Pros
-As a student, scheduling is very flexible. -The team is a group of fun, outgoing and generally good people. -The discount and additional perks are great. -Many great connection and networking opportunities.
Cons
-High stress levels lead to a negative working environment. In general, management does not deal with the stress of working on Michigan Ave well. Instead of remaining calm and collected on a busy day, management snaps at employees and shows no recognition to hard work from sales associates. For example, on an extremely busy, low-staffed morning, GM came in late and accused associates of not doing a good enough job maintaining and straightening the floor. -GM has many great connections but is extremely difficult to develop a relationship with. One moment, GM is friendly and talkative and the next is criticizing and punishing for talking. GM exhibits extreme distrust and paranoia frequently. GM is constantly afraid corporate will show up at any given moment. This propels the stress levels higher. There is also a problem with cronyism. -Strange firing policy. HR is unwilling to fire employees despite bad, disruptive behavior. Verbal fights, throwing objects out of anger, extreme truancy and absenteeism is overlooked. -Lies and false expectations. Despite their hard work, the sales team is frequently lied to about secret shops and promised raises. When the team does well on a secret shop, it is hidden until the end of the month for fear that associates won't take their work seriously afterwards. -Lack of training and standards. Training is left to sales associates. Standards are not communicated to new employees and there are no guidelines. This takes longer for new hires to be assimilated into the working environment and heightens stress levels.
