The employee understands the change is happening (Awareness) but is demonstrating a lack of willingness to participate and support it. This resistance points directly to the ‘Desire’ element in ADKAR, which focuses on the individual’s personal choice to engage and participate in the change.

The scenario highlights a classic failure to address the people side of change. The project focused solely on the technical solution (the software upgrade) while treating the human aspects (adoption, comfort, new processes) as an afterthought. Successful change requires simultaneous and integrated attention to both the technical and people dimensions.

A Change Impact Assessment is the structured process of identifying and analyzing the potential consequences of a change on people, processes, systems, and structures. The description of analyzing ‘how their day-to-day work will change’ and ‘potential emotional reactions’ is central to understanding the breadth and depth of the impact.

Sarah is showing passive resistance. She is not openly opposing the change but is failing to actively support and champion it with her team. This is particularly challenging because it is less visible than active rebellion, yet her subtle skepticism and lack of advocacy can significantly influence her team’s engagement and slow down adoption.

Effective communication segmentation is built upon a robust Stakeholder Analysis. This analysis identifies all individuals and groups affected by the change, assesses their level of influence and interest, and understands their attitudes and needs. Without this, any segmentation and messaging would be based on guesswork rather than insight.

The ‘Engage and Coach’ activity is fundamentally focused on the people side. Its core purpose is to equip people managers and supervisors—who have the most direct influence on employees—with the skills, tools, and knowledge they need to guide, support, and coach their direct reports through the transition, thereby driving adoption.

A group that is both highly impacted (high interest) and has significant influence is critically important. They have the power to sway others and a strong stake in the outcome. The strategy must be to ‘Keep them fully informed and actively engage them’—seeking their input, addressing their concerns, and turning them into advocates to leverage their influence positively.

Reinforcement is a sustainment activity that occurs after the initial implementation. Its primary purpose is to prevent backsliding by recognizing and rewarding the desired new behaviors, celebrating successes, and addressing ongoing issues. This solidifies the change as ‘the new normal’ and embeds it into the culture.

A Change Agent Network’s greatest value lies in its connection to the broader employee base. It extends the reach of the central change team, provides credible, peer-to-peer support within different areas, and, crucially, acts as a feedback loop to surface concerns, questions, and insights from the frontline that leadership might otherwise miss.

The employee understands the change is happening (Awareness) but is demonstrating a lack of willingness to participate and support it. This resistance points directly to the ‘Desire’ element in ADKAR, which focuses on the individual’s personal choice to engage and participate in the change.0