Why do people get emotionally invested in Nike? I see some of you get so upset about the turn the company is taking or about the hits it's taking to its reputation and I can't figure out why. What do you get out of that other than high blood pressure? It's not your company. You're not the one who founded it and built it so whatever happens really doesn't reflect badly on you. Save yourself a lot of stress by accepting this for what it is - a job that pays you for services rendered. Nothing more, nothing less.
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Those who have been with Nike long enough to remember a company where PHK culture was strong and we walked the talk (mostly) are dismayed by the state of the company today -- we have brought in so many senior leaders from other companies, who have come in and stacked their management teams with yet even more external hires (usually from their previous company), all the while not knowing or caring to know about the culture of the company they walked into, all the while espousing the importance of Nike's special culture. Nike has evolved into a company that is more about the bottom line and less about the employee. Want just one example? Closing the on-campus childcare centers.
Yes, I know about COVID and nobody is on campus right now. Blah blah blah.
But when we come back, the child care centers will not be open. I don't care about that personally as I am not in a place in my life where I have child-care-center aged children, but that used to be a special perk for the employee, to drop their kids off on campus. It was for the employee. Probably lost money. But now it's been chopped off.
Isn't it funny that once Nike started emphasizing mental health employees began realizing just how unhealthy getting emotionally invested with Nike is? The ball is in Nike's court to change that relationship if they want to keep good workers and stay relevant.
I'm not going to get invested in something when there's no indication that there will be a payoff. That's how smart investors think. Can any of us who aren't overpaid execs say that about our current situation at Nike? They must think we're really d-mb if they expect us to blindly invest any more than the bare minimum at this point. I guess that's why they're getting rid of people who have been at Nike long enough to see through this BS.
Doh! Work is 2/3 of our lives. It pays the bills and is a personal investment. Well for those of us that need to pay bills. Would I want someone on my team that wasn’t personally invested?
Don’t get emotionally invested? Doesn’t everyone get emotionally invested in their job/career? And doesn’t swoosh pump is full of “we are Nike we are unique we are the best and you are the best” everyday? I would say it’s a difficult realization for people to
Find out it’s all smoke and mirrors.
I agree with you, OP. Will always surprise me how much people here are all about the prestige of the brand and not the reality of the world! All corporations do demographic diversity stunts, layoff for no reason, and corporate politics. NIKE was never any different, all that has changed is who is taking profit.
“...and newly promoted VPs who have been selected to satiate the D&I numbers.”
I’ve seen a few people on this forum deny that this is happening. While it is clearly happening right in front of the eyes of anyone paying attention. Ironically, it’s especially insulting to the POC who are being promoted to juice “diversity” numbers because they are the ones who have to live with people questioning whether they were promoted due to merit or whether they were promoted because they had the correct physical characteristics. It hasn’t even been a month since a person in my group was promoted and some colleagues are already questioning whether this person was qualified or whether she was fortunate enough to ride the “diversity” wave.
You know how Nike has a “” after Athlete to define exactly what that is? They should start putting a “” on the word Diversity to clarify that Nike is only talking about demographic diversity...or diversity based on easily recognizable physical characteristics. Which is the lazy, cynical, “plays well as PR” way to deal with a complex subject like true diversity. We know this is true because every Nike communication on “diversity” ends up talking about “We’re doing this for people with this skin color” and “We’re doing this for people of this ethnic background” and “We’ve done this for this gender.”
Diversity is about a lot more than easily recognizable physical characteristics. Except at Nike and many other companies, where it is ONLY about easily recognizable physical characteristics.
I’m surprised more people haven’t called out this sham for what it is. Although I know that a lot of people understand perfectly well it’s a sham and are simply afraid to speak out for fear of not being onboard the “diversity*” train.
@Michael Scott I wholeheartedly agree with you. Some of the most visionary leaders we had were exited this year and many because their own manager or functional leader was intimated by their talent. Men and women who spent the last 10, 15, 20 years dedicating so much to the future of this brand, inspiring teams and leading with courage. Now what do we have? An ELT who are out of touch with the consumer and newly promoted VPs who have been selected to satiate the D&I numbers, trying to figure out how to lead at the next level. It’s truly sad.
OP missed the good old days when most Nike employees felt like a team and a family, and many of us felt we had a career to dedicate our life’s most valuable efforts toward rather than our typical clock in and out job. Now more than ever, we need a vision for the future that has roots in our past, both the victories and mistakes. Unfortunately, that side of the equation is being left out, and it’s causing a cluster frick as the old guard exits, and the recruits arrive. I have never managed a more inexperienced team, nor have I missed as much critical expertise on my team as I will today. Promised change may deliver this week, or we could pi-s away even more time waiting for our leaders to understand our jobs and what we are actually up against. I’m amazed at the talent Nike let go over the last year. It would genuinely feel validating to be canned alongside some of them, knowing the contributions they made. If you helped make Nike cool, leadership is intimidated by you and stupid enough to think you’re easily replaced by someone whose qualifier is they are the newest candidate put forward by talent acquisition. Does anyone believe that anyone sitting at the top has half a clue about how the magic really happens at Nike anymore? They don’t. Just a bunch of overpaid clowns looking for the next social trend to buy into and reappropriate. Sorry ELT, you lost touch; that's what happens when you isolate and leave it up to HR.