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Bonus disputes, questionable management practices, and attempts to ‘force’ improvements in employee morale were among the causes of an exodus of staff at luxury jeweler Tiffany & Co., a Bloomberg report has suggested.
After the acquisition of Tiffany by luxury goods holding company LVMH in 2021, the company has been on a rocky path, capped by a recent slump in sales.
While LMVH has asked investors for patience during the turbulent period, employees at the company say poor leadership and cultural issues are to blame.
Christopher Kilaniotis, Head of Americas, and Anthony Ledru, Chief Executive Officer, have been criticized for their strategies by staff members since joining Tiffany from Louis Vitton during the acquisition.
Tiffany has hit back at the report. “There is a clear vision of elevation for Tiffany in the US, evident in sales growth, store renovations, people development, talent acquisition, brand image,” a spokesperson said.
Why are employees at Tiffany unhappy with leadership?
Bloomberg spoke with 16 current and former Tiffany employees who were not permitted to speak publicly.
With the jeweler struggling to hit sales targets in recent years, those workers questioned the leadership of Kilaniotis and Ledru. Some employees said they were “surprised” at the decision to build an internal app designed to boost engagement instead of focusing on commercial strategy.
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The app, called “Tiffany Joy,” was meant to be a tool to improve morale. According to the report, it allowed workers to “post photos celebrating couples getting engaged, colleagues’ big sales and other meaningful moments at stores.”
However, employees claimed that management was unhappy with the slow adoption of the tool and began asking staff members to post more frequently. By early 2024, the report said, employees dubbed the tool “Forced Joy.”
Another point of friction has been Tiffany’s approach to remuneration during a tricky sales period. Employees claimed that sales targets and bonuses have been unrealistic and unpredictable, with some alleging that the company U-turned on a promise to payout bonuses.
According to the report, in 2023, managers at Tiffany’s flagship store in Manhattan were told they would receive their full bonuses—before being notified days before the payout date that because some sales could not be attributed to the store, they were no longer entitled to the full bonus.
Some current and former employees also accused Kilaniotis of shifting sales between stores to make the performance of the flagship store seem stronger, creating confusion about who would be entitled to bonuses. Tiffany declined to comment on the matter.
Poor culture to blame for Tiffany’s reported talent exodus, employees claim
In April 2023, Tiffany’s flagship store was reopened after a $350million revamp, with Kilaniotis and Ledru reportedly setting a sales target of $300million for the remainder of 2023 and a target of $350million for 2024.
Some employees said when they suggested the goals were unrealistic and questioned sales strategies, Kilaniotis told them they “weren’t working hard enough,” per Bloomberg’s report.
Despite the introduction of Tiffany Joy, some employees also recalled members of staff being admonished for congratulating colleagues on lower-value sales.
After one worker congratulated another on a $2,800 sale, an executive reportedly messaged a work Whatsapp group chat, stating: “There is nothing to celebrate.”
The individuals who spoke with Bloomberg said it was “an example of how management’s pursuit of ambitious sales goals had chipped away at a company culture that longtime employees described as collegial, a place where people stuck around for decades.”
They also claimed that Tiffany’s company culture and missed sales targets have led to a swathe of staff exits and have made it difficult for the company to attract candidates from competitors such as Cartier.
One person familiar with staffing levels at Tiffany reported that the number of salespeople working at the flagship store fell by 40% from December 2023 to December 2024. The spokesperson for Tiffany said the jeweler deliberately “rightsized” staffing at the store “based on the appropriate and needed coverage.”
Tiffany: ‘We deeply value our employee community’
The spokesperson also contested the claims about its company culture, stating: “We deeply value our employee community and are committed to a work environment that fosters respect, fairness, safety and offers our people the opportunity to develop their career and succeed.”
Addressing the claims of staff exits and bonus uncertainty, they said staff turnover at the flagship store dropped by 5% in 2024 compared to 2023, while average sales commissions increased by 5%.
Bloomberg’s report also suggested that some improvements have been made in recent months, with a new head appointed to the flagship store in September.
