I am a sub-boss of a team of professionals.   There is one person who
appeared to be qualified for the position when we hired her, but her
actual performance makes me wonder.  She seems to want every
assignment spelled out to her in the most concrete terms, but the work
we do is not a step by step project... we evaluate contracts and so
forth.  She often responds to assignments with "I don't know anything
about that subject" although we have books and other resources.  Also
we all review and help each other on the contracts.  So she has plenty
of help in a supportive team.  I am baffled that she has so little
initiative and wish I knew what to do to  motivate her.  As it is, she
went over my head to complain about the work... she never shared
anythging about her problems with me, although I am known as a n
approachable supervisor.  Can you give me some hints?

Here are a couple of ideas just at the top of my head. 

* First, I'd double check her degree(s) and references. I assume she
had to have some for this type of job.

* I'd make sure her desk was next to the desk of other employees. If
you want to promote social learning, proximity is key.

* I'd schedule a weekly one-on-one meeting with her and I'd
specifically ask her if she had any problems with her work.

* I'd give her the permission to make mistakes. May be the woman is a
perfectionist. Who knows?

* I'd answer any question she may have with: "I don't know the answer
either, may be we can find out. Where do you think we might be able to
find the answer?" ... "I mean where do you think this answer is
located? In a book? On the web? Do you think there is a place we could
call to get the answer?" ... "So what will you do now?" In the
long-run, with a little bit of patience, this approach has worked for
me, I've used it on my 65 year old mother to teach her about
computers/digital photography/linux/etc. My mom is a smart lady, but
when it came to computers, she had initially closed her mind to it and
she had prevented herself from learning by making me do all the
thinking for her.

* And on a side-note, here a story you might find interesting. 
http://www.elliottsamazing.com/garcia.html

Good Luck.

I'm actually in this situation myself, but from your reluctant
employee's perspective.  Has she tried talking to you herself about
her difficulties, but perhaps you didn't realize it?  Have you asked
her if the job she applied for is the job she's performing now?  And
what if she simply dosen't understand the subject matter (I can't
understand math, no matter how many times somebody tries to explain it
to me).  And maybe it isn't her initative that's the problem, if she
dosen't know what she's doing.  If she asks for concrete explanations,
maybe that's how she learns things, even if the job deals with
abstract concepts.  If she goes over your head, it may be she's trying
to find someone who can talk in a way that she understands, or will
understand her.  It might not be anybody's fault, but it sounds like
perhaps a conflict of learning styles, or at least communication
styles, may be occuring.  She's probably as frustrated as you are. 
She's probably as motivated as they get, but can't figure out what you
want from her.