Boardroom boot camp is a three-part series on solving Canada's productivity woes, one workplace at a time. The trilogy is not about nostalgia. It is about economic survival. To remain successful as a society, we need leaders who are fair, fearless and believe in the value of accountability, discipline and merit. Here is our third installment, on meritocracy.

The antidote to workplace decay is not policy. It is courage, clarity and consequence.

In the past two weeks, I have written about the death of accountability and how to properly fire underperforming employees in an era that fears confrontation.

But firing alone won't fix what's broken in Canadian workplaces. The real solution — the long-term cure — is to rebuild the one thing we have quietly dismantled: meritocracy.

Meritocracy used to be a simple idea. You worked hard, performed well and advanced accordingly. It was not perfect, but it inspired effort and rewarded excellence.

Somewhere along the way, that principle was replaced by something softer, vaguer, with words like "collaboration," "inclusivity" and "balance." Noble in theory, very "feel good" to those who cloak themselves in that, but in practice, these purportedly progressive values have too often become euphemisms for avoiding conflict and diluting standards.

We now live in a culture that celebrates effort over achievement, process over outcome and intention over impact. We see it in childrearing practices and all the way through to workplaces. But in business — as in law (and childrearing) — results still matter. Clients don't pay for your effort; they pay for success.

Across Canada, companies are losing their top talent, not because of pay but because of culture. The best people — the ones who show up early, deliver results and refuse mediocrity — are increasingly demoralized. They see themselves surrounded by colleagues who do less, complain more and receive the same.

This isn't a labour market issue; it's a leadership issue. And a failed one at that.

When everyone gets the same reward regardless of performance, excellence becomes a fool's errand. Mediocrity does not need to be mandated — it simply fills the vacuum where merit once ruled.

Part of this stems from fear. Employers are terrified of appearing "unfair." HR policies, meant to prevent discrimination, have metastasized into systems that prevent discernment. The result is a flattening of value. Everyone is "exceptional." Everyone is "integral." And no one is truly held to account.

But equality of opportunity does not mean equality of outcome. When everyone wins, no one strives. And when no one strives, productivity — with purpose — evaporates.

So how do we restore meritocracy without losing decency? By returning to a few hard, unfashionable truths:

1. Reward performance, not presence: Stop equating hours with output. The most productive employees are not always the loudest or longest in the office. Measure what matters: results.
2. Differentiate openly: It is not discrimination to recognize excellence. High performers want to see their effort noticed and rewarded. Low performers need to see that lack of effort is not. Transparency creates trust.
3. Reintroduce consequences: Praise and promotion should be earned, not automatic. When underperformance has no cost, high performers quietly exit — and the organization declines with them.
4. Empower leaders to lead: Too many managers have become administrators. Leadership is not about filling out forms; it is about making decisions, setting direction and owning results. If every choice must be cleared by HR, you don't have leaders — you have caretakers.
5. Celebrate the right heroes: Stop valorizing grievance — or at least stop rewarding it. The heroes of any healthy workplace are those who solve problems, not those who create them.

Canadian employment law does not require employers to tolerate mediocrity. It demands fairness, not indulgence. You can reward excellence, differentiate performance and even dismiss for cause — if you do it with due process and documentation.

The myth that every employee is untouchable has become a self-fulfilling prophecy. In truth, the law supports those who act with integrity and clarity.

Canada's greatest economic challenge is not inflation, taxation or trade. It's complacency. We can legislate against bias but we can't legislate ambition. Only leadership — clear-eyed, disciplined and brave — can restore it.

But there's a deeper point here. Meritocracy is not merely efficient — it is moral. It honours the individual by treating them as capable of achievement. It tells employees: your effort matters, your excellence counts, your work is seen.

A society without merit becomes a society without meaning. And we are halfway there — maybe more.

We owe it to our employees, to our shareholders and to the future of our country to bring merit back from the dead. Rebuilding meritocracy begins one company at a time — one hiring decision, one promotion, one act of courage. It is not a policy shift, but a shift in mindset — from fear to fairness, appeasement to accountability, and from words to results.

Howard Levitt is senior partner of Levitt LLP, employment and labour lawyers with offices in Ontario and Alberta, and British Columbia. He practices employment law in eight provinces and is the author of six books, including the Law of Dismissal in Canada.