I have been shared some experiences by some external candidates who are interviewing for positions. Both business and HR have been asking such questions that clearly show they do not know what they are doing. Questions like " what do you know about recent developments that hit Nike's top management?", " what do you think about diversity and gender equality efforts at Nike?", " what fun activities you have planned recently for your team?", " What are you doing for gender equality now?". N o questions at all about past experience, job related thoughts or questions. This shows the internal pressure on HR and business teams that their judgment is completely crooked. Finally a recent hire has been communicated by a long timer senior male employee that "she has been chosen, because they wanted to have a female in this role". Can you imagine what those external candidates are thinking about the company?
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@wro and @1voh, I’m the person who posted below under @yzp.
The situation I referenced 100% happened. It was not an “assumption” on my part.
The VP who let this guy go wasn’t just his VP. They were also personal friends going back 25 years. Their families vacationed together. That’s how close they were! And that’s why this VP felt comfortable letting the guy know he was being let go so that a particular POC could occupy his Sr. Director position.
@wro, you called this “discrimination”. @1voh, you said it was “gross” that someone would be elevated like that because they ticked a box. Guess what? You’re both correct.
Don’t worry. The Sr. Director who was replaced left with a very nice separation package. I would guess the package he got was in large part an inducement for him to go along and not make waves. Although THAT is an assumption on my part.
If anyone reading this doesn’t think these types of things happen at Nike I would have to accuse you of being naive. I’m not saying that every promotion has a heavy basis or even any basis in a discriminatory box being ticked. But some promotions do. Especially as you move higher up.
I’m not sure why some of you would find it so difficult to believe that a person having a particular skin color or particular set of genitalia might edge out another person for a promotion, or actually take another person’s role, based a great deal on one of those traits. It happens.
@1ruy, LOL
For a long time in the country people were picked because they were men. Is all about perspective!
@1dqj, are saying that it is OK to know that something is wrong but conform anyway? Please say that is not so..
@1dq, I was not raised to follow the wrong rules; I was raised to break them and live, comfortably, wit the consequences.
I was told by my former boss that I should definitely apply for a director role and that’d I’d probably get it since I’m a woman, guess what the role went to a (former consultant) middle aged white dude. And that’s fine, I was qualified to apply, didn’t prep correctly for the interview (my mistake) and now, a year later, am peers with the guy. Ensuring diverse interview slates does not always equal preference. What’s gross is the assumption someone got a role/interview solely because of the box they tick, not their resume.
Too bad current and former employees tell people who reach out to them to learn about Nike not to do it then point them to this site and consistent negative press.
You’re losing out on talent Nike because you’re messy and mean. End of story.
You broke Manager Rule #1 at Nike by not blowing smoke up his a**. Someone once told me that you never, ever, want to tell your manager the truth or anything negative that might make him/her have to worry (or have to do actual managerial type work). Believe me, that manager has a manager who operates in much the same way all the way up the ladder.
OP, not only external candidates, but internals as well. The whole process is truly embarrassing characterized by lack of communication, follow up, and total ghosting starting with Talent Acquisition. New to Nike hiring managers are even more embarrassing than TA given the questions they ask the candidates. How bad is it for a hiring manager to show up to the interview few minutes late even after is was rescheduled a couple of time, then they ask question that immediately reveal they did not bother looking at the candidate resume, current role within the org, etc. When the candidate asks for clarification on the question or sets the record straight, you see the hiring manager's attitude completely change because they were busted for not doing the basics. The question then is: do I want to work for this person? Can I even trust them do the right thing? Will they throw me and the team under the bus to save their skin? Do they even have anything to teach me? Will I, again, end up doing my job and my manager's job too? Folks, we are living in interesting times and, just my opinion, we have not even seen the worst of things at Nike yet. You just wait.
@yzp, there is no way the person you speak of was in fact told they are being moved over to make tool for a POC. That, in itself, is discrimination! This is coming from a POC. One more thing, I will never accept a position just because I am a person of color; I apply for roles because of my qualifications/experience, expertise, and my abilities to learn, lead, think globally, etc.
None of this is surprising. Nike is currently basing recruitment and promotion efforts not solely on qualifications and experience, but also with a heavy emphasis on having the correct skin color and genitalia. I’ve seen this myself. A long-time employee was pushed out and he was actually told it was to make way for a POC to take his position. This is only one of the reasons I’m outta here just as soon as I line up another job.
They did the same thing after the TE debacle. Opened up FTE positions and only filled them with women so they could pad their numbers. It was super awkward when the people were hired/converted kept having to bug long term ETWs for help figuring things out.
Nike is dead to me.
Clearly Nike is scrambling to check off boxes so JD can brag about it on the next QBR call and show how "good" they're doing.