Change Management Models: A Customer Service Perspective

What is a change management model? 

A change management model is a structured approach to transitioning individuals, teams and organizations from their current state to a desired future state. These models serve as a roadmap for effectively implementing change, ensuring that every step is strategically planned and executed. 

In the dynamic world of customer service, these models are essential for navigating technological advancements, evolving customer expectations and operational shifts. By providing a clear roadmap, change management models ensure that changes are implemented smoothly, minimizing disruptions and maximizing efficiency. 

However, it's crucial to remember that successful change management goes beyond technical implementation. It's equally important to address the human element, considering how change impacts employees' roles, responsibilities and overall job satisfaction. By fostering a culture of adaptability and prioritizing employee well-being, you can enhance your ability to deliver exceptional customer experiences. 

To illustrate, consider a traditional brick-and-mortar retailer struggling to compete with online giants. To stay relevant, they invest heavily in omnichannel customer experiences, including buying online, picking up in-store options and using advanced inventory management systems. Without a comprehensive change management strategy, this transformation could be met with resistance from store managers, confusion among employees and a subpar customer experience. 

By implementing a well-structured change management model, the retailer can effectively address these challenges, ensuring a smooth transition and maximizing the benefits of the new strategy. 

Change management theory vs. change management model 

Understanding the difference between change management theory and model is very important. Many businesses often confuse them and falter down the road.

Let’s dive straight into our eight change management models.

As we discuss these models, we also illuminate how they can be applied to customer service functions planning to change. 

Lewin’s change management model 

🔬 Kurt Lewin, a social psychologist

🗓️ 1950s  

💡 Focuses on the dynamics of group behavior and the importance of understanding and facilitating change in a structured manner.

Lewin’s change management model is a simple framework that involves three main steps: unfreeze, change and refreeze.

Step 1: Unfreeze

This step, known as 'Unfreeze’ is a crucial stage in the change management process. It involves breaking down the existing status quo, challenging current beliefs, behaviors and processes and preparing for the upcoming changes.    

Step 2: Change 

The 'Change' step is a pivotal phase in the change management process. It is in this step that you implement the changes, introducing new processes, behaviors and ways of thinking. 

Step 3: Refreeze 

In this step, you solidify the new state after the change. This step is crucial for ensuring that changes are embedded into your organization and become the new norm. 

Kotter’s eight-step change management model  
 

🔬 Dr. John Kotter, founder of Kotter International 

🗓️ 1995 

💡Focuses on creating a sense of urgency and building a guiding coalition to drive successful change.

Source 
 
Kotter’s change management model explains the psychology of the people going through a change and suggests eight different steps to tackle it. 

Step 1: Create a sense of urgency: Highlight the need for change and its importance. Creating urgency ensures that the team understands the necessity of the change and is ready to act.  

Step 2: Build a guiding coalition: Form a group of influential leaders and stakeholders, such as department heads or senior managers, to support and drive the change. Also, ensure buy-in from key team members and foster a collaborative effort.   

Step 3: Form a strategic vision: Develop a clear vision and actionable steps to achieve the change.   

Step 4: Enlist a volunteer army: Persuasively encourage employees to take ownership of the change and actively participate. This approach empowers them and can significantly boost their engagement.   

Step 5: Enable action by removing barriers: Identify obstacles hindering progress. Streamline processes and reduce inefficiencies.   

Step 6: Generate short-term wins: Achieve and celebrate small victories to build momentum. This boosts team morale and demonstrates the change's benefits.  

Step 7: Sustain acceleration: Use the momentum from short-term wins to drive further change.  

Step 8: Institute change: Embed the new changes into the organization's culture. These practices soon become the norm.

ADKAR change management model 

🔬 Jeff Hiatt, founder of Prosci

🗓️ Late 90s 

💡 Focuses on the five key building blocks of successful change: Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability and Reinforcement. 

The ADKAR change management model argues that organizational change is only possible when individuals change. Here are the five steps it talks about:

Step 1: Awareness 

Create awareness of the need for change. Employees must understand why the change is necessary and what it entails. 

Step 2: Desire

Foster the desire to participate in and support the change. This involves addressing the personal motivations of employees. 

Step 3: Knowledge

Provide knowledge on how to change. This includes training and education on the new tools, processes or skills required. 

Step 4: Ability 

Develop the ability to implement the change on a day-to-day basis. This involves practice and support to build proficiency. 

Step 5: Reinforcement 

Reinforce the change to ensure it sticks. This includes recognition, rewards and feedback to maintain the new practices. 

Nudge theory

🔬 Richard H. Thaler (economist and Nobel Laureate) and Cass R. Sunstein (Professor, Havard Law School) 

🗓️ 2008

💡Based on the concept that small, subtle changes in the environment can predictably influence people’s behavior without restricting their freedom of choice. 

Nudge theory suggests that minor environmental adjustments or how choices are presented can significantly impact decision-making and behavior. It relies on principles from behavioral economics and psychology. By understanding how people make decisions, organizations can design interventions that "nudge" individuals toward desired behaviors.

McKinsey 7-S framework

🔬 Tom Peters and Robert Waterman, Jr, business consultants

🗓️ 1980s 

💡Designed to analyze and improve organizational effectiveness through its seven interrelated elements.

McKinsey's 7-S framework divides the change management program into seven phases. 

