Skip to main content CONTINUE TO SITE ➞ Don't miss tomorrow's retail industry news
Let Retail Dive's free newsletter keep you informed, straight from your inbox.
Daily Dive M-F DTC Weekly Every Tuesday Marketing Weekly Every Wednesday Tech Weekly Every Thursday Operations Weekly Every Monday By signing up to receive our newsletter, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe at anytime. Search
Operations
Marketing
Technology
DTC
Distressed Retail
Department Stores
Executives
Financial News
Trends
E-Commerce
Holidays
An article from Dive Brief Amazon revamps HR strategies to aid underperforming employees Published Jan. 23, 2017 Daphne Howland Senior Reporter
Share
Copy link
Email
LinkedIn
X/Twitter
Facebook
Print
License
Add us on Google
Dive Brief:
Amazon has developed a retraining program called Pivot designed to offer underperforming employees a chance to improve their performance, leave the e-commerce giant voluntarily with severance or appeal a manager’s decision to place them in the program, according to Business Insider, which obtained an internal Amazon email on the matter.
Pivot provides opportunities that Amazon's existing “performance improvement plan” (essentially a warning of impending firing rather than an actual improvement plan) lacks: The program assigns struggling Amazon staffers to so-called "Career Ambassadors," described by Business Insider as "subject matter experts" who offer guidance and support.
Amazon has declined to comment, although a job listing posted a week ago on its Amazon Jobs page calls for a “Career Ambassador” to “[help] Amazon transform the employee experience.” The ad seeks “an innovator with expertise in coaching, facilitation, employee relations and HR to help us launch a game-changing project for helping employees reach their full potential.”
Dive Insight:
Amazon's reputation as a ruthless employer came to light after the publication of a 2015 New York Times article detailed "bruising" working conditions that fly in the face of today's HR trends. The article's depiction of Amazon's employee review policy spawned a spate of bad press in other media outlets and forced founder and CEO Jeff Bezos to launch his own investigation into the charges against Amazon in the piece. “I don’t recognize this Amazon and I very much hope you don’t, either,” Bezos wrote in his email to employees about that report.
The NYT article aligned with other accounts of a difficult and competitive work environment at Amazon. Brad Stone, author of the 2013 book "The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon" (which famously earned a one-star review on Amazon from Bezos' wife, MacKenzieBezos), unearthed many of the same issues. A group called FACE, for the “Former and Current Employees of Amazon,” later posted an open letter to Bezos and invited current and former employees to add their experiences with the working conditions at Amazon.
Although Amazon has pushed back against reports that working there is brutal for both white collar and warehouse workers alike, the introduction of Pivot indicates Amazon is taking calls for improvement to heart. Responsibilities of the Career Ambassador position detailed in Amazon's job listing include: positively connecting with employees at all levels utilizing a variety of communication methods; quickly building trusting relationships with employees, managers and HRBPs; actively listening to employees and provide them program information and expertise regarding possible next steps in their career, facilitating career and performance conversations; providing specialist advice regarding HR, performance and employment issues that will continuously improve the program and ultimately the employee experience, among others.
Amazon reportedly has also scaled back its so-called "rank-and-yank" process of employee reviews, which involves slotting employees into three categories based on their productivity, rewarding employees who promote themselves and tear down their peers, and penalizing employees who are less adept at self-promotion or less willing to complain about others. The policy was made famous by executive Jack Welch when he was CEO of GE in the late 20th century, and was later adopted by companies like Microsoft. But the management approach, also known as the "vitality curve," has more recently fallen out of favor because it was found to stifle innovation.
Microsoft ended the practice recently after an in-depth look at its corporate culture by Vanity Fair showed that 10 years of the practice had led to a focus on competition rather than cooperation among employees. Even GE itself halted the policy 10 years ago, and last year said that it would revamp its review system even further to foster better teamwork and respond to the cooperative way that many millennials like to work.
Recommended Reading
Amazon just launched a new training program to help employees in danger of being fired Business Insider
purchase licensing rights
Filed Under:Financial News
Retail Dive news delivered to your inbox
Get the free daily newsletter read by industry experts
Email:
Select Newsletter:Daily DiveM-F
Select Newsletter:DTC WeeklyEvery Tuesday
Select Newsletter:Marketing WeeklyEvery Wednesday
Select Newsletter:Tech WeeklyEvery Thursday
Select Newsletter:Operations WeeklyEvery Monday
Select user consent: By signing up to receive our newsletter, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe at anytime.
Sign up A valid email address is required. Please select at least one newsletter.
Editors' picks
Adeline Kon/Retail Dive Tracker
The running list of major retail bankruptcies
In the back half of 2025, At Home announced a bankruptcy exit plan, Claire’s filed and found a new owner, and American Signature entered Chapter 11 on the back of a “severe” housing market decline.
By Retail Dive Staff • Updated Nov. 25, 2025
Mario Tama via Getty Images
Cargo theft moves into focus as Congress mulls how to fight organized retail crime
The problem is growing, though the full impact is unclear, according to speakers at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday.
