I Wish I Would’ve Left Sooner - Anonymous employee Von Maur Employee Review

I worked for Von Maur for many years at many different stores throughout the country so I have literally seen it ALL! When I first became a manager I had lofty goals of someday growing into a higher powered position. This is the reason why they think I left even after detailing both in writing and verbally why I was resigning. I am so grateful I was passed over many times for promotional opportunities. Otherwise, I’d still be miserable and I’d have a terrible senior leader as my direct supervisor. It was the demoralizing “senior leadership” that drove me away. I’ve waited quite a bit of time to submit this review. I wanted to be sure it wasn’t based off emotions but instead based off of my real life experience working for this beast. So here is goes: my many years as a manager working at Von Maur consisted of being anxious all of the time that I was doing something wrong, getting frequent phone calls from the security company in the middle of the night that as a manager you have to respond to and drive to the store to be sure it wasn’t vandalized, being told I’m doing a great job but it’s best to be kept at my store location (still doesn’t make sense since I had great managers to take my spot), unpacking stock, cleaning when Stock doesn’t show up, answering phones, shipping packages, conducting interviews, calling all applicants regardless of their skill set, career fairs, organizing large scale events, disciplining employees on what seemed like a daily basis (so strict everyone gets written up at some point), sneaking water since it’s forbidden and a hundred other responsibilities that aren’t listed. After years of thinking this was all I was capable of doing I finally began exploring other viable careers. I am SO glad that I did. I ended up landing a career at a Fortune 500 company in a growing city hundreds of miles away from any Von Maur! It was a very difficult decision to resign and essentially start over, a decision that I made a year ahead of my last day of employment. I was really good at masking my dissatisfaction with my position. I had to be since they don’t really want or care to know how you’re actually feeling. If I had voiced my concerns I would’ve been termed or asked to step down from my role. They don’t practice what they preach. In my years as a manager I was able to retain many employees. Some stayed and some eventually ended up resigning but at least I tried. At least I was able to recognize unhappiness in my staff and stop and chat to see if we could work it out. The disconnect between the stores and it’s “senior leadership” is that they rule with fear. There’s a reason every time the COO or VP of Stores stopped by (which was rare) I would develop a rosacea like rash all over my chest. They are completely unapproachable and rude. I have first hand experiences of hearing them gossip about associates and managers. Once I saw the light so to speak I formulated a solid plan to get out.