The research revealed strong leadership in the Armed Forces has helped 49% of its personnel understand why change is good for them on a personal level - the highest proportion of any professional group in the UK.
It also found that explaining to employees why change is good for them personally is the key factor in successfully changing the way an organisation works. Orion claims this stands the armed forces in good stead in the face of huge changes brought about by deep spending cuts and structural reforms.
The 2010 Ministry of Defence Spending Review - which stipulated an 8% cut in defence spending by 2015 - has caused 4,200 redundancies this year alone.
In contrast, the civil service has the least effective leaders at managing and explaining change to their employees. The research found that 23% of civil servants say they understand why the changes to the civil service are good for them personally - less than half the proportion of armed forces personnel.
Jan Hills, partner at Orion, said: "The armed forces need strong leaders if they are to successfully navigate their way through the most turbulent period in their recent history.
"It is going through changes which will trigger feelings of intense threat, and to embrace new ways of working, employees need to understand deeply why change is good for them and their organisation."
