Willing and Able Matrix

The willing and able matrix provide a standard thought process to managing performance.

Lecturer Broadcast: Click here to view an explanation about the willing and able matrix.

Willing and Able

Sponsor people who are willing and able to help them further their development as a person and as an organisational resource. These include, but are not limited to:

• Assignments in different functions of the business.
• Membership of cross-functional project teams tackling difficult issues.
• Elite training programmes.
• Control over assignments in their area of expertise with stretched targets.
• Relieving duties for more senior managers while they are absent for extended periods of time.
• Assignment of a mentor.

Willing but Unable

Educate and encourage people who are willing but unable to complete more difficult activities. These include but are not limited to:

• Corporate training programmes.
• On-the-job training programmes.
• Assessment of knowledge and practical execution of processes and procedures to understand knowledge and skill gaps.
• Assignment of a coach to coach in skills and provide a role model for behaviour.
• Provision of reading materials assessed s being relevant to the behaviours required for their role.

Able but Not Willing

Counsel those who are able but not willing to use their talents and skills to make a better life for themselves and a better outcome for the organisation. If that does not work after several attempts, move to confrontation. This includes but is not limited to:

• Seeking understanding of their interests to ensure that they are in roles that match their interests. It is much easier to build skills when you are in a role that matches your interests.
• Determine if there are obstacles to their performance and agree where possible to remove those obstacles in return for a concerted effort to improve their performance.
• Determine if they feel valued or not and seek to improve their perception of their value.
• Agree on an action plan of mutually agreed actions to improve performance. If repeated attempts to execute an action plan result in insufficient improvement in behaviour and performance move to confronting them on their behaviour and ask them “What are you going to do about your problem?” passing ownership of the problem from jointly between you and them to them alone.

Unable and Unwilling

Those who have shown themselves to be consistently unwilling and unable or have done so through an act resulting in extremely poor performance or grossly affecting the performance of others, must be confronted with their behaviour leading to the poor performance and asked what they will do to correct their behaviour. This includes but is not limited to:

• Having a one-on-one meeting with the person and developing an action plan with clear timelines of what they will do to improve their performance with equally clear consequences for not doing so.

Activity:  Click here to download, print and complete the poor performance activity.

Click here to view the video about poor coaching performance conversation that will assist you in completing the activity.