- Scheduling is not consistent. Turnover is bad, so they can’t keep staff coming in for their shifts. You will be asked to come in on your off days, and made to feel guilty if you aren’t a “team player”. - Manipulation and intimidation if you question anyone in executive or district leadership. Your skills, your leadership, and your competence will be questioned daily if you don’t bow down to all demands. They will speak down to you and make you feel like a child - do not let the “values” of the mission statement fool you. It’s a marketing tool and all of the charitable donations are probably a tax write off, these values do not show through the way the employees are treated. Executives will blame store leaders or district leaders for all faults. Of course, some people are not meant to work in this industry and it’s not a good fit. But in a lot of situations, the behavior is a reflection of the higher up leadership and a reflection of the daily criticism and high stress these employees face. Are we really gonna say that EVERY single person that ended up quitting or getting fired wasn’t a good fit or a good employee? No, the common denominator is the company… it’s a pattern. - Work / life balance is nonexistent at all levels. You’re a part time brand representative? You will be contacted on your off days to come in. You’re a part time key holder? You will be contacted with employee complaints, reprimands from your store leader that came directly from their district leaders, or asked to cover someone’s shifts. You’re a full time assistant store leader? You will get ridiculed if you are not perfect in your specific responsibilities- even if the training is inconsistent. You are a store leader? Run. Just run. If I give you all of the details to this role, I would be typing this for hours. - They will use pay as a way to manipulate you into thinking you owe the company something. They typically say things like, “This is a gift from us. We are trying to take care of your families by giving you these raises.” even though the employees EARN that pay. -In most situations, it’s a lose lose situation. You need to change the schedule to get shipment done because it is expected to be done in 24 hours, but you cannot task on the sales floor. But you also can’t schedule more people to help with all of it because the payroll is not offered. But if you still don’t get it done, then you have poor time management skills. But if you don’t stay flexible with the company then that means you are not willing to grow. You won’t win. No matter what, you will never win. - Look at their social media. Look at how many Now Hiring posts are out there for them… retail has turnover, but this is a high level. They will say no one needs to be a part of their “family” if they do not put the guest first. I think most of the employees WANT to. But how easy is it to take care of the guests whenever there are two people scheduled to run a massive store? An average of 20 guests per associate. But we are expected to have spectacular guest service where we don’t miss a single customer, all of the product out on the floor (steamed, up to standard) even if you have 70 boxes of shipment piling up with no shipment hours to complete it all - doesn’t matter, it MUST be done, everything needs to be spotless (or else you could lose your job if you get an executive visit and they aren’t happy with the state of the store), have great sales/numbers beating our numbers from previous years, be fully staffed and keep low turnover, make sure all maintenance issues are taken care of, make sure the windows are spotless and updated weekly, make sure your training is perfect and you are holding your team accountable for everything, manage payroll, etc. Should I keep going? I mean, this stuff is normal in retail. It’s normal to have expectations. But these are things that are expected to be done ALL at the same time, not throughout the week. And they would be possible - if we were set up for success. - If you want good money, go for it. But you will lose your happiness, identity, confidence, and sanity in the process. It’s not what it looks like. I promise I am not saying these things out of anger - I’m saying these things after years of devoting my life to a company that replaced me almost immediately when I left. I spent hours, years, and cried way too many tears to not speak up after everything I went through and watched others go through. I’m sure these people that run the company are not horrible people, they just have created a very toxic work environment and example. If they stuck to their values and practiced what they preached, it could be wonderful. I really hope the employees that are currently there are okay and I hope changes have been made since I left.
