Absence of conflict of interest.
Citation
Highlights
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The study's objective was to examine the impact of the Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability, and Reinforcement (ADKAR) change management model on job satisfaction among customer service representatives (CSRs) at a public utility company’s customer service call center.
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The study was a randomized controlled trial that used surveys to compare outcomes for call-center CSRs who received ADKAR training to outcomes for call center CSRs who did not receive ADKAR training. The study did not find any statistically significant effects of ADKAR training on job satisfaction.
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The quality of causal evidence presented in this report is low because it was a randomized controlled trial with unknown levels of attrition and the author did not ensure that the groups being compared were similar prior to the intervention. This means we cannot be confident that the estimated effects are attributable to the ADKAR intervention and not to other factors.
Intervention Examined
Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability, and Reinforcement (ADKAR) Change Management Model
Features of the Intervention
The ADKAR change management model is a set of tools designed to promote positive changes among individual employees that can lead to broader organizational change. The components of the ADKAR model – awareness, desire, knowledge, ability, and reinforcement – are theorized as key elements necessary to promote individual change.
Features of the Study
The author used a randomized controlled trial to estimate the impact of the ADKAR model on job satisfaction among customer service representatives (CSRs) at a public utility call center. The study was conducted at a single customer service call center operated by the public utility company. Among the CSRs at the study site, 60 were identified as eligible for the study, and 50 CSRs were randomly assigned to either a treatment or control group. CSRs in the treatment group received a 4-hour ADKAR training, administered by the study author. CSRs in the control group did not receive an ADKAR training. Members of the treatment and control groups were administered job satisfaction surveys at the beginning and end of the study. The study ran from November 2019 through December 2019.
Findings
Attitudes
- The study did not find any statistically significant effects of ADKAR training on job satisfaction.
Considerations for Interpreting the Findings
The author noted that several study participants exited the study due to terminations, promotions, and transfers. The author did not provide information about the number of participants who exited the study, nor about the relative proportion of exits from the treatment and control groups. Thus, it was not possible to calculate the number of overall study attrition or the rate of differential attrition across the treatment and control conditions. Because the study was a randomized controlled trial with unknown levels of study attrition, and the author did not take additional steps to ensure that the treatment and control groups were similar prior to the intervention, this study receives a low evidence rating.
Causal Evidence Rating
The quality of causal evidence presented in this report is low because it was a randomized controlled trial with unknown levels of attrition and the author did not ensure that the groups being compared were similar prior to the intervention. This means we are not confident that the estimated effects are attributable to the ADKAR intervention; other factors are likely to have contributed.