills.
Ability
While knowing how to perform a task is one thing, having the confidence to do it is another matter entirely.
Change leaders must bridge the gap between knowledge and ability with hands-on performance monitoring and feedback.
Reinforcement
To ensure new roles and habits are embraced over the long term, motivational techniques can be used to celebrate successes and small wins.
Such achievements should be celebrated publicly, while employees who slip back into old habits should be dealt with in private.
The Prosci 3-Phase Process
The Prosci 3-Phase Process complements the ADKAR model in that it offers a framework for instituting change at the organizational level.
It is structured yet flexible and guides change initiators through various steps and activities.
To start, it is important to develop a customized change managementstrategy and secure the necessary commitment.
Definitions of success and the change impact should also be established.
Phase 2 (Manage Change)
The second phase calls on the organization to create, implement, and adopt a change plan as necessary.
Performance should be monitored as individuals progress through the various ADKAR transitions.
Phase 3 (Sustain Outcomes)
In the last phase, the value of the change is communicated to individuals whose commitment is vital to ensuring the change initiative is sustained. Performance is reviewed to confirm desired results and document any lessons learned.
Suppose a large corporation is planning to implement a new enterprise resource planning (ERP) system across its global offices. This change will impact every employee and their daily work processes. Prosci’s framework can be applied as follows:
Phase 1 (Prepare Approach):
Develop a change management strategy that outlines the communication plan, training modules, and support systems required.
Secure commitment from top leadership and key stakeholders to endorse the change initiative.
Define success criteria, such as a smooth transition, minimal disruptions, and increased efficiency.
Phase 2 (Manage Change):
Create a comprehensive change plan that includes communication materials, training schedules, and support resources.
Implement the ERP system gradually across departments, providing employees with the necessary training and resources.
Monitor employees’ progress through the ADKAR transitions: awareness (understanding the need for the new system), desire (motivation to use it), knowledge (training on the system), ability (confidence in using it), and reinforcement (ongoing support and recognition of achievements).
Phase 3 (Sustain Outcomes):
Continuously communicate the benefits of the new ERP system to employees, emphasizing how it improves their work and efficiency.
Review performance and gather feedback to identify areas for improvement in system usage and support.
Celebrate milestones and successes, recognizing teams and individuals who have successfully adapted to the new technology.
Merging Two Companies
In the scenario of two companies merging to form a single entity, Prosci’s framework can help manage the complex organizational change:
Phase 1 (Prepare Approach):
Develop a merger integration strategy that outlines the timeline, integration teams, and cultural alignment efforts.
Secure commitment from both organizations’ leadership to support the merger and communicate a shared vision.
Define success criteria, such as a seamless transition, minimal talent attrition, and cultural integration.
Phase 2 (Manage Change):
Create a detailed integration plan that covers communication strategies, employee training, and alignment of business processes.
Implement the integration process while providing support and resources to employees who may face changes in their roles or teams.
Monitor employees’ progress through ADKAR transitions: awareness (understanding the merger’s rationale), desire (commitment to the merged entity), knowledge (training on new processes), ability (adapting to new roles), and reinforcement (continuous cultural alignment efforts).
Phase 3 (Sustain Outcomes):
Continuously communicate the shared values and goals of the merged organization to foster a unified culture.
Review performance and gather feedback to address any challenges or resistance to the merger.
Celebrate achievements, recognizing teams and individuals who have played a pivotal role in the successful integration.
Cultural Transformation
Suppose an established financial institution is undergoing a cultural transformation to become more customer-centric. This change involves shifting employees’ mindsets and behaviors. Prosci’s framework can be applied as follows:
Phase 1 (Prepare Approach):
Develop a cultural transformation strategy that outlines leadership’s commitment, communication methods, and training programs.
Secure buy-in from top leadership and emphasize their role as cultural champions.
Define success criteria, such as improved customer satisfaction scores, increased employee engagement, and alignment with the new culture.
Phase 2 (Manage Change):
Create a comprehensive transformation plan that includes communication materials, workshops on customer-centric behaviors, and role-modeling by leaders.
Implement cultural workshops and training sessions for employees to understand and practice customer-centric behaviors.
Monitor employees’ progress through ADKAR transitions: awareness (understanding the importance of customer-centricity), desire (commitment to adopting new behaviors), knowledge (training on customer-centric practices), ability (ability to apply these practices), and reinforcement (continuous reinforcement of desired behaviors).
