Stressful and demotivating. - Department Manager Decathlon Employee Review

You will do well to find a more stressful job; they are ruthless employers. Decathlon (at least in the UK) operates using a 'sink or swim' policy, which means very little support from higher management. They are obsessed with targets, to an unhealthy and unhelpful degree. I can only speak about the store I worked in but from talking to other managers it's clear that these things are common in the UK. Work-life balance is non-existant. No matter how organised you think you are, you will end up working way over the 39 hours a week. Lunch hour is unpaid. When calculated as an hourly wage the pay is terrible, which is incredibly demotivating. The level of training you receive is few and far between. As somebody who loves sport and enjoys leading people I thought I would be a good fit for Decathlon. How wrong I was. Your sense of self-worth will plummet. All of the managers in my store (6) have now left Decathlon with the same bitter taste in their mouth. The brutal and target based nature of the company will change you into somebody you're not. Decathlon can very quickly hang you out to dry and their attitude to the sales assistants (i.e. minimum wage staff) is appalling. It may sound like a good way to get yourself on the career ladder and to get some experience. It's not. You will be so tired from the work that you won't have the energy to apply for other jobs and you end up trapped. Retail management is a poor game to be in and Decathlon is worse than the supermarkets. You are under a lot of pressure to reduce the hours spent in your department, which means that, rather than manage, you are basically doing the job of a sales assistant but with a few extra responsibilities. They give all this talk about putting the customer first and supporting local sports clubs, etc; they genuinely don't care. The targets and pressure from higher management are so high that they only care about profit, nothing else. It's a shame because the products are fantastic value. I would avoid working at Decathlon (especially in a management role) at all costs. I'm not a stressful person but I found it difficult to enjoy days off knowing I was returning to Decathlon.You may have to come in on one of your days off due to staff calling in sick. What kind of life is that?