The Kubler-Ross adapted model and Tannenbaum and Hanna's three-stage model
5CO01 – Organisational performance and culture in practice
This CIPD Level 5 learning video explores two fundamental models for understanding how employees experience organisational change: the Kubler-Ross adapted model, which outlines the psychological coping cycle individuals move through during transitions, and Tannenbaum and Hanna's three-stage model, which structures change experience into distinct phases. As part of unit 5CO01 Organisational Performance and Culture in Practice, this video directly addresses assessment criteria AC 2.4, enabling you to discuss how people experience change within organisations. By watching this video, you'll gain a comprehensive understanding of these essential change management frameworks, equipping you to analyse employee responses to change and support effective organisational transitions in your HR practice.
What this video covers
Covering Assessment Criterion 2.4 of 5CO01, this video examines two frameworks that describe how people psychologically experience organisational change: the Kubler-Ross adapted model and Tannenbaum and Hanna's three-stage model. The Kubler-Ross model has its origins in Elisabeth Kubler-Ross's clinical work on grief and bereavement from the 1960s, and the video addresses how and why that foundation translates into organisational contexts, particularly in relation to loss of routine, professional identity, established relationships and familiar competencies. The five stages of denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance are each named and considered within a workplace setting, alongside a critical discussion of the model's limitations, including the non-linear nature of how individuals move through those stages.
Tannenbaum and Hanna's three-stage model receives equal attention, with the video working through the psychological movement from holding on, through the uncomfortable transitional phase of letting go, and into moving on. The letting go stage is treated as the most demanding element of the model, and the video examines the psychological gap that characterises it, including reduced confidence and a disrupted sense of purpose. The final stage of moving on is discussed in terms of the renewal of professional identity and the organisational support mechanisms — such as coaching, training and recognition — that the model implies are necessary.
The video also situates both frameworks within the broader indicative content for AC 2.4, which includes readiness for change and resistance to change, and acknowledges Spencer and Adams' seven-stage model as part of that wider landscape. Taken together, the two models presented here represent contrasting levels of complexity and granularity in describing the human experience of change, and the video draws out that contrast directly, giving viewers a grounded understanding of what each framework does and does not claim to explain.
Assessment Criteria 2.4
Discuss models for how change is experienced.
Indicative Content
Models for how people experience change: for example Tannenbaum and Hanna three-stage model; Kubler-Ross adapted model: the coping cycle; Spencer and Adams’ seven-stage model; readiness for change and resistance to change.
What You'll Learn
Video covering: The Kubler-Ross adapted model and Tannenbaum and Hanna's three-stage model
About 5CO01 – Organisational performance and culture in practice
This unit examines the connections between organisational structure and the wider world of work in a business context. It highlights the factors and trends, including the digital environment, that impact on business strategy and workforce planning, recognising the influence of culture, employee wellbeing and behaviour in delivering change and organisational performance
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