The most effective way to mobilize the Skill Will Matrix is by aligning role-based skills, assets, workflows, and objective performance measures that align with the role-based skills proficiency.
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This guide delves into the origins, structure, and practical applications of the Skill Will Matrix, offering insights into how it can be utilized to foster a more productive and engaged workforce. Understanding and leveraging this matrix is crucial for managers aiming to optimize team dynamics and achieve sustained growth.
What is the Skill Will Matrix?
The Skill Will Matrix is a powerful tool used in coaching and management to assess and guide employees based on their skill levels and motivation. The concept has roots in performance management theories and was popularized through various leadership development programs and training methodologies. The matrix provides a structured approach to tailor coaching and development strategies, aiming to enhance employee performance and overall organizational effectiveness.
The Skill Will Matrix consists of four quadrants: High Will/High Skill, High Will/Low Skill, Low Will/High Skill, and Low Will/Low Skill. Each quadrant represents a different combination of an individual’s ability and drive, providing a framework for tailored coaching strategies. Understanding these quadrants helps managers identify the appropriate support and development needed to enhance team performance and foster a more productive work environment. The reason a Skill Will matrix centered on role-based skills works so well is that it’s centered on skill proficiency and objective measures, leaving subjectivity out of the process as much as possible.
15 Signs You Should Adopt the Skill Will Matrix
Unlike more complex performance management systems that can be cumbersome and difficult to implement, the Skill Will Matrix provides a clear, actionable framework that managers can easily use to tailor development strategies to individual needs.
Here are 15 key signs that your organization could benefit from adopting the Skill Will Matrix.
1. High Employee Turnover
- Sign: Frequent loss of key talent, especially high-potential employees in critical roles.
- Indication: Employees may feel disengaged or unrecognized, leading to dissatisfaction and exit.
2. Declining Productivity
- Sign: Gradual decline in productivity metrics, such as sales, project completion rates or quality of output.
- Indication: May lack the necessary skills for their roles or may be overburdened.
3. Low Employee Engagement and Motivation
- Sign: Employees exhibit low enthusiasm, reduced productivity, and lack of initiative.
- Indication: A need for better alignment between employee roles, skills, and motivational drivers.
4. Ineffective Training and Development Programs
- Sign: Training programs fail to produce measurable improvements in employee performance.
- Indication: Generic training initiatives that do not address individual employee needs and skill levels.
5. Lack of Career Paths or Decreasing Internal Mobility
- Sign: Employees are uncertain about their career growth opportunities within the organization or there is a reduction in internal promotions.
- Indication: Absence of a structured framework for identifying and developing future leaders.
6. Inconsistent Performance Reviews
- Sign: Performance reviews are infrequent, subjective, and not aligned with actual performance outcomes or a regular cadence.
- Indication: Need for a more objective and systematic approach to evaluating and managing performance with regularly-scheduled reviews.
7. Increased Time to Revenue (or Competency) for New Hires
- Sign: New hires are taking longer to reach full productivity, their first closed won deal or competency.
- Indication: Ineffective onboarding or the organizational environment is not conducive to learning and skills development.
8. Difficulty in Identifying Development Needs
- Sign: Managers struggle to pinpoint specific areas where employees need improvement.
- Indication: Lack of clear insights into employee strengths, weaknesses, and motivational factors.
9. Underutilized Employee Potential
- Sign: High-skill employees are not fully utilized or are placed in roles that do not match their abilities.
- Indication: Ineffective matching of employee skills with job requirements and growth opportunities.
10. High Dependency on Key Individuals
- Sign: Organizational performance heavily relies on a few high-performing individuals.
- Indication: Need for a more balanced and scalable approach to talent management and development.
11. Misalignment Between Organizational Goals and Employee Performance
- Sign: Employees’ activities and outputs are not contributing effectively to the organization’s strategic objectives.
- Indication: Need for better alignment of individual performance with organizational goals.
12. Low Adaptability to Change
- Sign: The organization struggles to adapt to market changes and innovate.
- Indication: Employees lack the necessary skills or motivation to embrace and drive change.
13. Lack of Data-Driven Decision Making in HR
- Sign: HR and management decisions are based on intuition rather than data.
- Indication: Absence of a robust framework for collecting and analyzing employee performance data.
14. Frequent Role Misalignment
- Sign: Employees often find themselves in roles that do not match their skills or interests.
- Indication: Need for a more effective approach to role assignment and job fit analysis.
15. Feedback Resistance
- Sign: Employees showing resistance to feedback or consistently receiving the same feedback without improvement.
- Indication: Mismatch between their skills and abilities and job expectations or a lack of motivation to improve.
Implementing the Skill Will Matrix can address these issues by providing a structured, objective, and personalized approach to employee development, performance management, and overall organizational effectiveness.
