Reward competence, not noise. Too often, organisations do the exact opposite. Leaders spend far too much of their time “greasing squeaky wheels” — underperformers and chronic complainers — while reliable, high-value contributors receive little recognition. This unintentional organisational reward system leads to burnout, disengagement, and turnover. Research shows top contributors are 4–8 times more productive than average employees, yet they are systematically overlooked (Gotian 2024). The way forward is to rebalance attention allocation for leaders. Invest most energy in high performers and quiet problem solvers in the workplace, while still coaching strugglers with clarity and finite accountability.
The grease trap managers fall into
“The squeaky wheel gets the grease.” But in modern workplaces, squeaky wheels are often simply rewarded for being loud. Meanwhile, quiet problem solvers in the workplace, the ones who prevent fires before they start, are invisible.
This is what I call low-maintenance employee neglect — when those who never cause trouble receive no extra attention, while those who constantly make noise receive all of it. The outcome? High potential employee neglect, and with it, lower morale and lost productivity.
It’s a classic case of unintentional organisational rewards. By default, leaders reward noise, not value.
The cost of neglecting competence
The evidence is stark. High performers are not just marginally better. They are multiples more effective. Gotian (2024) shows that top contributors are on average 400% more productive than typical employees, and up to 800% more in complex roles.
Yet these high-value employees are often overlooked in practice. Leaders think: “They’re doing fine, so I’ll focus on others.” In doing so, they ignore the critical question of how to reward high performers fairly and consistently.
The costs of ignoring competence include:
- Burnout — Quiet, reliable employees get more tasks piled on but no recognition is hardly an effective incentive for continued generosity at work.
- Disengagement — When noise is rewarded, others notice. Employee reliability recognition matters for cultural health.
- Turnover — High-potential employees who feel unseen leave, taking their reliability and innovation with them (Bhowmik 2024).
In other words, when leaders fail to ask “how to reward high performers” and instead reward only complaints, they actively sabotage team culture.
Why squeaky wheels dominate the calendar
If rewarding noise over competence is so damaging, why does it persist?
Partly because noisy issues are urgent and visible. Partly because leaders feel duty-bound to help. But largely because of structural factors — unions, risk aversion, and bureaucratic inertia.
Systemic factors: unions, risk aversion, and performance drag
In many environments, especially higher education and the public sector, the imbalance is amplified by systemic pressures:
- Unionised contexts — Managers spend countless hours responding to grievances, sometimes on trivial issues. This shifts attention allocation for leaders away from reliable contributors.
- Risk aversion — Fear of litigation or bad publicity leads to over-caution with low performers, and further high potential employee neglect.
- Policy drag — Bureaucratic processes mean even small disputes monopolise leadership time.
These dynamics reinforce unintentional organisational rewards: time and attention flow to noise-makers, not competence.
Stoic wisdom applies here: “It is the responsibility of leadership to work intelligently with what is given.” (Marcus Aurelius, Meditations). Intelligent leadership means resisting systemic traps by consciously rebalancing attention toward those who actually create value.
The roots of underperformance
Park, Park and Shin (2024) identify twelve causes of underperformance across four domains:
- Individual — skills gaps, distractions.
- Leader — unclear instructions.
- Work — role misfit, poor design.
- Organisation — toxic culture.
This framework reminds us: many low performers can improve with structured support. But leaders must avoid unintentional organisational rewards — pouring endless attention into strugglers at the expense of top contributors.
Rebalancing attention: reward competence, not noise
The solution is not to abandon struggling staff, but to rebalance leadership energy. Attention allocation for leaders should look like capital allocation: more investment in high-return assets (top performers and high-potential employees) and structured, time-bound support for strugglers.
This is the essence of reward competence, not noise:
- Build effective recognition systems for teams that spotlight quiet problem solvers in the workplace.
- Create incentives for generosity at work so reliability is seen and valued.
- Shift energy from greasing squeaky wheels to nurturing engines of value.
The overlooked middle majority
Between stars and strugglers lies the solid 60%: employees who do their jobs reliably but rarely exceed expectations. Too often, they are ignored.
Yet investing here avoids high potential employee neglect. Many average performers could become strong performers with better coaching, recognition, and growth opportunities (Bhowmik 2024).
Strategies include:
- Employee reliability recognition — Highlight consistency, not just brilliance.
- How to reward high performers principles applied to the middle — specific feedback, public recognition, stretch assignments.
- Peer learning — Pair middle contributors with quiet problem solvers in the workplace to raise standards.
This builds a pipeline of stronger performers and relieves pressure on stars.
Practical playbooks for managers
For high performers
- Ritualise low-maintenance employee recognition.
- Provide visible paths of growth.
- Ensure effective recognition systems for teams acknowledge quiet problem solvers.
For middle performers
- Offer constructive coaching that prevents stagnation.
- Provide visible incentives for generosity at work, linking contributions to team outcomes.
- Make “employee reliability recognition” a normal part of meetings.
For low performers
- Apply radical clarity and structured support (Park, Park and Shin 2024).
- Avoid endless indulgence — attention is a finite resource.
- If no improvement, act with dignity and fairness (Foster 2023).
Stoic leadership for modern managers
Stoic insights give leaders perspective:
- Control what you can. You can’t force engagement, but you can design effective recognition systems for teams that spotlight value.
- Choose equanimity over drama. Don’t reward complaints with unlimited time. Practice rewarding competence not noise.
- Obstacles are opportunities. Performance issues reveal where recognition and systems need strengthening.
For employees, Stoicism offers guidance too: quiet problem solvers can keep standards high while advocating for recognition, and strugglers can treat improvement plans as growth opportunities.
Your calendar is your culture
Leaders’ calendars reveal what their culture values. If time is consumed by squeaky wheels, you are modelling unintentional organisational rewards.
Shift to rewarding reliability and competence:
- Schedule check-ins with your best people.
- Build in moments of low-maintenance employee recognition.
- Ensure attention allocation for leaders reflects where value is created.
Because ultimately, reward competence not noise is more than a slogan — it is a cultural shift that sustains excellence.
Conclusion
Leadership is not about greasing squeaky wheels endlessly. It is about rewarding competence, not noise.
That means:
- High performers must be nurtured through clear growth paths and recognition.
- Middle performers must be coached upward, with meaningful employee reliability recognition.
- Low performers must be supported with clarity and accountability — but not allowed to dominate leadership attention.
Effective recognition systems for teams send a powerful cultural signal: excellence and reliability are rewarded, not volume and complaints. Incentives for generosity at work remind staff that kindness and competence won’t be punished with invisibility.
Attention is leadership’s scarcest resource. Allocate it wisely. Because in workplaces that reward competence not noise, fewer wheels squeak — and the whole organisation runs more smoothly.
