For HR teams and leaders, adapting to new technologies, processes, and structures is essential—but managing that change successfully is where the real challenge lies. Change management models provide the frameworks organizations need to guide their people through transitions, ensuring smoother adoption and long-term success.
Great change management allows companies to evolve, streamline outdated processes, and align teams toward common goals. But managing change can be challenging: Gartner reports that half of all change initiatives fail. Poor execution can lead to disengaged employees, lower productivity, and reputational damage.
With the right change management model, companies can minimize disruption, increase team member buy-in, and maximize the potential for success.
What is a change management model?
A change management model is the concept, theory, or methodology businesses adopt to navigate their change process. It provides a framework for HR leaders and company executives to:
- Build a strategic vision for an initiative
- Plan and prioritize change objectives
- Establish key performance indicators (KPIs) for tracking success
- Help people adapt to and adopt new workflows
- Overcome resistance to change
What is a change management theory?
A change management theory focuses on the conceptual part of change management. It provides an understanding of the relationship between conditions that lead to change, why and how change happens within an organization, and the outcome of the change.
What is a change management framework?
A change management framework covers the model, theory, tools, communication strategies, and processes organizations need to successfully implement a change.
Why are change management models important in HR?
When an organization undergoes a change that involves HR—such as leadership shifts, policy rollouts, or layoffs—HR serves as the bridge between managers and their people. HR teams take action by:
- Communicating change
- Identifying training needs and developing training programs
- Understanding and managing resistance to change
- Ensuring the company maintains legal compliance
- Supporting team members where needed
HR teams can use change management models to guide the entire organization through change. HR teams also use change management models to identify potential roadblocks, create mitigation strategies, and design a communication strategy that keeps everyone aligned.
Change management models break down the change process into manageable chunks, making it easier for HR teams to track progress and go back to the drawing board if something goes wrong.
Top change management models for organizational change
These change management models support different types of organizational change, from short-term shifts to long-term transformations or continuous improvements.
1. Lewin’s change management model
Kurt Lewin introduced his change management model in the 1940s. The model simplifies organizational change into three key steps: unfreeze, change, and refreeze.
- Unfreeze: Organizations review their current processes, determine what to change, and communicate the reasons to key stakeholders. This step builds support for the shift and ensures everyone understands why it matters.
- Change: Teams start implementing new processes, testing them, and gathering feedback. People receive support and training to help them adjust, while leaders continue reinforcing the positive outcomes of the shift.
- Refreeze: Once the new processes settle, leaders introduce strategies that lock these changes in place, creating long-term stability. Celebrating milestones and assessing areas for future growth help strengthen these new behaviors.
Lewin’s model promotes transparent communication. It works well for organizations pursuing complex changes through a structured and straightforward approach.
2. Kotter’s theory for change management
John Kotter developed Kotter’s theory for change management: an 8-step process for effectively managing organizational change. The steps cover:
- Creating a sense of urgency to motivate the team
- Building a guiding coalition by choosing the right people to plan and implement the change
- Forming clear strategic vision initiatives that align with the organization’s mission and objectives
- Communicating the vision to all stakeholders
- Enabling action by removing barriers, providing training, resources, etc
- Generating short-term wins to keep employee morale high
- Sustaining acceleration by using short-term wins to drive change
- Implementing change into the company culture
While the Kotter theory drives momentum, it can lead to burnout, making it more suitable for short-term changes, such as rolling out new HCM software.
3. McKinsey 7-S change management model
The McKinsey 7-S model assesses an organization’s ability to implement a change by coordinating seven soft and hard elements.
Soft elements
- Shared values: The core values, attitudes, and beliefs that define your organization’s culture
- Skills: The collective capabilities (soft and hard skills) team members need to execute the change strategy
- Staff: The organization’s people
- Style: The leadership approach to managing and motivating people
Hard elements
- Strategy: How the organization plans to implement a change and drive adoption
- Structure: Decision-making processes, reporting lines, organizational hierarchy, division of labor, etc.
