Pros
Heath benefits and pay benefits considering the type of work load given for the CSR position. Lead pay is ok with a bit more work but with OT you can make good money- same for supervisor pay but of course much bigger work load.
Good 401k. Despite cons I’ll list later- Chewy actually cares. My experience witnessing this was on the giving and receiving end. If someone is going through a hard time- Chewy has options. Between HR and management, they try to accommodate people when things arise. Someone dies, they understand- special medical appts, bring in paper work ahead of time to coordinate switching your shift or days off.
Scheduling i thought was amazing, it’s a business so they can only do but so much to accommodate but usually one can get either a specific day off or start time they want if they don’t get both. This only happens if you do you job (which i swear on my dogs life is not that difficult, the problem is entitled children whose parents have coddled and taken care of them have provided a completely distorted sense of reality in a workplace) you show up on time, dont call out excessively, elect for OT when absolutely needed then yeah you get noticed. You may get rewarded- some people like to scream favoritism but in reality this favoritism is just management/supervisors/leads bringing up the people who can actually show common sense and not be late 3 days a week.
I would bet my future salary that every CSR who has mentioned the attendance policy in any negative way is under 25 and an irresponsible human being who thinks they should not be held accountable and doesn’t have the proper concept of what being an adult actually is. You have a start time and end time, you show up on time and don’t be late- legit that simple to be on the good side of your superiors. And as far as socializing- for goodness sake it’s hundreds of people in one building- why not talk to others.
Promotion can be an option, although it has slowed down some there is still opportunity if you are willing to take the chance on it. A lot of times a promotion in CS can mean going to a new team like writing team or vet diet or PAW or Supply. This allows you to learn a different aspect of the business and become more well rounded. But due to people who are not willing to make temporary adjustments don’t take the chances they have to grow- because they have to give up their current start time or day off- when the reality is CSR’s schedules on average change roughly every 2-3 months due to the business needs changing so even if you have to take a crappy schedule it honestly isn’t forever. Because again, if you show up on time, do your job, don’t talk crap, try to find solutions instead of complaining about everything you can get noticed. But people only want to complain because they feel entitled and don’t realize the people who are in certain positions busted their butts to get where they are currently at. It’s not easy making your way up the ranks, many sacrifices have to be made (which sounds crazy but it’s not) like working OT. Coming in when a peer calls out- taking on extra work load, things in the short run will pay off in the long run but people want to scream work life balance, which you can have at a CSR level but it stops there. One you commit to a management role, your mindset must change.
Cons
Chewy is growing and has grown rapidly over the last 4 years for sure. It was once small with a CS team of 120 then bursted to 500 what felt like overnight then soon 1k employees. With that comes a huge amount of pressure and adjustment which was executed ok, always room for improvement. For awhile there was a lack of direction and development for certain roles but as of 2019 that changed as more seasoned directors and managers came on board. The biggest issue I experienced with this transition is their expectation of our knowledge and scope of what we should’ve been doing. In the environment we were in and the position we held, there was 100% more what we should’ve known and done but most are internal hires prior to the explosion/growth so it wasn’t a necessity then, but now it is which is great. Gives everyone the chance to learn more- I just wish certain roles were allowed a development plan right from the start and clear expectations/goals laid out for them.
With the desire to accommodate employees- it can become taxing- once employees realize how nice the company is willing to be or lengths they are willing to go then things can get very complicated. Many situations arise due to inconsistencies with how situations were handled but thankfully upper management and Hr were usually on the same page and guided you how to best approach. Didn’t mean it was easy, if the CSR hinted medical issue or problem immediately became the biggest source of headache. The on-site life coach and therapist which by the way no one ever mentions are life savers. Chewy PAYS them to be there 5 days a week and they spend their day speaking to employees which many employees use because it’s free - i only wish there was special training dedicated to management to better equip them in certain situations. I had to baker act 2 employees and were put in multiple hostile situations and had to wing it almost all the time and then lectured after on how i should’ve done things differently. Which makes sense because i legit has zero clue how to act or handle so i just did what i thought was best in the moment.
The last thing is pay- which is complicated because on one hand management should be paid more from Lead to manager due to the amount of responsibility put on those roles. But for most people that held or currently hold this position they had zero experience prior so why pay more when you are learning as you go. I dont have the right answer but the role and effort i put in, i certainly was not compensated fairly when comparing industry standards. Hopefully that will change later on, who knows.