The Four Skill Will Matrix Quadrants Explained
The Skill Will Matrix is a valuable tool for assessing and guiding employees based on their skill levels and motivation, categorized into four distinct quadrants. Each quadrant—High Will/High Skill, High Will/Low Skill, Low Will/High Skill, and Low Will/Low Skill—provides insights into an employee’s capabilities and drive, allowing managers to tailor their coaching and development strategies accordingly. Understanding these quadrants is essential for fostering a productive work environment and optimizing team performance. In this section, we delve into the specifics of each quadrant and how to effectively manage employees within them.
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High Will, High Skill
The High Will and High Skill quadrant of the Skill Will Matrix represents individuals who are both highly competent and highly motivated. They excel in their roles, show strong initiative, and have significant leadership potential. These employees are key assets, contributing to team success and driving organizational growth. To maximize their impact, organizations should recognize their contributions, provide challenging projects, and offer leadership development opportunities. By doing so, companies can ensure these high performers remain engaged and continue to elevate the performance of their teams and the organization as a whole.
Delegate, Study, Support
Help your high performers advance. Nurture their success. Have them coach others to help develop leadership skills. Above all, keep them engaged and stimulated in their role until there is an opportunity for advancement, provided they are interested in leaning forward with the proper support.
High Will, Low Skill
The High Will and Low Skill quadrant of the Skill Will Matrix represents individuals who are new to a company, or role, and are ramping up. While highly motivated, they lack the necessary skills because they are new. These employees are often eager to learn and Organizations should leverage their enthusiasm by providing comprehensive training and support tailored to their role, required role-based skills, and learning styles. Continuous coaching and feedback are essential to help them develop the required skills. By investing in their growth, companies can turn their high will into high performance, ensuring these motivated individuals become valuable contributors to the team and the organization. Maintaining a repeatable cadence and ensuring they know what’s expected of them is critical.
Guide, Mentor, Train
If this is their first quarter, high will and low skill are normal. They need your help learning what’s expected of them. While we might think it is better to leave them alone as they ramp up, this can backfire. Instead, pair them with a high skill/high will mentor in a similar role who is proficient in the needed role-based skills.
Low Will, High Skill
The Low Will and High Skill quadrant of the Skill Will Matrix represents individuals who possess the necessary skills but lack motivation. These employees, often referred to as “lone wolves,” can perform well but are not team players and do not contribute fully to the organization. Many times through a coaching cadence we may learn of a personal situation that is temporarily interfering with performance. If this is not the case, addressing the lack of motivation requires clear objectives and frequent conversations, emphasizing their role’s importance and the collective success of the team. If motivation doesn’t improve despite coaching and support, it may be necessary to make difficult decisions, such as reassignment or termination, to prevent them from negatively impacting team dynamics and overall performance.
Motivate, Monitor, Direct
Disengaged? Is it a personal life problem? Watch closely and assist to ensure team morale is not affected. If this persists, start sourcing just in case and ensure conversations with HR are active.
Low Will Low Skill
The Low Will and Low Skill quadrant of the Skill Will Matrix represents individuals who lack both the motivation and the necessary skills. This is a challenging situation for both the individual and the organization. If they are new, their low will is a significant red flag, as initial enthusiasm is expected. For those not new, or without extenuating circumstances, the best course is often to remove them from the organization swiftly. You cannot coach will, which comes from within. Early identification during onboarding and probation periods is crucial to maintaining a high-performing team and addressing hiring mistakes within probationary periods.
Decide, Dismiss
If they moved from low right to low left – it’s likely too late
How to Use the Skill Will Matrix
The Skill Will Matrix should be integrated at all levels of an organization to foster transparency, constructive conversations, and continuous coaching. Implementing Skill Will coaching programs on a regular cadence – whether weekly, monthly, or quarterly – is crucial. The true benefits emerge when these programs are aligned with role-based skills, assets used regularly, and workflows executed to drive outcomes. Consistent application over several quarters, without gaps or interruptions, will drive performance through alignment and repeatability.
Establishing a regular cadence for Skill Will assessments helps team members get accustomed to the process, consistently aligning expectations with leadership. It provides a benchmark for tracking individual and team progress over time. The goal is to maintain high motivation levels while individuals develop both new and existing skills. This helps to maintain a competitive advantage and keep employee development current, relevant and actionable.
Skill Will Assessments
A Skill Will assessment consists of role-specific questions categorized into Skill and Will. These assessments evaluate performance over a specific period using a 5-point rubric.
- Willingness: This grouping evaluates an individual’s drive to succeed, coachability, teamwork, and adherence to corporate principles. Will questions are relatively static and applicable across all roles, providing a universal benchmark.
- Skills / Abilities: This grouping focuses on role-specific skill proficiency, performance indicators, measurable knowledge, and essential competencies. Indicator measures and skill questions cover areas such as leading indicators of activity, role-based skills (proficiency), and activities known to drive lagging indicators of performance. Past quarter performance (good or bad) will align with leading indicators of activity.
