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If you’re working at a company that pushes you hard but doesn’t have your back, new research shows that culture is broken, and the results likely suffer.
 
 

A new study from employee recognition software company O.C. Tanner is challenging a myth that high performance comes at the cost of wellbeing. Their 2026 Global Culture Report shows that people don’t burn out because they’re doing too much – they burn out when they’re not supported.
 
 

The report found that the healthiest, highest-performing cultures are built when employees face high expectations and receive a lot of support.
 
 

“It’s not about lowering the bar or backing off performance goals,” the report says. “It’s about helping people rise to the challenge with the right structures in place.”
 
 

The researchers outlined four culture types that emerge in the workplace, depending on where an organization lands on the four-quadrant matrix of expectations and support.
 
 
 

At the low end of both is what they call an “uninvolved” culture, where there’s little pressure to perform but also little care or guidance. From there, it moves to a “permissive” culture (low expectations, high support), “authoritarian” (high expectations, low support) and finally “authoritative” (high expectations, high support).

 
 

To get a clearer picture of how expectations and support affect employee wellbeing and satisfaction, researchers ran an experiment with more than 13,000 employees, randomly placing them into one of four workplace scenarios that matched the culture types in the study.
 
 

They found that “authoritative” culture – where expectations are high and support is strong – delivers the best results. Employees in these workplace scenarios reported 76 per cent satisfaction with their workplace and 69 per cent said the workplace would positively impact their mental health.

 
 

The findings from the experiment aligned with other positive sentiments from the more than 38,000 employees they surveyed across 23 countries who said that “authoritative” cultures produce the highest levels of loyalty, innovation and performance.

 
 

So what does high support look like in practice?
 
 

The report points to three key areas: setting clear, ambitious goals with room for growth; maintaining regular, meaningful connections between employees and leaders; and making recognition a foundational part of the culture, not just a once-a-year event.
 
 

The takeaway? The best companies won’t ask people to choose between wellbeing and performance – they’ll make both possible.
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 

10 per cent
 
 

That’s how many American workers say they’ve avoided a work email for more than a week because of inbox anxiety.
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 

Many middle managers sit at a tricky intersection: they have limited authority, yet, somehow, have unlimited accountability for their team’s outcomes.

 
 

According to this Fast Company article, to succeed as a middle manager it’s important to set the right expectations with upper management, push back strategically, maintain your team’s trust by being transparent and protect your own boundaries to avoid burnout.

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 

“Work-integrated learning, where employers are connected directly with postsecondary students to tackle real business challenges, is the solution that Canada should deliver at scale. While large corporations will always be able to attract talent, the nation’s small and mid-sized businesses need a way to grow without adding red tape or breaking budgets,” writes Dana Stephenson, chief executive officer of experiential learning platform Riipen.

 
 

Mr. Stephenson says that as layoffs and youth unemployment rise, the country must urgently invest in reskilling, hands-on learning and industry collaboration to future-proof its workforce.
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 

Quebec has passed Bill 2, a controversial new law that imposes performance targets on doctors, with financial penalties of up to 15 per cent if those targets aren’t met. On The Globe’s Decibel podcast, Globe health columnist André Picard explains why the bill is facing pushback from physicians and what it could mean for the future of patient care in the province.