The Satirical Australian Workplace: High Performers Will Be Targeted

In Australia, if you work too hard, you don’t always get a raise.

You get resented.

High performance is often seen as showing off.

Initiative makes people nervous.

Excellence? That’s great—until it makes someone else feel small.

This is Tall Poppy Syndrome 2.0—with HR leading the way and soft smiles.

I’ve seen high-performers labelled as “disruptive,”

“not a team player,”

or my personal favourite: “too ambitious for the culture.”

Let’s be clear—

Culture that fears excellence isn’t culture. It’s group insecurity.

To my Australian readers:

You know this game. You’ve probably played it. Or lost to it.

To my American and international readers:

This is one of the defining challenges in Australian workplace culture—

You will be punished socially for standing out.

Not always openly. But quietly. Consistently.

If you make the rest of us look bad, HR will be in touch.

That’s the message behind this sign.

And it’s one I’ve seen (and lived) more times than I can count.

You want better culture? Start protecting the people who raise the bar—

not the ones who hold it down.

📍 From “The Satirical Australian Workplace Standards” Sign Series

By Kevin Baker

https://ethicstech.substack.com/