By Daphne Howland • July 16, 2025
Get the free newsletter
Subscribe to Retail Dive for top news, trends & analysis
Email:
Select Newsletter:Daily DiveM-F
Select Newsletter:DTC WeeklyEvery Tuesday
Select Newsletter:Marketing WeeklyEvery Wednesday
Select Newsletter:Tech WeeklyEvery Thursday
Select Newsletter:Operations WeeklyEvery Monday
Select user consent: By signing up to receive our newsletter, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe at anytime.
Sign up A valid email address is required. Please select at least one newsletter.
Most Popular
Deep Dive What’s up with department stores?
Nordstrom to move downtown Seattle Rack store to historic building
Francesca’s to permanently close
What Saks Global’s bankruptcy means for vendors
Library resources
Survey Report How Retailers Can Align HQ and Store Teams in 2026 Custom content for Zipline
Survey Report 2026 Fulfillment: Strategies From Supply Chain Leaders Custom content for GXO
Trendline Creating a strong customer loyalty program Supported by CSG Systems
View all
Company Announcements
View all | Post a press release
What We're Reading
The Wall Street Journal Minneapolis ICE Standoff Has Become the Political Issue CEOs Can’t Ignore
Bloomberg TikTok Seals Deal to Operate in the US After Years of Drama
Women’s Wear Daily Fashion Expert Roopal Patel Leaves Saks Global
View all
Events
View all | Promote an event
Industry Intel
How Winning Teams Use AI to Turn BFCM Shoppers into Repeat Buyers Webinar - on demand•Provided by Simon AI
Decoding Retail's Future: Location Analytics for 2026 Trends Webinar - on demand•Provided by Placer.ai
Total Wine & More: Elevating Frontline Efficiency and Customer Experiences Webinar - on demand•Provided by Zebra Technologies
Retail Dive news delivered to your inbox
Get the free daily newsletter read by industry experts
Email:
Select Newsletter:Daily DiveM-F
Select Newsletter:DTC WeeklyEvery Tuesday
Select Newsletter:Marketing WeeklyEvery Wednesday
Select Newsletter:Tech WeeklyEvery Thursday
Select Newsletter:Operations WeeklyEvery Monday
Select user consent: By signing up to receive our newsletter, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe at anytime.
Sign up A valid email address is required. Please select at least one newsletter.
Company Announcements
View all | Post a press release OnTrac® and ShipStation® Join Forces to Offer Faster, Coast-to-Coast Delivery to More Merchants From OnTrac January 06, 2026 Festa Holdings acquires Piñata Foods From Festa Foods, Inc. January 13, 2026 Location3 Appoints Michele Crowley as Chief Growth & Strategy Officer From Location3 January 21, 2026 SOLUM Reveals Retail in Sync at NRF 2026, a New Vision for Smarter Store Operations From SOLUM America January 11, 2026 Editors' picks
Adeline Kon/Retail Dive Tracker
The running list of major retail bankruptcies
In the back half of 2025, At Home announced a bankruptcy exit plan, Claire’s filed and found a new owner, and American Signature entered Chapter 11 on the back of a “severe” housing market decline.
By Retail Dive Staff • Updated Nov. 25, 2025
Mario Tama via Getty Images
Cargo theft moves into focus as Congress mulls how to fight organized retail crime
The problem is growing, though the full impact is unclear, according to speakers at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday.
By Daphne Howland • July 16, 2025
Latest in Financial News
Authentic Brands Group acquires majority stake in Guess IP By Daphne Howland
The Weekly Closeout: Reebok teams with Karol G and will January storms ice out retail sales? By Retail Dive Staff
Caleres taps interim CFO; details Saks bankruptcy impact By Grace Noto
Cautious consumers shunned big-ticket items last year By Daphne Howland
CONTINUE TO SITE ➞ Don't miss tomorrow's retail industry news 
Dive Brief Amazon revamps HR strategies to aid underperforming employees Published Jan. 23, 2017 
Daphne Howland Senior Reporter 
Share 
Copy link 
Email 
LinkedIn 
X/Twitter 
Facebook 
Print 
License 
Add us on Google 
Business Insider 
purchase licensing rights 
Adeline Kon/Retail Dive 
Deep Dive What’s up with department stores? 
Nordstrom to move downtown Seattle Rack store to historic building 
Francesca’s to permanently close 
What Saks Global’s bankruptcy means for vendors 
Survey Report How Retailers Can Align HQ and Store Teams in 2026 Custom content for Zipline 
Trendline Creating a strong customer loyalty program Supported by CSG Systems The Wall Street Journal Minneapolis ICE Standoff Has Become the Political Issue CEOs Can’t Ignore
Bloomberg TikTok Seals Deal to Operate in the US After Years of Drama
Women’s Wear Daily Fashion Expert Roopal Patel Leaves Saks Global
Location3 Appoints Michele Crowley as Chief Growth & Strategy Officer From Location3 January 21, 2026 
SOLUM Reveals Retail in Sync at NRF 2026, a New Vision for Smarter Store Operations From SOLUM America January 11, 2026 Editors' picks 
Authentic Brands Group acquires majority stake in Guess IP By Daphne Howland 
The Weekly Closeout: Reebok teams with Karol G and will January storms ice out retail sales? By Retail Dive Staff 
Caleres taps interim CFO; details Saks bankruptcy impact By Grace Noto 
Cautious consumers shunned big-ticket items last year By Daphne Howland 