Where I work, I don't get a sense that we "thrive on kudos via performative actions" but I would say that ~15% of the employees are doing ~80% of the work.
This dynamic seems almost inevitable as a company grows. It's not necessarily bad, as long as the people doing the work are recognized and compensated.
Round your "~15%" up to 20%, and you've just discovered the Pareto Princlple: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareto_principle, aka "The 80/20 rule".
> as long as the people doing the work are recognized and compensated.
Are the 15% getting 80% of the compensation, though?
No, but would you want this? People who contribute more should be paid more, but mapping compensation to contribution exactly isn't easy and comes with downsides.
If that one person is the CEO or owner then yes, haha.
No, those are the shareholders who don’t produce anything.
You think stock dividends pay out 4x the amount of money that the company pays for salaries?