- Systems: The technologies and systems (i.e., performance management software, IT systems) that define how people do their jobs
The 7-S model directs the organization’s attention to factors that can make or break a change’s success. However, it doesn’t guide the company through the process of implementing change, so it works best when paired with an actionable model like Kotter’s.
4. The Nudge theory for change management
The Nudge theory focuses on gently guiding team members toward change rather than enforcing change. It operates on the belief that people shift happens best when the organization presents change as a choice, not a directive.
According to the Nudge theory, organizations can easily get the full support of their people by:
- Defining changes
- Stakeholder analysis
- Setting timelines
- Inclusive decision making
- Seeking feedback
- Managing obstacles
- Sustaining change
5. Kübler-Ross Change Curve framework
The Kübler-Ross Change Curve framework comes from the 1969 book On Death and Dying by psychiatrist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross. It compares the emotional journey of change to the five stages of grief:
- Shock: People react with surprise upon hearing the news of the change
- Anger: Denial sets in, and team members resist accepting the change
- Bargaining: Team members start accepting the change but still feel resistant
- Depression: Motivation drops and people struggle with the work involved in the change
- Acceptance: Team members finally adapt, embracing the change as part of their work routine
This framework helps organizations recognize emotional resistance and prepares them for people’s reactions. It works best when combined with another model that provides step-by-step guidance.
6. ADKAR change management model
Jeffery Hiatt created the ADKAR change management model, a bottom-up approach to change management that focuses on what each department and team needs to do for the organization to successfully implement a change. ADKAR refers to:
- Awareness: Explain the why and how behind the change
- Desire: Persuade team members to support the change
- Knowledge: Educate and train team members
- Ability: Encourage people to apply what they learn
- Reinforcement: Performance management, employee achievements recognitions, and further training
The ADKAR model shows the importance of getting people’s input during change and collaborative planning.
7. Bridges’ transition model
William Bridges’ transition model explains that while change is something that happens to people, transitions represent a gradual process people can navigate and control. Like the Kübler-Ross framework, this model focuses on the emotional reactions people experience during change, guiding them through three stages of transition.
- Ending: People realize they’ll lose team members, software systems, and workflows due to the change
- The neutral zone: People feel unsure as they transition to the new system
- The new beginning: People accept the change and continue to adopt it
8. The Satir change model
The Satir change model, similar to the Kübler-Ross framework, helps organizations predict how changes will impact team performance and track emotional progression through five stages.
- Late status quo: People understand what to expect during the change
- Resistance: People fight the change
- Chaos: Productivity is low and people need encouragement
- Integration: Productivity improves as people see the benefits of the change
- New status quo: Productivity becomes stable as people fully accept change
This model helps businesses anticipate and understand emotional resistance and plan accordingly. It works well for teams with deadline-driven workflows, allowing managers to predict dips in productivity and adjust project timelines as needed.
9. Maurer 3 Levels of Resistance and Change model
Rick Maurer’s 3 Levels of Resistance and Change model suggests that 67 percent of changes will fail due to a lack of trust in the person implementing the change, negative reactions to change, and lack of information. Understanding these three types of resistance—“I don’t get it,” “I don’t like it,” and “I don’t like you”—helps leaders address the root causes of pushback and build a more supportive environment for successful change.
- I don’t get it: People resist change when they don’t have enough or the right information
- I don’t like it: People resist change when it’s confusing or complex
- I don’t like you: People resist change when they don’t like the person implementing it, even when they see the benefits
Maurer’s model uniquely focuses on what causes change to fail and encourages businesses to maintain open communication and transparency with their people.
10. The Deming Cycle or PDCA Cycle
Dr. Williams Edwards Deming developed the Deming Cycle, a four-phase change management process focused on continuous improvement. This cycle helps businesses identify issues during change, track progress, and adjust as necessary by:
- Planning what needs to change
- Implementing your idea on a small scale with an experiment group, i.e., in one team or department
- Checking results and determining what works and what doesn’t
- Acting based on results and key learnings
This cycle is iterative, encouraging continuous learning and testing.
