Lack of career progression is definitely the reason number one why I am seriously considering leaving. When I first came here, I believed that this was a place where it was possible to easily progress if only you put in enough effort. However, that wasn't the case! It is still not clear to me what is the best way to make a career progress here, if it is not about investing great effort than what is it about?
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Nike is definitely a relationship company. Who you know helps a lot. People spend far too much time 'running for governor' than actually producing results. If you're not a shameless self-promoter, you will suffer.
nike really exemplifies its all about who you know not what you know. and of course if you got the r*ce card you practically got the key to the city. nothing says privilege more than a 30 year old vp who got there on dei
@1eow it sure sounds like you’re mad that they’re going after qualified candidates instead of prioritizing “fit” with current corporate culture and the PNW… By this I assume you mean UO white guys? Get over it
I would say up to about 5 or 7 years ago Nike was somewhat decent about giving internal candidates consideration for roles that were open with an understanding that on the job Nike experience was an asset. Now the preference has shifted dramatically and it's all about chasing shiny new people from Fortune 500 companies regardless of how well they're going to fit into the local NW culture or corporate culture. I have seen so many of these ill-fitting new hires come and go within months after realizing they were oversold on Nike and they pulled the rip cord exit fast. At the same time qualified internal candidates who were overlooked for those roles have decided to leave for better offers and conditions at many other companies thus leaving the talent situation at Nike in an ever downward spiral of bleeding talent and overworking those that are left as roles go unfulfilled for months if not years.
For the promotions that are handed out to internal candidates I would sadly agree with the other posts here that favoritism and popularity within cliques is rewarded fully above competency or ability. Of course there are always exceptions and some people do make it work on the merits of their contribution and skill but I haven't seen that happen nearly as much as the "who you know" rule.
2 simple steps.
Burn your whole team down and rise from the ashes like a phoneix & tell your VP how you can't wait to be back in the office
@Nike its who you know, not how hard you work or how talented you might be. I saw certain employers identified as "future leaders" because they went to U of O, were a sycophant to a VP, jogged with the right people, completely drank the kool-aid to levels of absolute lunacy. Once that happened they could fail as much as they wanted. I saw those folks make completely avoidable multi-millions dollar mistakes and be forgiven and promoted again. They were routinely assigned as leaders of areas they were completely unqualified for and set the whole team on fire. It was chalked up to "experience". I saw many hard working U-band employees terminated as scapegoats for projects, for mistakes they literally had no control over, not licking the boots of some psychopathic leader, etc.
Welcome to corporate America where the only way to get ahead is to get out.
Definitely depends on where in the company you work. If you play your cards right you can make the most of it by hopping back and forth from Nike to an agency and back again. The days of getting a Nike job out of college and building a career there are over.
Its not about great effort. Its about great relationships and getting everyone to like you. Office politics is #1 at Nike. Even then, you're better off leaving and coming back if you want a real bump in salary.
You need alliances, make sure you are nice to everyone, cover your bu-t AND the real key to success is blackmail.