Pros
I have worked at Michael's for several years now and I've found that, for the most part, it has been a good experience. The greatest benefit is how flexible the management has been with regard to allowing time off when requested. Also, they are willing to work with the average college student's erratic schedule which has been a big bonus and one of the reasons that I have stayed on so long. The customers are your average retail mix: 90% pleasant and fun to work with and the usual 10% WTF who, quite frankly, should have their time in the public sphere limited or supervised or both. For the most part, I love my coworkers although as in any arena that is not overly discrimnatory in who they hire, there are a few who leave me scratching my head. The job is not overly difficult by any means, but the ease of workload is heavily dependent upon which job position in the store you have. Replenishment folks work the hardest by far and deserve extra good karma. Framers' workloads vary, but generally are the least busy on any given day. Cashiers are somewhere in the middle of the spectrum but their workload can quickly surpass the extreme endsof the spectrum on the typically busy days we have with our often understaffed conditions. Generally, the quality of the work experience you have at any given Michael's is largely dependent upon the culture unique to that store. I am fortunate to be at a store that has a core group of people who genuinely care about providing the customer with a quality experience above and beyond the norm. Not to say that there aren't exceptions to this, but it's nice that the people I work with are generally positive and willing to help out. Being a several year veteran, I have seen the store just the opposite...as humorous as it is to see your SM and ASM yelling at each other in the aisles, it's not very productive for the store's condition.
Cons
The raises are paltry. When I began working at Michael's, I would routinely see 40 to 50 cent raises every review. Now, 16 cents is doing pretty good. A raise, as a minimum, should allow a wage earner the extra income to compensate for inflation which, on average, is around 3% a year give or take. I, and I suspect other associates as well, if they receive good reviews, manage anywhere between less than one percent to maybe 1.5%. Benefits: Michael's once offered pretty good benefits--at least to their full time associates. The health care package was decent and still kind of is but not as affordable. Intangible benefits were nice as well. A framing manager could allow local artists to exhibit their work in the store, purchase and try out new products from local vendors, and actually (heaven forbid) exercise a reasonable measure of authority and autonomy that betrayed a remarkable level of trust by the senior management. Full time associates used to receive a Christmas gift from corporate every year! Whether it was a turkey, a crate of oranges or whatever, the idea now would be completely foreign and garner a "Really?" from the full timers. Communication: Like many others here who have already posted, I echo the sentiment that communication at Michaels leaves much to be desired. Likewise, policy and procedure shifts are frequent and often not communicated except for when the DM tells you that you are now doing it wrong. At Michael's you may or may not hear anything until you find out that you've "violated" the policy du jour. New time and attendance policy: I have mixed feelings about the new time policy. On one hand, it gives management a great tool to justify firing those individuals who routinely called in or were "only 15 minutes late" Yet, on the other hand, I've seen some decent employees let go because of this policy. I also unequivocally state that it is ABSURD that a full time associate be penalized for using their sick time. Dress code: I am not opposed to a dress code, per se, but I do understand that their are many associates who struggle financially and may not have a lot of extra income to not only purchase the required clothing but maintain them as well. I don't advocate that Michael's buys every associate the required clothing but an annual clothing allowance or a tax break or something to offset the costs would be very nice. 5S: Someone who does not actually work at Michael's may not know what 5S is, but for those of us who do, we are all too familiar with it. I appreciate the initiative to clean up and organize the store and develop those routines necessary to keep the store clean. I think 5S accomplishes these goals pretty well. Some things are very micromanaged--the pens go in one spot, the stapler goes in this spot, the tape measure goes over here, etc, and everything is labeled. From a corporate perspective I understand that, quite honestly, this was the only way to do it because it is unreasonable to expect that several thousand Michael's stores would be magically clean without such rigid oversight. So as much as I scoff at micromanagement, I have to say the results speak for themselves (at least in the store I work at). Waste: Michaels throws away too much inventory. I understand this is an expedient way to deal with merchandise that doesn't sell well, but the waste is on a scale that is just sad. Much of this material could be donated to local craft studios, workshops, schools, etc and would no doubt entitle Michael's to a significant tax write off. Also, certain procedure overhauls compel that old equipment or materials be thrown out in order that the "shiny and new" procedure can be implemented. I can't count how many posters, sales tracking charts, procedure checklists, etc have been thrown out only to get a "new" poster or chart in with the same exact information on it. One tracking chart I was responsible for updating was used for literally one month and then forgotten about by corporate. I threw it away and nobody noticed. Ad signs. There HAS to be a better way to manage promotional materials. I sincerely wish I knew what that method was because the time spent in putting up and taking ad signs down is a significant chunk of payroll. Often, the same discount sign is taken down as is put up--just the dates are different. Holidays: Please stop opening up shop on Thanksgiving day. I know there are people who love to shop on this day as evident by the large crowd last year but, in my humble opinion, we do not need to encourage this behavior. Extended hours are nice for our customers but it is a rare occurence that we have customers in our store after 9:00 pm. Maybe corporate wide it is a different story but I wonder if we capture enough sales to justify the payroll and overhead spent to keep the store open past 9:00pm.