When attempting to drive change in your organization, there are many strategies. It could be anything inspiring and motivating. It could take place with training and development, or allocating money toward a change initiative.

But are your employees ready for change? Do you have their buy-in?

Start by categorizing employees:

A: Employee has job skill ability and is open to change.

B: Employee has job skill ability but is not open to change.

C: Employee does not have job skill ability but is open to change.

D: Employee does not have job skill ability and is not open to change.

The chart shows how to code each attitude/skill level. For reference:

• “A” employees are your superstars who are ready to support your efforts.

• “B” and “C” employees need a little extra push. You must be careful with these groups and decide if it's a matter of aptitude or attitude.

• “D” employees are not good for the team.

It’s all about involving the right people in your change process. Think people first, action second. Fostering great relationships and putting the right people in the right leadership roles will make all the difference.

Mike Moore is the HVAC Training Director at HVAC Learning Solutions, an HVAC industry expert in sales, technical, and business training. Visit Mike’s blog for more insights. Mike can be reached on Twitter @hvaclearning or on Google+ at gplus.to/hvactraining.