Change adoption happens when people can perform new behaviors in real work, not simply when they attend training or receive a launch email. Prosci’s ADKAR model describes individual change through Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability, and Reinforcement, while McKinsey’s influence model emphasizes understanding, reinforcement, skills, and role modeling [Prosci; McKinsey, 2016]. (prosci.com)

One-on-one coaching is a capability-building and coaching intervention. It helps employees connect the change to their role, close specific skill gaps, and build confidence through guided practice, feedback, and follow-up. Coaching and mentoring are one-to-one development approaches that can enhance skills, knowledge, and work performance, and CIPD specifically identifies preparing and supporting people through change as an objective of workplace coaching and mentoring [CIPD, 2025]. (cipd.org)

This action is targeted support for people who need more than broad communication or classroom training. It may take the form of a manager conversation, role preparation, scenario practice, feedback on a real task, troubleshooting, or pairing with a mentor. It works best when the coach focuses on the employee’s actual work, the behavior required for adoption, and the barrier preventing progress.

Use it when adoption risk is high, when skill gaps differ by role, when employees are willing but not confident, when managers or sponsors must model new behaviors, or when training has occurred but people are not applying the change. Do not use it as a substitute for fixing poor process design, unclear priorities, lack of tools, or misaligned incentives.

Before launching coaching, clarify the impacted roles, expected behavior changes, known resistance points, training completion data, readiness feedback, and adoption measures. Prosci recommends assessing individual and group progress through ADKAR and measuring adoption through speed, utilization, and proficiency [Prosci]. (prosci.com)

Stakeholders usually include the change manager, people managers, impacted employees, sponsors, HR/L&D, subject matter experts, and peer mentors. Materials should include role-based talking points, job aids, practice scenarios, success criteria, escalation routes, and a simple coaching worksheet. Decide who coaches whom, what is confidential, what is documented, and when themes are escalated to the project team.

Time the intervention across phases. During design, use coaching to test role impacts. Before go-live, rehearse new tasks. During hypercare, solve live issues. During sustainment, reinforce the behavior until it becomes normal practice.

A sales organization introduces a new CRM process. Training attendance is high, but opportunity data quality is poor and sales managers say reps are still using spreadsheets. The change manager reviews adoption data and learns that reps understand the system but lack confidence applying new qualification stages during live customer calls.

Managers run 30-minute coaching sessions using each rep’s active pipeline. They ask the rep to explain one opportunity, identify the correct stage, practice the customer question that would confirm the stage, and enter the update in the CRM. High-performing reps mentor those who need more practice. The adoption lead aggregates common issues and updates the job aid. Progress is measured through CRM utilization, data accuracy, reduced rework, and manager observation of call behaviors.

Avoid treating coaching as a communication cascade or status check. Avoid assuming resistance is attitude when it may be a skill, confidence, workload, or process issue. Do not give generic advice disconnected from the employee’s role. Do not ask managers to coach without preparing them. CIPD notes that line managers are often expected to coach, but power dynamics and impartiality can affect the coaching relationship [CIPD, 2025]. (cipd.org)

Also avoid measuring only coaching completion. A full calendar of one-on-ones is not adoption. The test is whether people use the change correctly, confidently, and consistently.

Track leading indicators such as coaching completion, confidence scores, readiness pulse results, unresolved blockers, and quality of action plans. Track adoption indicators such as speed of adoption, utilization, proficiency, error rates, rework, help desk tickets, process compliance, and observed behavior change [Prosci]. (prosci.com)

Where possible, connect these indicators to business outcomes: cycle time, customer experience, risk reduction, revenue quality, productivity, or employee experience.

30-minute one-on-one coaching agenda