In other words, if an employee is a can’t do/will do employee, you
will choose very different interventions than if the employee is a can
do/won’t do employee. An example of a can’t do/will do employee is a
person who takes a job as a word processor and can type text well but is failing miserably because he can’t create graphics, a required part of the job. In this case, an intervention might be to require that the employee complete a training course in graphics so that he can successfully perform his job and support the team as he should. On the other hand, a can do/won’t do employee may be highly skilled in creating graphics, but she simply refuses to complete the tasks assigned. She may be lazy or insubordinate or poor at time management. Whatever the reason, she is just not doing what the manager knows she can do. She does not need another graphics course. She may need coaching or discipline or reward or punishment.

For almost every performance problem, the first intervention should
be something called the Big Talk.

THE FIRST INTERVENTION: THE BIG TALK
Many managers have only themselves to blame when employees do not take poor performance, violation of rules, and other performance problems seriously. In such cases, the employees have never been told that the employer takes the problem seriously. Employees need to be told when a breach in conduct or slackness in some area has become a performance issue. Again, it is the employee’s right to be informed of the serious implications of not changing habits or behaviors.

Many managers protest and say that they have told the employee, yet many such employees have no recollection of being informed of the consequences of their performance. Perhaps this is because managers are uncomfortable being clear and descriptive about an employee’s unacceptable behavior. The most common mistake managers make is to joke with employees about behaviors that could cause serious problems if they are not corrected. The manager may joke with an employee about his absences because she is too uncomfortable to look the employee in the eye and say, “I have noticed that you are taking many days off, and absences could hurt
your performance review or even lead to more serious problems.”

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