11. Kaizen change management model
The Kaizen change management model encourages businesses to see change as a continuous process, not a one-time action. It proposes that people accept change better if it’s broken down into smaller steps. The model has seven steps:
- Get team members involved
- Gather problems
- Collaboratively brainstorm solutions and choose an idea
- Test the solution
- Measure and analyze results regularly
- Adopt the solution if it’s successful
- Repeat
The Kaizen model supports bottom-up planning and encourages regular collaboration between people, teams, and departments. It also gives team members more control over the change process by actively involving them in identifying problems, suggesting solutions, and testing outcomes. By participating in each step, team members feel ownership of the change and contribute directly to its success.
12. LaMarsh change management model
LaMarsh’s change management model focuses on risk identification and mitigation during change. Organizations use its five steps to find issues that can slow down change adoption in the early stages of implementation. The process includes:
- Initiate the change
- Identify the risk
- Implement
- Achieve results
- Sustain outcomes
13. John M. Fisher change management model
John M. Fisher’s change management model looks at the individual transition stages people go through during change. Managers use this model to identify where a team member stands on the transition curve and offer support to help them progress.
The transition curve lists the following emotions: anxiety, happiness, fear, threat, disillusionment, denial, guilt, depression, hostility, acceptance, and moving on. People go through these stages in any order, some faster than others.
At the heart of Fisher’s model lies a focus on the individual. It recognizes that people respond differently to these emotions and require personalized support. This approach works well for smaller teams, where you can provide personalized attention to each person.
14. Stephen Covey change management model
Stephen Covey’s change management model helps managers improve people management. It focuses on personal and professional employee development and pushes people to adopt seven habits that help them achieve their goals:
- Be proactive
- Think of the future
- Prioritize
- Consider everyone’s needs and desires
- Listen and understand
- “Synergize” for creative cooperation
- Allow for self-care
Organizations with bottom-up leadership styles can benefit from the Stephen Covey model. It emphasizes the importance of team members being independent and working together to reach the business’s goals.
Implement a strategic change management model for organizational success
Change doesn’t have to feel overwhelming. A strategic change management model reduces resistance, lowers stress and burnout, boosts productivity, and strengthens collaboration. By leveraging the right model, organizations can not only navigate change more efficiently but also empower their people to embrace it, fostering a culture of resilience and adaptability that positions the company for long-term success.
Combined with a great team and HR software that streamlines the process, you can speed up implementation and adoption—and achieve smoother transitions with lasting results.
Change management model FAQs
How do you choose the right change management model?
To choose the right change management model, consider factors like your company’s culture, the type and scale of change, available resources, goals, how complex the change is, the needs of key stakeholders (team members), and how resistant people are to change.
Always approach change from your team’s perspective and consider how it affects them. For example, if the change involves learning complex skills or adopting new software, choose a model that empowers and supports them throughout the process.
Recommended For Further Reading
What is change management software?
Change management software is a digital tool that helps organizations streamline the implementation of various types of organizational change, such as policy changes, organizational restructuring, HR transformation, and new technology adoption.
Businesses can plan, implement, and track change management processes through multiple features like:
- Progress tracking
- Change documentation
- Task assignment and management
- Internal communication tools
- Real-time collaboration platforms
- Performance tracking
- Impact review
What is the most popular change management model?
Some of the most popular change management models include:
- Kotter’s change management model: Easy to adopt and focuses on getting team members ready for change rather than the change itself.
- McKinsey 7-S change management model: Enables businesses to define what business aspects change may impact before implementing a change strategy.
- ADKAR change management model: Helps people identify why the change strategy is not working.
- Kubler-Ross’s five-stage change management model: Focuses on team members’ needs, concerns, and feelings about a change.
- Lewin’s change management model: Describes change in a very simple way and provides just three stages for implementing an initiative.
