MillerKnoll
CEO Andi Owen’s attempt to rally the troops during a company town hall last month seems to be backfiring after she admonished employees to stop worrying about their bonuses.
A short video clip of the executive’s answer to a question about bonuses has gone viral on Monday, sparking outrage across social media.
MillerKnoll
(ticker: MLKN) owns office furniture brands—including Herman Miller and Knoll.
In the video, Owen replied to employee questions about bonuses. “A lot of questions came through about how can we stay motivated if we’re not going to get a bonus,” she said. “Some of them were nice and some of them were not so nice.”
The initial part of her speech calmly stated the company was in a tough industry environment and they should be focused on what they can control. “It’s not good to be in the situation we’re in today. But we’re not going to be here forever. It’s going to get better,” she said.
But then the tone shifted and she started to speak louder and to point into the air.
“Get after it. Don’t ask about what are we going to do if we don’t get a bonus. Get the damn $26 million! Spend your time and your effort thinking about the $26 million we need and not thinking about what we’re going to do if we don’t get bonus. Alright?” she said. MillerKnoll wouldn’t explain what the $26 million referred to other than saying it was an internal metric.
“I had an old boss who said to me one time you can visit Pity City, but you can’t live there. So people, leave Pity City. Let’s get it done,” she also exhorted.
The company said the video was just a tiny portion at the end of the 75-minute town hall session on March 28 and wasn’t indicative of the full session.
“Andi fiercely believes in this team and all we can accomplish together, and will not be dissuaded by a 90-second clip taken out of context and posted on social media,” Kris Marubio, a MillerKnoll spokesperson, said in a statement.
Marubio also stated no bonuses have been determined for Owen or employees as their fiscal year ends in May.
But there are thousands of people on Twitter who have responded with angry comments to the video with some vowing not to buy the company’s furniture. Some of the social media posts with the video have been viewed over six million times.
The whole episode hammers home that corporate leaders need to be extra careful with their tone in today’s social media age.
Write to Tae Kim at tae.kim@barrons.com
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