The ADKAR Model and Proposed Change for Starbucks Corporation

Diagnosing Change for Starbucks Corporation
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Diagnosing Change for Starbucks Corporation
Company’s Description
Starbucks Corporation has the largest coffeehouse chain worldwide. Gordon Bowker, Zev Siegl, and Jerry Baldwin opened the first store at Pike Place Market, Seattle, in 1971. When these three individuals opened Starbucks, they wanted to share the great coffee experience with friends to make the world a better and happier place. The headquarters of Starbucks is in Seattle in Washington. Starbucks has about 349,000 employees serving in over 80 countries. Over time, Starbucks has increasingly opened new branches, employing more people both in the United States of America (USA) and outside. Being the largest company in the coffee industry, Starbucks has approximately 32,660 stores. The firm deals with products, such as smoothies, tea, coffee beverages, baked goods, and sandwiches. In 2019, Starbucks generated a revenue of about $26.5 billion. The company's mission is "to inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup, and one neighborhood at a time" (Starbucks, 2021). This paper aims to evaluate the readiness to change the current Starbucks' human resource practices, policies, processes, or procedures using the ADKAR model.
Current Human Resource Practice, Procedure, Process, or Policy that Should Be Changed
Starbucks' human resource policies and practices enable the company to gain and sustain a competitive advantage in the coffee sector. In that light, the corporation ensures to keep its employees committed and motivated so that they can give the best services to its customers. One of the primary human resource practice that has been critical to the success of Starbucks' success is recruiting the right personnel (Tikson & Hamid, 2017). When it comes to recruitment, hiring, selection, and placement, Starbucks has designed a rigorous process that makes the company get the best candidates. Additionally, new employees are trained for at least 80 hours to ensure that they master the knowledge of coffee, such as knowing types of coffee, coffee beans, packaging, baking, and additives. Although this human resource policy has helped Starbucks provide quality coffee products, it should be changed to facilitate customers' good experience and improve workers' retention. The training period should be extended to make sure that new employees grasp the knowledge well through practice. 
Three Reasons for the Proposed Change Based on Current Change Management Theories
First, Starbucks should extend the training period to give new employees time for transition to the workplace. Based on the Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability, and Reinforcement (ADKAR) change management theory, people adopt a culture if they are given enough time to learn new things about their new environment (Caredda, 2020). In that light, the training period for Starbucks should take at least two weeks. Second, it should be structured in a way that new employees can practice what they are taught. For example, when it comes to handling customers, they should be trained by an example. Existing employees who have exquisite performance should help in training by mentoring new workers. That way, new employees will understand Starbucks culture in a good way. Third, employees’ ideas and opinions should be incorporated in the training process to avoid resistance to change. When workers know that they have contributed to creating a specific procedure or process, they are likely to adhere to it and show its importance to new employees. As such, workers become more motivated and committed to their work and comply with the firm’s policies.
Diagnostic Tools to Determine an Organization’s Readiness for Change
Some of the diagnostic tools that can be used to determine Starbucks’ readiness for change are the McKinsey 7-S model, the ADKAR model, and Kotter’s theory. In particular, the McKinsey 7-S change management model comprises seven aspects, namely strategy, systems, structure, skills, style, shared values, and staff (Caredda, 2020). The model shows how these components affect each other to determine the effectiveness of a specific change. Kotter’s theory focuses more on the people behind the change. Indeed, it creates urgency, builds a coalition, gets everyone on board, forms a strategic vision, removes barriers, and sustains acceleration (Caredda, 2020). The ADKAR change management model works in a bottom-up way and emphasizes the functionalities of the change agents. The primary components of the ADKAR model include awareness, desire, knowledge, ability, and reinforcement. 
Two Diagnostic Tools to Determine an Organization’s Readiness for Change and Why They Are the Best
The McKinsey 7-S and ADKAR models are the best diagnostic tools for determining whether Starbucks is ready for change. McKinsey 7-S qual...