Assessment Process
After defining the Skill Will assessment templates, ensure that both leaders and team members understand the process and deadlines. For instance, a quarterly skill program might include:
- Self-Assessment: Individuals evaluate their performance by completing the Skill Will Matrix template for their role (Due in Week 1).
- Leader Ratings: Leaders assess individuals (Due in Week 2).
- 1:1 Meetings: Individuals and leaders meet to discuss and finalize results, ensuring mutual understanding (Due in Week 3).
By aligning this process with key performance pillars, and repeating this cadence, organizations reinforce desired skills and attitudes, supporting continuous improvement and adaptability to changes. In GTM, as an example, role-based skills and leading indicator measures should be directly aligned with what the role does daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly to drive predictable performance. Consider the sales process, collaboration assets, and related workflows. It’s most effective to center on objective measures.
Skill Will programs and the Skill Will Matrix offer a structured opportunity to embed organizational changes and develop the necessary skills and mindsets to navigate complex transformations over time.
Skill Will Matrix Assessment Template
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Coaching Best Practices: Unlocking Performance and Success
In partnership with the Skill Will Matrix, effective coaching drives success and enhances team performance. Drawing from seasoned leaders, here are the core principles of successful sales coaching:
- Tailored Coaching: Understand individual strengths and challenges to provide personalized guidance, fostering growth, adaptability, and shared ownership.
- Continuous Learning: Encourage ongoing improvement through training, sharing success and failure stories, and reflective practices.
- Trust and Communication: Build trust for open communication, enabling constructive feedback and precise support.
- Data-Driven: Use objective performance metrics to identify strengths and areas for support, setting realistic goals.
- Recognition and Motivation: Celebrate achievements to boost morale and inspire excellence.
- Strategic Thinking: Encourage understanding of the broader business context to craft effective long term repeatable strategies.
Integrating these practices enhances team performance and ensures sustained growth and competitiveness.
Importance of Follow-Up in Coaching
Follow-up is crucial in sales coaching to ensure progress and reinforce learning. The following key points highlight its importance:
- Reinforces Learning: Post-coaching follow-ups help reinforce the lessons learned during coaching sessions.
- Track Progress: Follow-ups allow coaches (leadership) to monitor the progress of their team members and adjust strategies as needed.
- Build Accountability: Regular check-ins foster accountability, commitment and shared ownership of personal development.
- Identify Challenges: Follow-ups provide an opportunity to identify and address any challenges or obstacles that may have arisen after the initial coaching session.
- Continuous Improvement: Consistent follow-up promotes a culture of continuous improvement, learning and sustained growth.
Effective follow-up ensures that coaching efforts lead to tangible, long-term benefits for both the individual and the organization.
Skillibrium Coaching Platform Overview
Skillibrium offers a robust, industry agnostic platform that can be customized for any organization to enhance coaching and team performance for sales and go-to-market (GTM) leaders. Here’s how Skillibrium supports better coaching and the Skill Will Matrix:
Key Features:
- AI-Powered Personalization:
- Skillibrium tailors coaching programs to individual needs, ensuring each team member receives the specific role-based skill guidance required to excel. This includes leveraging AI to assess and address skill and willingness gaps within the team.
- Skill Will Matrix Based Assessment:
- The platform plots individuals’ skills and willingness against defined success criteria, helping managers identify areas for improvement and tailor coaching strategies accordingly. This approach ensures that coaching efforts are both targeted and effective. Above all, since coaching is based on a rubric centered on role-based skills, it’s not personal – everyone is measured against the same baseline.
- Standardized and Customizable Templates:
- Skillibrium provides ready-to-use templates for popular sales methodologies like Challenger Sale, MEDDIC, and Sandler Sales, while also allowing the creation of custom templates. This flexibility ensures that coaching aligns with the specific methodologies and processes that drive your business.
- Performance Tracking and Reporting:
- The platform offers powerful analytics and KPI scorecards that provide visibility into individual and team performance. Managers can define targets, track progress, and make data-driven decisions to enhance team effectiveness.
- Integrated Enablement Programs:
- Skillibrium enables the rapid launch of enablement programs, automating reminders, setting deadlines, and assigning tasks to ensure continuous development and alignment across the organization.
- Consistent Execution and Alignment:
- By defining clear playbooks and aligning sales, marketing, and product teams, Skillibrium ensures consistent execution of GTM strategies. This alignment helps drive predictable revenue growth and high-performance outcomes through repeatability of best practices.
- Scalable Coaching and Remediation:
- The platform supports scalable coaching programs, allowing managers to standardize onboarding and development paths while addressing skill gaps through targeted remediation tasks.
- Enhanced Efficiency and Reduced Cycle Times:
- Skillibrium helps compress deal cycle times by automating and integrating sales process/playbook workflows, reducing overhead and improving overall efficiency.
By integrating these features, Skillibrium supports a higher-performing, cross-functional coaching process, enabling GTM leaders to drive consistent, scalable growth and improve team performance effectively.
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