Prepping for Change: The SCARF Model with Francesca Dove
Change rarely announces itself gently — even something as small as being asked to swap seats can trigger a threat response in the brain.
Francesca Dove, a fractional HR leader and change management specialist, used exactly that exercise to kick off her SPARK session, showing in real time how people react to change: some lean in, some step back, some quietly stay put and hope no one notices.
Drawing on neuroscientist Dr. David Rock's SCARF model, Francesca broke down the five domains that drive our threat-or-reward response to change, and how leaders can use them to bring their teams through transitions more smoothly:
Status: Are we losing or gaining our sense of standing relative to others? A redundancy, a promotion, a shift in a relationship; anything that changes where we "fit" can register as a threat or a reward.
Certainty: We want the ground to meet our feet as we walk. Ambiguity breeds anxiety, so predictability, even in small doses, helps people feel steady.
Autonomy: A sense of control over our own decisions and environment softens the impact of change we didn't choose.
Relatedness: Do we feel psychologically safe with the people around us? Trust and shared values are what make change feel survivable rather than isolating.
Fairness: Transparency in how decisions are made, even when not everything can be shared, builds trust in the process itself.
Francesca's practical takeaways for leaders navigating restructures, pivots, or any organisational change:
Maximise certainty: Share information early and often. If leaders don't fill the silence, teams will fill it with misinformation.
Restore autonomy: Look for small ways to hand people control over their own situation, it goes a long way toward stability.
Leverage fairness: Be as transparent as possible about the decision-making process. What you can share, share; it makes the "why" easier for teams to accept.
As Francesca put it: never underestimate the size of a change. Even one as small as moving from one side of a desk to another can feel, to some people, as significant as losing a job.
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