Culture Amp's New Performance Culture Data: Organizations are Setting Expectations, but Aren't Following Through

New research finds that 87% of employees know what high performance looks like, but only half say their organization takes action when someone falls short

• 87% of employees say they know what high performance looks like in their role, but only 50% say their organization takes action when someone is underperforming.
• 55% of VPs say managers organize workloads and resources to support performance without burnout, compared with 78% of C-suite employees.
• Fewer than 1 in 4 organizations ask employees whether leaders have clearly explained their AI strategy.

SAN FRANCISCO and LONDON and MELBOURNE, Australia, Nov. 5, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Culture Amp, the leading employee experience platform, today released its first Performance Culture benchmarks, revealing a pronounced divide between setting expectations and following through. Drawing on employee survey data from up to 3,807 companies representing approximately 2.3 million employees, VPs report the lowest confidence in workload management, with just 55% saying their managers organize workloads and resources to support high performance without burnout, compared with 78% of C-suite employees.

The divide between expectations and execution

The findings point to a broader challenge: starting things is far easier than following through. Key follow-through gaps include failing to revisit goals, clarify decision-making authority, address underperformance, and communicate AI strategy as it changes. For VPs in particular, the disconnect between expectations and execution is especially pronounced: the findings show that only 45% say it is clear who should make a decision.

Accountability shows a similar divide. While 87% of employees say their managers hold them accountable to high performance standards, only 50% say their organization takes action when someone is not delivering in their role.

Our benchmark data also suggests that setting goals, for some companies, functions more like a compliance exercise. They will go through the motion of setting many goals, but then not revisit them to iterate or track progress. As it turns out, those practices are what set Peak performance companies apart. Peak Performance cultures are 45% more likely than Disconnected cultures to update and track their goals.

Despite the pace of AI-driven change, fewer than 25% of organizations ask employees whether leaders have clearly explained their AI strategy or whether the organization prioritizes long-term growth over short-term gains. Among organizations that do ask about AI strategy, just 58% of employees agree it has been clearly explained.

Regional findings reveal different challenges. APAC leads on decision-making clarity (60%) and prioritizing organizational success over departmental or personal gains (66%). Europe reports the lowest decision-making clarity (47%) and the lowest confidence in consistently meeting organizational goals (56%). In North America, 88% of employees say they have enough autonomy to perform their jobs effectively.

"Most organizations in this data are doing the hard part of starting well. 87% of employees say they know how to achieve high performance in their role. Where things get murky is what leaders do after the performance standards are written, said Amy Lavoie, VP of People Science at Culture Amp. "Only half of employees say their organization does something when someone isn't delivering, and a third are unsure. That uncertainty matters more than leaders expect because if someone strives to deliver great performance but then sees that stragglers get treated the same, they will either lower their effort or take their effort elsewhere. Just like rising tides lift all boats, sinking tides lower them."

Turning insights into action

The findings point to practical steps leaders can take to strengthen performance culture. Some of these include:

• Name who decides in the two areas that stall most. Apply a decision framework such as RAPID, which assigns a recommender, input provider, decider, performer, and approver before a decision arrives. Start with the decisions directors and VPs currently have to negotiate. A full rollout isn't needed to move this number.
• Make the process for underperformance visible, even when individual cases stay confidential. Explain to teams how performance concerns are raised and resolved. Pair it with prompt, specific recognition so employees can see both sides of the standard.
• Build goal revisits into the calendar. Set fixed checkpoints, such as mid-quarter, to update, retire, or keep each goal, and tell teams what changed and why.
• Ask the questions most organizations skip. Add items on AI strategy and long-term growth to your next survey. Fewer than one in four organizations ask either, and long-term orientation is a key driver of performance confidence.

Building a high-performing culture is about more than setting ambitious goals or asking teams to deliver; it requires leaders to follow through, hold the organization accountable, and adapt priorities as the business evolves. As organizations navigate AI-driven change and shifting expectations, those that make follow-through part of their day-to-day work will be better positioned to help employees do their best work and turn business goals into lasting results.

Read more about Culture Amp's Performance Culture Benchmarks in this report.

About the Data:

These are the first published benchmarks from Culture Amp's Performance Culture Diagnostic, based on employee survey data collected between July 2025 and July 2026. The findings draw on responses from up to 3,807 companies representing approximately 2.3 million employees. The diagnostic measures six dimensions of performance culture: Excellence, Vision, Ownership, Learning, Voice, and Energy, alongside two outcomes: workplace engagement and performance confidence. Comparisons between performance culture types are based on 104 companies that completed all eight outcome questions. Peak Performance cultures are characterized by high workplace engagement and high performance confidence, while Disconnected cultures have low levels of both.

About Culture Amp

Culture Amp builds the leadership and culture practices that drive high performance, turning people insights into action in an AI-native world. Powered by 15 years of People Science research and insights from 1.6 billion data points from more than 21 million employees across 8,900+ organizations, CultureOS™ connects engagement, performance, employee experience, and culture data into an always-on intelligence layer. Culture Amp's agentic AI turns that intelligence into action, helping leaders identify emerging issues, understand what is driving them, and follow through in the flow of work, with leaders always in control. Major League Baseball, On, Asana, Dolby, McDonald's, and Nasdaq trust Culture Amp every day.

For more information, visit www.cultureamp.com.

SOURCE Culture Amp