Pros
The girls I got to work with were amazing, truly some of the hardest workers I’ve ever seen. Absolutely nothing negative regarding my experience at this job had anything to do with the people on the team- who they are, was a big part of working there.The visual experience was great for those who enjoy merchandising, however expectations were often unrealistic for stores who were not allocated as many hours for visual tasks.
Cons
The pay cut was a final straw for many of us, especially after the disaster the holiday season was. I don’t feel like I need to specify much as so many before me have (for those doubting or thinking we are all disgruntled employees, please listen to us.) It was a huge slap in the face to have the PTO policy changed sneakily after the announcement so that earned hours were no longer paid out upon separation. I understand that these things happen and businesses need to cut costs, but the way it was rolled out was so unorganized and unprofessional. Only weeks after the announcement as they were losing employees left and right did they start announcing actual changes. I guess they didn’t expect that the pay really was the only reason a lot of people were willing to stay. The expectations are extremely high- which is not always a bad thing- but the way they use mystery shops and NPS comments often felt more like a fear tactic than a tool to actually benefit the guest. It really takes the fun and passion out of selling, and turns each guest into a walking checklist. . Customers could leave extremely disrespectful NPS comments regarding employees gender or physical appearance, and home office would still send the comments out for the entire company to read. Listen, I believe that customer feedback is a great tool. And 9 times out of 10 the customer is right. But there is absolutely no support for the staff in that 1 other time. I believe in good customer service, but this is not how you create it. This just overworks and stresses out your workers. These things, combined with the extremely high expectation for visual and operational tasks to get done with no payroll to do so, were simply impossible. There is also a severe lack of diversity, and at the end of the day I unfortunately would not recommend you work here if you are not what they consider a “culture fit”. I would rather not specify those things, but if you look at their instagram or who they hire as interns for home office, you’ll get the idea. I know that companies can’t always control what demographic they attract, so I’m not saying this is all intentional. But it’s simply not a diverse work environment, so if you’re looking for that, look elsewhere. Having an ethnic, or and I quote “weird” name, was brought up in meetings, in case a guest didn’t hear us clearly and we missed a point on the mystery shop. We were told we had to pronounce our names clearer. In particular, I would not recommend working here if you are not a faith based person, or if you aren’t very comfortable around it . Regular prayers, comments about faith, readings from devotionals at meetings, etc. were a pretty normal part of the job. I was raised around religion, and I don’t have an issue with it or those who live by it. But it’s simply not very inclusive. I understand that it’s a faith based brand, and If that’s what they want to do- that is totally fine. But that should be discussed upon hiring, it’s kind of a shock when you aren’t prepared for it. It was an uncomfortable environment for myself and others who did not follow the same beliefs. I honestly might have been willing to not bring this part up, but it was brought to my attention that my lack of faith (which has nothing to do with how I do my job, and honestly, my value as a good person) was being discussed behind my back by management . So majorly disappointing.
