"I'm not getting those toilet paper reports."
“If you have a basically competent employee who simply refuses to send in status reports, how do you make them send in status reports? Are you going to fire them over that?”
Is there an issue with the employee being unable to produce the report, or are they simply unwilling to do it?
Are the status reports necessary or are they just reports?
Can the report production be automated?
Can the report be assigned to another employee?
If the report is essential for the business, it gets produced or people get fired.
“Basically Competent” is a pretty low bar. Hire better people, or automate.