ASSESSING THE NEEDS OF PERFORMERS
No discussion of performance would be complete without an understanding of Mager’s work on assessing performance problems. Robert Mager, through his Center for Effective Performance, has done some of the most valuable work in performance management of the last two decades. Put into simplest terms, Mager begins with two questions:

1. Can the performer do the task or can he not? (Does the performer
have the skills, abilities, strength, and raw resources?)
2. Will the performer do the task or won’t he? (If the employee has
the ability to complete the task, does she or he have an attitudinal
or volitional reluctance to perform?)

A matrix can be drawn from these two questions that will help a
manager or supervisor analyze any performance problem.

Can Do Will Do
Can’t Do Won’t Do

The perfect combination of these traits is that the employee can do the work and will do the work. The employee is gifted and equipped to do the work and shows a willingness to complete each task satisfactorily. If you have the Can Do/Will Do combination, you have no performance problems.

If an employee is not performing well enough to meet the goals management has set, apply the grid in a similar fashion. Every performance problem will fit into two categories of the grid above. Examples:

1. The employee can do the work, but won’t do it.
2. The employee can’t do the work, but would do it if he or she
could.
3. The employee can’t do the work, and wouldn’t do it even if he or
she could. (This is the worst combination.)

10.Taken From: 201 Ways to Turn Any Employee Into a STAR Performer