This is some of letter I sent to Mark Parker and Elliot Hill regarding the recent outsourcing of the remaining black badge WHQ receptionists to CBRE. To their credit they did respond to us… but she is still no longer a Nike employee.
To Mark:
You and I have worked together many times while I was an AV tech contractor for BOD meetings and stage manager in the Stanford theater. (I have taken the phone out of your suit jacket pocket many times…)
I wanted to share with you an email I just sent to Elliott Hill re: the mandatory transition of the 38 remaining black-badge Nike employees to CBRE employment that effects my spouse, a 19-year Nike black-badge employee. This is effecting the 38 remaining black-badge employees of the reception team, including a 35-year employee.
Thank you for your time,
To Elliott Hill
Hello Elliott,
I am xxxxx xxxxxxx’s spouse.
You will probably remember me as the Tiger Woods AV tech for over 3 years of QBR, iQBR, and BOD meetings.
I know xxxxxxx has reached out to you about her difficulties with moving out of WD&C, a difficulty heightened by the early-November announcement, after 19 years as a Nike black-badge employee, that she will no longer be a Nike employee. As of this Saturday, she will be an employee of CBRE. You can imagine how she feels—disillusioned, devalued, and betrayed.
In the last month she has been on nine interviews for various black-badge positions, but although runner up on many, nothing has come through for her. As of Saturday, March 2nd, after almost 19 years, xxxxx will no longer be a Nike employee. She will become an employee of CBRE. (As an aside, there is a nearly 35-year Nike employee in your building that is in the same situation.)
Without going into detail about the extremely poor way this situation was handled by WD&C management, three things highlight the callousness of the handling of this transition.
- Timeline
— Nov. 2, 2018, xxxxx was notified of the move to CBRE as of March 2, 2019. She was told a recruiter would reach out to her. She had the options of looking for another position, transitioning to CBRE employment, or quitting and taking a modest severance package.
— Dec. 13, 2018 a recruiter finally reaches out via email.
— Dec. 14, 2018 xxxxx contacts the recruiter.
— January 2, 2019, a recruiter finally gets back to xxxxx after the beginning of the new year—leaving exactly two months to network and interview for a possible black-badge position.
(If xxxxx hadn’t reached out to you, she would have had even less interview possibilities. Thank you for your help… Elliott you are an awesome human.)
2 Salary.
After nearly 20 years of Nike employment and the corporate knowledge that that brings, after a salary review by CBRE, she was offered no increase in her salary. This leaves her making approximately $2.00 an hour more than a new-hire in the same position. This is in the shadow of the of decrease in benefits when moving to CBRE of almost $13,000. annually. Keep in mind, this is barely a $40K a year position.
In a meeting last week, Doug Sparks asked xxxxx if she was staying or quitting. She told him she was actively looking outside the department for a black badge position. Doug replied the he was, "sorry to lose her expertise.” Of course, he is in total control of whether she and her 20-year expertise are retained, but this was not reflected in her CBRE salary offer, and definitely not in the manner this transition was handled.
- This transition has destroyed the morale of 38 FT Nike black-badge employees, making them feel devalued and discarded. The new hire CBRE employees have shown themselves to be not up to the level of those black-badge employees who have “skin in the game.” Ask xxxxx xxxxx, the director of xxxxxx about the performance of CBRE employees they have experienced.
The senior management of WD&C, as well as Eric Sprunk seem to have no concept as to the value of front-line employees like xxxxx. Eric was overheard saying, “I’d outsource all of WD&C if I could.” That is no way to bolster employee performance.
Imagine how statements like this make Nike's lower-paid employees feel? This statement is from someone who makes more in 10 hours than an employee like xxxxx makes in an entire year. It would seem that Nike hasn’t learned anything from the situation that not so long ago forced the firing and resignation of a number of top Nike executives.
Nike IS defined by its people. (Well, it used to be, anyway.)