Phase 3 (Sustain Outcomes):
Continuously communicate the importance of customer-centric behaviors and share success stories.
Review performance and gather feedback to identify areas where employees may need additional support or resources.
Celebrate milestones and recognize employees who have embraced and consistently demonstrated customer-centric behaviors.
Key Highlights
Prosci Change Management: Prosci change management is a framework that centers on facilitating successful organizational change one individual at a time. Founded by Jeff Hiatt, Prosci partners with organizations to provide change management certification.
ADKAR Model: The ADKAR model is a management tool within Prosci’s framework, designed to guide individuals and organizations through organizational change. It focuses on five key outcomes that individuals must achieve for successful change:
Awareness: Understand the need for change.
Desire: Develop the motivation and willingness to change.
Knowledge: Acquire the necessary information and skills for change.
Ability: Build confidence and capability to implement the change.
Reinforcement: Sustain the change through positive reinforcement.
Prosci 3-Phase Process: This process complements the ADKAR model and provides a structured yet flexible approach for managing organizational change:
Phase 1 (Prepare Approach): Develop a customized change management strategy, secure commitment, and define success criteria.
Phase 2 (Manage Change): Create and implement a change plan, monitor progress using ADKAR transitions, and manage performance.
Phase 3 (Sustain Outcomes): Communicate the value of change, review performance, ensure sustainability, and celebrate successes.
Change Management Certification: Prosci offers a Change Management Certification Program that equips individuals with skills, tools, and knowledge to drive successful change initiatives. Participants become certified change practitioners after completing the program.
Impact: Prosci’s change management framework has been adopted by numerous organizations, including Fortune 100 companies, to improve change management processes and drive successful outcomes.
Key Takeaways:
Prosci focuses on individual change to achieve successful organizational change.
The ADKAR model outlines five outcomes individuals need to achieve for change adoption.
The Prosci 3-Phase Process complements the ADKAR model and guides organizational change management.
Change management certification is offered through Prosci’s program.
Change is an important and necessary fact of life for all organizations. But change is often unsuccessful because the people within organizations are resistant to change. Change management is a systematic approach to managing the transformation of organizational goals, values, technologies, or processes.
Harvard Business School professor Dr. John Kotter has been a thought-leader on organizational change, and he developed Kotter’s 8-step change model, which helps business managers deal with organizational change. Kotter created the 8-step model to drive organizational transformation.
McKinsey’s Seven Degrees of Freedom for Growth is a strategy tool. Developed by partners at McKinsey and Company, the tool helps businesses understand which opportunities will contribute to expansion, and therefore it helps to prioritize those initiatives.
The McKinsey 7-S Model was developed in the late 1970s by Robert Waterman and Thomas Peters, who were consultants at McKinsey & Company. Waterman and Peters created seven key internal elements that inform a business of how well positioned it is to achieve its goals, based on three hard elements and four soft elements.
Lewin’s change management model helps businesses manage the uncertainty and resistance associated with change. Kurt Lewin, one of the first academics to focus his research on group dynamics, developed a three-stage model. He proposed that the behavior of individuals happened as a function of group behavior.
The ADKAR model is a management tool designed to assist employees and businesses in transitioning through organizational change. To maximize the chances of employees embracing change, the ADKAR model was developed by author and engineer Jeff Hiatt in 2003. The model seeks to guide people through the change process and importantly, ensure that people do not revert to habitual ways of operating after some time has passed.
Social psychologist Kurt Lewin developed the force-field analysis in the 1940s. The force-field analysis is a decision-making tool used to quantify factors that support or oppose a change initiative. Lewin argued that businesses contain dynamic and interactive forces that work together in opposite directions. To institute successful change, the forces driving the change must be stronger than the forces hindering the change.
Business innovation is about creating new opportunities for an organization to reinvent its core offerings, revenue streams, and enhance the value proposition for existing or new customers, thus renewing its whole businessmodel. Business innovation springs by understanding the structure of the market, thus adapting or anticipating those changes.
According to Prosci founder Jeff Hiatt, 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.”
Gennaro is the creator of FourWeekMBA, which reached about four million business people, comprising C-level executives, investors, analysts, product managers, and aspiring digital entrepreneurs in 2022 alone | He is also Director of Sales for a high-tech scaleup in the AI Industry | In 2012, Gennaro earned an International MBA with emphasis on Corporate Finance and Business Strategy.
