Being with this company for more than a decade, I've seen many ups and downs. Retail is unpredictable and one of the things I once loved. Within the past couple of years, and several upper management changes the culture has changed on the front lines. The company is so quick to react to negative business results and low traffic that they are throwing much more work on the stores in an attempt to drive traffic into the store. Our sales plans are not based on an actual trend and management teams are reviewed and compensated based on these results. If you are not making plan, you will hear about it. The DM's have started micromanaging their teams and using threats as a way to get results. I don't know many people who work well under threat intimidation. Their immediate bosses, the Regional Managers are getting rid of tenured, passionate management members who have dedicated a good portion of their careers to BBW. One comment I was as blatant as "If they're not making me money, I'm getting rid of them." Sales plans should be based on some sort of current business trend. If not, why do we even have traffic counters. DM's constantly analyzing reports and sending out nasty emails if business is soft. We NEVER get positive praise, only negative. The SM's are the ones trying to keep their teams motivated and successful. This can become very emotionally draining. The teams work very hard for very little money. The only glimpse a DM gets is coming into the store once every couple of months and spending about 30 minutes on the floor and giving negative feedback. What can you really see in thirty minutes. The store managers are really just glorified sales associates. We get no payroll to analyze reports, make a schedule, coach and counsel associates, perform interviews, or even to clean the toilet. All this is expected to be done in the very limited payroll structure we run within. If business is slow, we have to send sales associates home before their shift is over, sometimes cutting it in half. This is not fair to them, or good for store morale. As far as advancement beyond the SM level, it is slim to none. They feel bringing in external talent with a fresh set of eyes and perspective is better than the people who have broken their backs over the years to make them successful. This is true in some cases, but no all. Your work life balance is awful. Only one weekend off a month. During the holiday season you can be in your store until midnight and way beyond and then sometimes have to turn around and be back at 7 or 8 in the morning to open. The part time managers get it the worst. They are expected to do the same job the SM or CM does in their absence for around ten bucks an hour and NO benefits. This position has the highest turnover rate in the stores. They work extremely hard for very little. The job is very physical. Don't kid yourself people, we don't just play with lotion all day. We can get between 150-500 boxes of shipment a day at Christmas. Those boxes weigh about 30 lbs. each. Try lugging that stuff up a ten foot ladder. All in all I'm sad to say that after investing so much into this company and telling myself "just hang in there a little longer, it'll get better and go back to the great company I used to work for." I've been telling myself that for three years now with no end in sight....
