Change Management Foundations

with Scott Mautz

The Skill, Will, Hill Assessment

As a leader of change, you might be ready to dive in, implement change, and move the organization forward. But that doesn’t mean your
organization is ready. How do you know if they are? By assessing three things: the skill, the will, and the hill. Below is an example of an assessment
conducted by a pharmaceutical company undertaking a big organizational change that requires all headquarter marketing personnel to now also
take on responsibilities for selling directly to physicians and nurses in their offices.

Example Assessment Your Assessment

Skill, Will, and Hill
(brief version, for illustrative purposes) (of your specific situation)

The marketing organization has solid communication

1. The Skill
It’s critical to understand the skill level of the
organization and what new knowledge and skills
must be developed to thrive in the desired future
state. Plans are then needed to fill any gaps between
where the organization is and what’s needed.
2. The Will
What’s the will of the organization for facing change?
What are the current attitudes and behaviors?
Assessing the will includes determining if the
organization has the capacity for added work that
comes with change and whether or not some current
work can be reprioritized or eliminated to free
up capacity.
skills and has taken our “Interpersonal Effectiveness”
training, but has no skills on selling directly to
healthcare professionals in a time-pressured
environment. They’ll need training on the ABC selling
method and a six-month training program that
includes doing observed sales calls with our district
managers.
We’ve been through a lot of change over the past year.
Internal surveys/focus groups indicate our marketers
are tired, skeptical, and anxious about more change,
especially change that so directly affects their job
responsibilities. They have a heavier than normal
workload given our recent downsizing and given the
fact that they’re rolling out a brand-new Marketing
Fundamentals Program (MFP) across the globe. We
can reprioritize the work in rolling out the MFP
or outsource the work to a training vendor. Our
analysis also shows the marketers have taken on too
much administrative work, which we can eliminate
or outsource. We’ll need a plan to have that work out
of the marketers’ responsibilities before we begin their
sales training.

Change Management Foundations with Scott Mautz 1 of 2

Change Management Foundations
with Scott Mautz
Skill, Will, and Hill
3. The Hill
What’s the “hill,” or obstacle, the organization faces
in terms of successfully implementing the change?
What are the specific barriers to overcome in making
the change successful?
Change Management Foundations with Scott Mautz
Example Assessment Your Assessment
(brief version, for illustrative purposes) (of your specific situation)
We know 25% of the marketers aren’t interested in
selling (“not what they signed up for”), and another
20% are anxious about taking on a role for which they
have no experience. We’ll need to make very clear
the benefits for the marketers (more pay, company
car, etc.) and give them a safe environment to learn
and grow in, complete with a top-notch training and
support program.
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