Still in the Desert
Last week we talked about Kotter’s 8 Steps. The big, organisational view of change.
How to lead teams through transformation without watching your shiny new tool turn into a mirage.
And if you read that and thought, “Great, but what about the people actually using the thing?” you’re asking the right question.
Because you are right, most change doesn’t fail at the project level. It fails one person at a time.
It fails when the recruiter doesn’t log in or the hiring manager doesn’t update a stage, or the team quietly slips back into spreadsheets.
Kotter helps you lead the organisation through change.
But to really make it stick, you need to understand what drives individual adoption.
That’s where ADKAR comes in.
ADKAR: The Framework for Individual Change
The ADKAR Model was created by Jeff Hiatt at Prosci in the late 1990s.
While Kotter focused on organisational transformation, ADKAR focuses on the person as the unit of change.
The idea is simple: organisations don’t change, people do.
And they only change successfully when each person moves through five specific stages: Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability, and Reinforcement.
If any one stage is skipped or weak, adoption fails.
1. Awareness
People need to understand why change is necessary.
It’s not enough to say “We’re improving efficiency.” You have to explain what’s broken, what it’s costing, and what happens if nothing changes.
In business: Clear communication about the risks of staying the same and the benefits of moving forward.
Example: Share how manual scheduling costs recruiters 20 hours a week and increases candidate dropouts by 15%.
2. Desire
Awareness doesn’t guarantee action. People also need motivation, basically a reason to want the change.
This HAS TO BE personal. It depends on values, incentives, and whether the change makes someone’s life easier, not harder.
In business: Build enthusiasm by showing quick wins, peer recognition, and how the change benefits each role.
Example: Show recruiters how automation will cut their admin time and help them focus on candidate experience.
3. Knowledge
Once people are on board, they need to know how to change.
Training, guidance, and resources turn intention into capability. Without knowledge, people default back to what they know.
In business: Create training that’s targeted, practical, and role-specific.
Example: Provide short, clear videos or quick guides on how to manage requisitions, feedback, and dashboards in the new system.
4. Ability
Knowing what to do isn’t the same as being able to do it. I know how to play football, yet I'm still a banana footed lummox. Knowledge isn't ability....
This stage is about practice, support, and confidence, giving people the time and feedback they need to get comfortable with new behaviours.
In business: Reinforce learning with coaching, open office hours, and easily accessible help channels.
Example: Set up weekly drop-in sessions where recruiters can ask questions or get live support during the rollout phase.
5. Reinforcement
Even when people adopt new habits, they’ll revert unless the new way is reinforced.
This is about recognition, measurement, and accountability.
In business: Use metrics, feedback loops, and public recognition to sustain adoption.
Example: Track system usage rates, celebrate compliance milestones, and call out teams maintaining high data accuracy.
ADKAR in Practice
A scaling technology company implements a new ATS. The talent acquisition leader applies ADKAR to guide individual adoption:
- Awareness Communicate why the new ATS is being introduced. Share the cost of inefficiency and highlight the benefits for each role, reduced admin for recruiters, faster insights for managers. Desire Build motivation by demonstrating time savings and celebrating early adopters. Show real examples of how the tool makes day-to-day work easier. Knowledge Deliver targeted training and short video guides for each user group. Make sure people understand exactly how to complete their key tasks. Ability Provide ongoing support through practice opportunities, help channels, and quick access to troubleshooting resources. Reinforcement Track metrics, share success stories, and recognise teams with high engagement and compliance. Keep adoption visible and valued.
The process of change stopped being abstract and started being personal.
So...
Implementation gets you live.
Adoption gets you value.
And adoption only happens when each person understands why they’re changing, wants to change, knows how to change, can change, and stays changed.
That’s what ADKAR helps you do, it breaks organisational transformation down into real human steps.
Try it Yourself
Next time you roll out a tool or process, use ADKAR as your checklist:
- Have I built awareness? Have I created desire? Have I provided knowledge? Have I enabled ability? Have I reinforced the change?
It’s a simple framework, but it brings structure to something most leaders treat as intuition.
Give it a go, see what happens, and let me know how you get on!
Luke Update
No update this week. I'm focussing on the standard middle aged man stuff of work, family and trying not to be fat. In place of a life update, here is a picture of a baby otter in a welly. Have an awesome week!
Well... that's issue fifty four! If you have any questions about it, or any feedback on this issue of The Data Driven Recruiter, grab me on LinkedIn for a chat.
I'll see you next week!