I would like to hear what were your expectations from Nike when you were just looking for a job here and how did things turn out for you?
I was surprised, for example, that this is not a company where people are empowered to make decisions because I thought it was completely normal at Nike. In the previous company as well, employees were encouraged to be leaders and to act fast, which is surprisingly not the case here at all.
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I’d say my expectations were somewhat spot on outside of moving around easily to new jobs within the company. I was always told once you get in, it’s really easy to switch jobs internally. What I found out later though, if you’re good or above average at your current job… your manager is less likely to let you leave to whatever department.
That was kind of the most unfortunate thing I’ve experienced and… the fact you may not even get interviewed for the internal job. Moving up or going lateral seems to be a barrier for me at least…
Unfortunately the expectations and the job are pretty aligned... but the added elitist structure (that is the culture) diminishes the best/most aspirational contributiors. The constant political battles are mind numbing momentum killers. Focus on the word “constant”... if there were a reduction in that consistent elite political race to the “top”, things would be more cohesive.
Alas, Nike has the swoosh... and that has more power than any failing leadership.
Long live the swoosh
If I had a dollar for every time I was told to just focus on work because soon they'll figure out what they want to do. I'd say about 75% of the stuff I did at Nike ended up just being busy work. But hey, employee store, right?
Same experience as you, was a big surprise and is very demotivating.