Employee Behavior During Change: The Change Curve, ADKAR, and the Manager's Role

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Employee Behavior During Change: The Change Curve, ADKAR, and the Manager's Role

Leadership and Organizational Behavior · Chapter 19: Managing Organizational Change and TransformationSection 19.3 · lesson 114 of 1229 min · free with a free account

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In this lesson

People respond to change emotionally before they respond rationally.

  • Trace the 4 phases of the change curve
  • Diagnose a stalled change with the 5 ADKAR blocks
  • Tailor managerial response to employee attitude
  • Separate the external change from the internal transition

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Managing Organizational Change and Transformation

Employee Behavior During Change: The Change Curve, ADKAR, and the Manager's Role

The models in the last two sections describe the architecture of change. This section is about the people who have to live inside it. You will learn the change curve, which describes how people feel. And the ADKAR model, which describes what they need. You will learn to tailor your response to four different employee attitudes. You will see why passive resistance is more dangerous than the loud kind. And you will meet a distinction that quietly explains most failed rollouts. The difference between change, the external event, and transition, the internal process. The premise underneath all of it is worth stating plainly. People respond to change emotionally before they respond rationally.

The Human Side

Not a Soft Supplement to the Plan

Behind every restructuring chart are people who must adjust. Adjust how they think, how they feel, and how they work. Understanding employee behavior during change is not a soft supplement to the plan. It is central to whether the plan succeeds at all. People respond to change emotionally before they respond rationally. Ignoring that is among the most common reasons transformations fall short. Individuals also move through change at different speeds. Some embrace it quickly, energized by new possibilities. Others move cautiously, needing evidence and reassurance before they commit. And a few resist persistently. Recognizing that range lets managers tailor their support. Rather than expecting uniform enthusiasm and being disappointed.

The Change Curve

Four Phases of an Emotional Journey

The change curve describes the emotional journey many people travel. It typically begins with shock, or denial, as the news lands. Then it moves into resistance, as those implications become real and personal. The third phase is exploration. People begin experimenting with the new reality rather than fighting it. And the fourth is commitment, once confidence and competence return. There is one feature of the curve that surprises people every time. Performance and morale often dip during the early phases. They recover afterward, but the dip comes first. A temporary decline in morale is normal. It is not a sign of failure.

Using The Curve

Different Support at Different Phases

Understanding the curve gives a manager three practical capabilities. First, they can reassure their teams that the dip is expected. Second, they can resist the urge to abandon the change at the first difficulty. This is the one that matters most, and here is why. The early dip looks exactly like failure. A leader who reads it that way abandons the change. And they do it precisely at the point where persistence would have paid. Third, they can provide targeted support at each phase. Clear information during the shock phase. Coaching during the exploration phase, when people are experimenting.

ADKAR

What People Need, Block by Block

The change curve describes how people feel. The ADKAR model describes what they need in order to change successfully. Each letter represents a building block that must be in place. A stands for awareness of the need for change. D stands for desire to participate and support it. Note that those two are different. Understanding is not wanting. K stands for knowledge of how to change. A stands for ability to implement new skills and behaviors. Those two differ as well. Knowing how is not the same as being able to. And R stands for reinforcement, to sustain the change over time.

Diagnosis

The First No Is Where to Focus

ADKAR is valuable mainly because it is diagnostic. When a change effort stalls, you can ask which building block is missing. Persistent resistance often signals a gap in awareness or desire. Struggling execution often signals a gap in knowledge or ability. And backsliding after initial success points to weak reinforcement. So when a team appears stuck, work through the blocks in order. Do people understand why the change is happening? Do they actually want it to succeed? Do they know how to do the new work? Can they perform it with the tools and the time they currently have? And is the change being reinforced through rewards and routines? The first no you reach is usually where to focus.

The Manager

Agent and Recipient at Once

Managers occupy a uniquely difficult position during change. They are often expected to champion decisions they did not make. That dual role, change agent and change recipient at once, produces real strain. Effective managers acknowledge their own adjustment. And still provide steady leadership through it. The key managerial roles are worth listing plainly. Communicating context and rationale in plain language. Listening to concerns without dismissing them. Modeling the new behaviors themselves. Removing practical obstacles, and recognizing progress when it happens.

Tailoring

Four Responses, Four Emphases

Different employee responses call for different managerial emphasis. Active resistance usually reflects a need for reassurance and voice. So listen, clarify, and involve the person in the design. Passive compliance reflects a missing belief that the change matters. So connect the work to purpose, rather than repeating the instruction. Cautious support reflects a need for evidence and competence. Provide training, and point at early wins. Active championing reflects energy that needs an outlet. Expand the role, and delegate real responsibility to them. Pause on the second row, because it is the one leaders misread. Passive compliance is not success. Someone doing what they are told without believing it needs a reason, not more instruction.

