Pros
It USED to be a really great place to work
Cons
In the past few years, it has become a huge catastrophe. It used to be a fun place to work when I was hired years ago with the ability to get raises and performance reviews from a manager who was there and knew you. but in the past few years not only have store managers been stripped of all rights concerning performance reviews and pay but also all firing power. Rases have been put to a committee that does the entire US and let me tell you there is a huge wage gap between certain states! I have been told by those high up in the company that no wage increases will be happening in my state for an indeterminate amount of time because they decided to increase wages over the middle states and that holding on for the time being and at low wages is the best I have, especially when I get a job offer for 25% more than what they are offering. I am always welcome back but with the way that compensation increase works is that it is a process goes through Store manager->District manager-> Regional Manager-> Wages Committee and is a two month process. How is that a retention plan? Additionally, I have seen and been directly involved in situations where HR will not fire any individual for time theft or harassment and they fail to uphold the employee handbook! Hours have been stolen from the company and from fellow associates own wallets! HR and the District manager's response? They told the manager that the culprit would not be fired and this is after solid proof was collected and other employee's signed and sworn statements! That same individual comes whenever he pleases and arrives to work inebriated and does drugs on his breaks! Did I fail to add he is a manager?! There have also been racist comments done to store managers and no follow through with that! This means that because Michaels cannot uphold their policies and procedures, ergo Michaels endorses harassment, racism, and theft-like behaviors. Is there any logic to refute that? Yes maybe a few HR individuals will take a stand and fix a few issues but you set a standard and precedence and that's is the environment at the Vancouver, WA Michaels! I have been upper management, I have personally seen this happen. I have tried to make it better. But I came to the realization that I cannot succeed and with a job offer that follows the job market I decided to leave. I still want to go back but I'm tired of trying to utilize my resources and seeing that my corporate gives me none.