This is not a financial post; it is a cry for help to Renato Cataldo and the board.
Since we have brought on Jim Mills and Kellee Pfifer life has taken a truly degrading and demeaning turn for all SPS management. I understand running a business, I have been a business leader for many years (most of which with CPI). I believe in people development through training & encouragement, at the same time setting high expectations and holding my people to them. Unfortunately development, training and encouragement are the last thing on Jim and Kellee's minds. They motivate people by demeaning them and making them fear every move they make. I have seen some crazy things lately, I have seen ALL of the regional directors jobs posted for no other reason then to threaten them and keep them worried, and I have personally witnessed the verbal abuse that both Jim and Kellee have had towards regional directors & district managers and have heard of the abuse even at the studio level.
There has been ZERO encouragement even when you are at the top of the company; you are dragged through the mud for something else. Jim and Kellee know their reports in and out, it is their people skills I truly question. I only ask Renato to get on some of these conference calls unannounced, or go to some of the regional meetings and see what we are really going through. Kellee continues to "bark" out a lot of orders and put out a lot of new things/reports for us to gauge our business by in the field and expects nothing less than perfect understanding of these reports, however she provides little to zero guidance at any level on reading or understanding them. Both Kellee and Jim have not missed a beat since Radio Shack, they have continued doing things their way without really training any of us to get on the same wavelength as them. So if we do not understand their thought process we are penalized. Even if we go along with their ideas we are penalized for something else. If we answer one question right, they find another area to penalize us on.
I understand our business is changing, and will continue to change. This is not anything new in the retail world. We are business managers, but we are also people, and deserve to be treated a lot better than we currently are. I understand this letter may cost me my job. But I have put in way too much time with this company to live everyday in fear of losing my job, when I have had a successful track record through out the years, and continue to be successful. I have poured my heart and soul into this company and twice in the past 3 years I have been offered more money to work somewhere else and refused because I love this company. But honestly, I am not sure if an offer came across my desk right now I would turn it down.
All I ask is for Renato and the board to really look at what power they have given to these two people to destroy what many of us have worked so hard to build. I ask that CPI is fair to every employee in this company. Treat us with respect as we treat all of you. Recognize our performance, make us feel that we are welcome in this company, make us believe this is a good place to work again. And please remember we are people and demeaning us, putting us down and even yelling at us in front of our peers does not make anything better. PLEASE HELP!