Source 

1. Strategy: The plan devised to maintain and build a competitive advantage 

2. Structure: The way the organization is arranged, including hierarchy and reporting lines 

3. Systems: The daily activities and procedures staff use to complete tasks

4. Shared values: Core values as showcased in the corporate culture and work ethics of the organization

5. Style: The leadership approach of top management and the company's overall operating style 

6. Staff: The employees and their general capabilities

7. Skills: The actual skills and competencies of the employees working for the company 

Kubler-Ross change curve  

🔬 Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, a psychiatrist

🗓️ 1960s 

💡Focuses on the five stages of grief and how individuals cope with significant life changes. It highlights the emotional journey experienced when confronted with change. 

The Kubler-Ross Change Curve, originally describing the five stages of grief, can also apply to customer and agent reactions during service changes. These stages — shock and denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance — reflect the emotional journey experienced when confronted with change. 

Shock and denial: When faced with service changes, customers might initially resist the need for change. They may feel confused and refuse to accept that the new system or service is better. 

Anger: As the reality of the change sets in, customers might feel frustrated or angry and express dissatisfaction with the new service or system. 

Bargaining: During the bargaining stage, customers might try to negotiate or find ways to return to the old service. They could also request to retain certain aspects of the previous system. 
 
Depression: Customers may feel overwhelmed or helpless, believing the new service will never meet their needs as effectively as the old one. 

Acceptance: Customers begin to accept the change, understand its benefits and integrate it into their routine. They start to use the new service confidently.

Bridges’ transition model  

🔬 William Bridges, a change consultant 

🗓️ 1991 

💡 Core idea: Emphasizes the emotional and psychological transitions people undergo during change rather than the change itself. 

Bridge’s transition model consists of three phases. 

Phase 1: Ending, losing, letting go  

This phase involves acknowledging and grieving over what is being left behind. People may feel fear or anger and demonstrate resistance. It would help if you addressed customers' concerns and emotions by clearly communicating the reasons for change and how it will benefit them.  

Phase 2: The neutral zone

This phase is a period of confusion and uncertainty as people transition between the old and new ways. Try to provide support and reassurance to customers. Use feedback to adjust the transition process as needed.  

Phase 3: The new beginning  

This phase involves embracing new ways and understanding their benefits. It brings acceptance and renewed energy. It would be best if you highlighted success stories and the benefits of the change. Continue to support customers to ensure the new processes are fully adopted. 

PDCA Cycle

🔬 Walter A. Shewhart, later popularized by W. Edwards Deming

🗓️ 1950s 

💡 Focuses on iterative problem-solving and continuous improvement through a four-step cyclical process.  

Here are the four steps of the PDCA cycle in the context of its implementation in customer service.    

✅ Plan  

Identify an area for improvement in customer service. Develop a plan with clear objectives and steps to achieve them. This phase involves gathering data and setting goals. For instance, plan to reduce the average hold time by analyzing current response rates and identifying bottlenecks. 

✅ Do

The 'Do' phase is not just about implementing the plan, but about learning from the process. It's an opportunity to test the effectiveness of the plan on a small scale, such as rolling out a new customer service protocol to a specific team or department. This phase encourages you to monitor the implementation closely and adapt as needed. For example, you could introduce a new live chat support feature to a subset of your service team and observe its impact.

✅ Check

The 'Check' phase is a moment of reflection in the PDCA cycle. It evaluates the implementation results and compares them against the objectives set in the planning phase. This phase emphasizes using data to determine whether the change has led to improvements, making it a critical part of the process. 

✅ Act

Based on the evaluation, decide whether to implement the change on a larger scale, modify it or abandon it. If successful, roll out the change company-wide and ensure it becomes part of the standard process.

Selecting the right change management model for your business

Choosing the appropriate change management model is crucial for a successful business transformation. The right model aligns with your organization's needs and facilitates a smoother transition. Here are key factors to consider when selecting the best approach:

• Company size: Larger organizations often benefit from structured models like Kotter's eight-step change management model, which provides a clear roadmap for complex changes. Smaller companies may find simpler models like Lewin's change management model more agile and adaptable. 

• Industry: The industry in which your organization operates is a key determinant in the selection of a change management model. Tech and healthcare industries, characterized by rapid change, might favor models like the PDCA cycle for continuous improvement.  With its focus on process optimization, manufacturing could benefit from the McKinsey 7-S framework.

• Specific challenges: If emotional resistance is a primary concern, Bridges' transition model can help navigate employee reactions. For quality and process improvements, the PDCA cycle is ideal.

• Organizational culture: A collaborative, open culture aligns well with Kotter's Model, which emphasizes the importance of building a coalition and fostering broad-based support for change. In contrast, a more hierarchical structure might find Lewin's Model more suitable, given its straightforward, top-down approach. However, don't be afraid to adopt a hybrid approach, combining elements from different models to accommodate the diverse needs of various departments or levels within your organization.  

Successfully navigating change is critical for any organization, especially in the ever-evolving landscape of customer service. Choosing the right change management model is essential for guiding your team through transformations, whether you're implementing new technologies, restructuring your customer service operations or adapting to evolving customer expectations.

For businesses of any size planning to undergo significant changes in their CX stack, Sprinklr’s Unified-CXM platform offers the perfect blend of capabilities, efficiency and ease of use. By bringing your customer service teams, tools and data together on one unified platform, you empower your organization with the right level of collaboration and context. This not only simplifies the change process but also ensures that both your customers and employees experience seamless, frictionless journeys throughout the transition.

Would you like to know how it works? Get in touch with our experts today for a personalized platform walkthrough.

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