Brand Image Being Tarnished by Poor Management Decisions - Anonymous employee Tiffany & Co. Employee Review

The new variable rate commission structure dealt a huge blow to sales professionals, especially during an economic downturn. The new structure has resulted in large reductions in sales professionals' income and terrible effect on esprit de corps and their ability to provide a high level of customer service. Pay graded on performance is not, by itself, the problem. Rather, the new sales goals are often highly unrealistic and do not account for macroeconomic trends beyond sales professionals' control. Failure to meet these goals not only results in decreased pay, but has been used by management as a lever to exert control over sales professionals. Many long-term sales pros with sterling records have either quit or been fired. Those remaining have been forced to adapt to a disintegrating workplace environment in which colleagues compete more and more intensely for declining sales, not only among themselves, but with new hires who are unfamiliar with the traditional civility that has mostly characterized the Tiffany sales culture.