Complete lack of empathy from senior management - Showroom Assistant IOLLA Employee Review

2.0
21 May 2022
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The team in the Edinburgh show room is one of the best I’ve ever worked with. Iolla have the capability to hire wonderful people who I consider dear friends, the supportive network that developed throughout our time as a team was something really special. The supervisors within iolla are second to none and had the most caring, supportive approach to any needs of any member of staff, the store manager in Edinburgh also did everything they could have during the difficult times. The work is fun and engaging and getting to help people is a lovely part of the job. I had not a bad word to say about iolla for months of employment and planned to continue working for the company until they completely disregarded all staff and we were essentially forced out the door.

Cons

The senior team at Iolla not only lack empathy but have absolutely no understanding of how to manage a varied team. As far as I was aware, there was absolutely no training in place for management to support staff members with additional support needs, and if this training was in place, it was not carried through into managements handling of staffing issues. If you process, learn or execute tasks in any fashion that deviates slightly from the straight and narrow, this is not the company for you. Full time contracted staff had hours cut from 40 hours to 20 with mere days notice and part-time staff were cut with absolutely NO notice whatsoever, rotas were given out with no explanations until prompted to do so. This led to very significant financial, mental and emotional strain on numerous staff members, and effected the entire team over all. The complete lack of emotional intellegence within iolla’s senior management team is truly astounding. When these concerns for our teams mental wellbeing were raised to every member of senior management who would listen, absolutely nothing was done to offer support, an explanation from senior management never arrived. mid level managements response was simply ‘we didn’t know this was coming’, which is simply a ridiculous response. Leaving the store manager to handle the financial and mental struggles of over 10 members of staff is enough to show the complete lack of human connection within this company. Everyone about store management is patronising to There are also no routes for career or creative development in the role as promised.

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IOLLA Response
3y
Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback with us. We welcome all feedback, whether positive or negative. We are committed to looking for any ways in which we can improve. Your feedback regarding the team you worked along side is fantastic to hear. Culture fit is a huge focus for us, particularly throughout the recruitment and selection process - I am so glad you recognised this in your team members. Our learning and development journey for new starts and existing employees is an area we perform exceptionally well in. As HR manager at IOLLA, continuous learning and development is at the top of my agenda. Our Quality and Development manager is an incredibly talented professional who brings so much to IOLLA. We recently celebrated World Mental Health day in IOLLA - we have plans to implement Mental health first aiders across the business at the start of 2023. Again, mental health and wellbeing a huge priority for our senior leadership team. As for career development, several of our stylists have moved into managerial roles in the past few months - again, something we are incredibly proud of. We will always be looking to develop talent within IOLLA. If you would like to discuss your feedback in more detail, I would welcome an opportunity to do this. You can reach me through email directly - clairebrennan@iolla.com Thank you, Claire Brennan HR Manager

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5.0
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Pros

I worked as a temp at IOLLA and really enjoyed my time there. I am self employed but wanted to join this great team temporarily as have missed working in retail. the company is great, the full training is very clear and detail buyt you also get lots of support and help. I felt very welcomed and encouraged at all times. Would definitely recommend, especially the location I was at in Manchester.

Cons

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5.0
4 July 2024
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Free glasses and good discount (50%, 25% for friends and family); truly kind, uplifting team in the showroom; well paced training; reasonable expectations of work (e.g. no unfair sales targets or commission, nobody expects you to remember 100% of optical training, lots of help) Customers are great and lots of good chat that makes the day go fast.

Cons

I wanted a minimum hours contract to balance with my other job, but the contract terms could be brutal (if they chose to take advantage of them) for someone looking for something more stable. If you wanted to climb the ladder from showroom to the office it would probably be a really long shot, but that’s true of retail in general.

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