Attitudes

Directives Land on the Surface

Behavior during change is shaped by underlying attitudes. And attitudes are shaped by beliefs about the change, and emotions attached to it. An employee who believes a change is necessary behaves one way. An employee who doubts its value, or its sponsors, behaves very differently. Because attitudes drive behavior, this changes what a leader has to work on. You must engage with the beliefs and emotions beneath the behavior. Issuing directives at the surface does not reach them. The encouraging part is that attitudes are not fixed. They evolve as people gather information and observe outcomes. And as they interpret the behavior of leaders and peers. That also carries a warning, though. Positive attitudes can sour if promises are broken, or hardships ignored.

Types Of Resistance

The Quiet Kind Is the Dangerous Kind

Resistance takes several forms, and the type should guide your response. Active, overt resistance is visible and vocal. It is expressed through objection, or outright refusal. It is uncomfortable, and valuable, because it surfaces concerns you can address. Passive resistance is quieter and much more corrosive. It shows up as delay, minimal compliance, or withdrawal of effort. Because it is hidden, it can undermine a change that looks like it is going well. A third form is constructive dissent. Capable people raising genuine concerns about the merits of the change. Wise leaders distinguish that from obstruction, and treat it as a resource. The dissenter may be identifying a real flaw. Suppressing those voices can lead an organization confidently in the wrong direction.

Change And Transition

The Event and the Adjustment

There is a useful distinction between change and transition. Change is the external event. Transition is the internal psychological process people undergo. The process of coming to terms with the change. Organizations frequently manage the external change quite well. And neglect the internal transition entirely. Then they wonder why adoption lags months after the system went live. Supporting transition means acknowledging endings and losses. Helping people through the uncertain middle period. And clearly marking the new beginning. Practically, that means honest information, chances to express concerns, and training. Teams whose managers attend to transition move through the curve faster.

The Manager's Own Adjustment

Steadiness Without Performance

During uncertainty, employees look to their immediate manager. More than to senior leadership, for cues about what a change means for them. That makes managers essential sense-makers. They translate organizational messages into local meaning. And they answer the practical question on every employee's mind. What does this mean for my work, and for my future? This places real emotional demands on managers themselves. They must stay steady while absorbing their team's anxieties. Self-aware managers recognize their own reactions to a change. And prevent those reactions from leaking unhelpfully onto the team. A manager who broadcasts private skepticism licenses the team to disengage. But do not fake the opposite either. People see through forced cheerfulness. The skill is acknowledging difficulty honestly while conveying genuine belief.

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FAQ

Questions students ask us

About Employee Behavior During Change: The Change Curve, ADKAR, and the Manager's Role

What are the stages of the change curve?
The change curve, often traced to Elisabeth Kübler-Ross's work on grief, describes four common emotional phases: shock or denial, resistance, exploration, and commitment. Performance and morale usually dip in the early phases before recovering. That dip is normal, not a sign of failure, and leaders who mistake it for failure may abandon a change just when persistence would pay off. Clear information helps early on, and coaching helps during exploration.
What does ADKAR stand for?
ADKAR stands for Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability, and Reinforcement, a model developed by Jeff Hiatt of Prosci to describe what individuals need in order to change. Awareness differs from desire, because understanding is not wanting, and knowledge differs from ability, because knowing how is not being able to. The model is diagnostic: resistance often signals a gap in awareness or desire, poor execution a gap in knowledge or ability, and backsliding weak reinforcement.
What is the difference between change and transition?
Change is the external event, while transition is the internal psychological process people go through to come to terms with it, a distinction associated with William Bridges. Organizations often manage the external change well and neglect the transition, then wonder why adoption lags. Supporting transition means acknowledging endings and losses, helping people through the uncertain middle period, and clearly marking the new beginning with honest information and training.
What is passive resistance to change?
Passive resistance is quiet resistance that shows up as delay, minimal compliance, or withdrawal of effort rather than open objection. It is often more corrosive than active resistance because it is hidden and can undermine a change that looks on track. Someone complying without believing usually needs a reason, so managers should connect the work to its purpose instead of repeating instructions. Constructive dissent, by contrast, deserves a hearing.

About the Leadership and Organizational Behavior course

How many college credits is Leadership and Organizational Behavior?
Leadership and Organizational Behavior (Business 206) carries a NCCRS credit recommendation for 3 semester credits. ACE and NCCRS have over 2,100 cooperating colleges that will consider accepting credits; the final decision is with the universities.
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