Desire: How To Positively Influence A Person's Desire To Embrace Change
Desire: How To Positively Influence A Person's Desire To Embrace Change
Desire: How To Positively Influence A Person's Desire To Embrace Change
Creating Desire 7
Table of
Next Steps 12
The first step in the individual change process is establishing a clear understanding of why the
change is happening. Leading successful change starts with building Awareness of the need
for change. After establishing Awareness, the next step for an individual is to make
a personal decision to participate in the change.
The five elements of the Prosci ADKAR® Model include the outcomes an individual must achieve
for a change to be successful: Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability and Reinforcement.
Desire, the second element, represents the willingness to support and engage in a change.
Desire is ultimately about a personal choice that is influenced by the nature of the change and
personal circumstances.
Desire is often the most challenging ADKAR element to achieve. Awareness enables people
to understand the impacts and value of the future state, but creating more and more
Awareness will not result in Desire. Continuing to focus on the reasons for change rather
than translating those reasons into personal and organizational motivating factors can be
discouraging and frustrating for employees.
Creating the Desire to change, by definition, is not under a leader’s direct control. Change
leaders can take definitive steps to influence Desire, but each individual ultimately makes
their own choice to support the change. Desire is achieved when an individual genuinely
says, “I will be part of this change.”
Understanding the underlying factors that influence a person’s level of Desire informs how to
plan for and respond to the behaviors that employees express when confronted with change.
These behaviors include:
Individuals and groups assess a forthcoming change with questions like: “What is the change?”
“How will the change impact me?” and “What’s in it for me?” (or WIIFM). The answers to these
questions help them determine whether the future state represents a threat or an opportunity.
They may also assess how effectively or fairly they think the change will be deployed with other
impacted groups.
Every individual experiences change in the context of their own perception of the history and
culture of their organization. Organizational context includes the track record with previous
changes, current levels of change saturation, and the overall direction of the organization.
Employees may be less willing to engage in new changes, for example, if the company has a
negative history of starting changes, not following through, or allowing individuals to opt out.
Each person’s experience is unique. How they view the environment and interpret the context
of the current change will vary considerably.
Personal motivators are inherent attributes that drive our choices and make us unique as
individuals. Some people value advancement and strive for respect, power and position.
Other people Desire depth in relationships and financial security. The decision to engage with
change is much easier when the future state aligns with an employee’s personal motivators.
In addition to what we value, internal beliefs about whether we can be successful with the
change being made also impact our Desire to change.
Leaders of change can positively influence the decision to embrace change by considering
the factors that impact Desire. Below are several tactics for effectively building Desire:
Primary sponsors are instrumental in creating Desire among employees to support and engage in
a change. To see the best results and the most adoption of the new solution, these senior leaders
need to be present, interact on a personal level, and be willing to answer difficult questions
throughout the change process. Employees watch their leaders closely. If leadership actively and
visibly supports the change, employees will determine that the change is still important.
Sponsors who disengage from a project, are absent, or delegate the role of sponsorship entirely
communicate that the change is not important. Momentum and support from employees
diminishes. There is greater resistance to the change, slower adoption throughout the
organization and, in some cases, project failure.
For people managers to have effective conversations with employees, they must first be
onboard with the change themselves. People managers are employees first. They will be
impacted by change and have their own questions and concerns. Before they can effectively lead
their teams, they must first have an opportunity to process and resolve their own uncertainties
and fears.
Too often, the role of the people manager is overlooked in times of change. It is assumed that
holding the title of manager means an individual is already an effective coach and resistance
manager. The role is critically important to influencing Desire with employees, but change
management and change coaching are skills that need to be developed. The project team,
organizational change team, and sponsors must actively equip people managers to be prepared
to lead during change.
Direct participation in and ownership of the change is a fast and effective way to build support
and Desire. Increased engagement of impacted employees in a change initiative translates
directly into increased likelihood of the initiative achieving its desired results.
Employees can play many different roles in the change process. They may get involved in
creating the needed solution or participate in testing the new solution to provide feedback
on and input for improvements. Natural influencers and peer leaders can engage as change
champions or members of a change agent network. Actively engaging key individuals in the
change produces a multiplying effect in overall levels of Desire to support the change, and
ultimately can lead to significant increases in the speed and success of adoption.
The behaviors of employees during change are strongly driven by how they are measured
and rewarded. If there is an incentive program already in place to reward employees, consider
how it could be realigned to support the new desired behaviors. An incentive program that
rewards employees for the way they currently work undermines other positive motivations
to change to a new way of working. The same applies for performance management systems.
Employees may resist implementing changes that hinder their ability to meet their current
performance objectives.
The lack of control and uncertainty over another person’s Desire to change can cause some
leaders to disengage from this step in the change process. And yet it is an essential part of
realizing successful change. The actions and words of people managers and executive leaders
have a tremendous influence on an employee’s Desire to support a business change. Even if
people managers and executives cannot dictate the decisions of their employees, they can
certainly impact the process. The most successful change initiatives focus their efforts on the
proactive steps that sponsors and people managers can take to minimize resistance and create
energy and engagement around the change.
Before we move on to the next element in the Prosci ADKAR Model, it is important to note that
Awareness and Desire can ebb and flow over the course of a change initiative. New information
or developments may cause an employee with high Awareness and high Desire to revert back.
If this happens, readdress Awareness and Desire in the context of the new information before
the employee can successfully continue to move forward. Although the natural progression
is to move on quickly to building Knowledge and Ability through training, for a change to be
successful, it is absolutely necessary to revisit Awareness and Desire, reinforcing these elements
with continued communication.
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