Best Buy

During my earlier years working for Best Buy, I enjoyed the store and district management and the culture that was cultivated, which is supposed to still be "have fun while being the best." I launched Best Buy Mobile as a manager in 2008 and had an amazing time as a first-time retail manager. I enjoyed growing a team, developing through challenges, and working alongside a district staff that acted like they really cared about what was happening on a line level.

After Hubert Joly took the helm, or possibly a little before, there were a string of company reconstructions. Mostly before, we had been growing and changing positively. Things had been new and mostly positive in the culture of Best Buy. After, it seemed like there was so much more militant focus on paperwork and a culture of punishment. New ideas were squashed. Where we had once felt connected to our district staff, it now felt like trying to get a hold of the Great and Powerful Oz. It ended with my store closure at the end of 2013, and a lot of good people lost their jobs—many, like myself, who had been with the company a long time. It leaves a bad taste in your mouth.

Best Buy used to do some wonderful things. Look back at what you were doing around 2007-2009 or prior, and you might be able to get back on track. Also, get back to knowing your line-level and mid-management employees. They are who actually run the company.