Lush reviews

Very little useful training for management - left alone too much - no support - unless you are deemed to be doing something wrong and then you are literally harassed. No consistent review system, no support at all during probation with the 3 month review period passing by unnoticed so you are left wondering if you have a secure job. No area manager. No training on difficult situations like dismissals and employment law or long term absence. No HR department - just people that have worked elsewhere in the company and drafted in and trained by doing free on-line courses who make you feel like you are bothering them when you ask them questions. No direction in what to do. Employment law breaches occur regularly due to lack of knowledge and go unchecked. There is an on-line library you have to refer to when you need help. The team that provide training for managers are somehow cherry picked for personality/who they are friends with rather than skill. They are out of touch and incapable of the roles given to them. There is also a certain amount of victimisation and bullying - if you are a 'face' your management skills are irrelevant but if you are not, you may as well give up as you will not progress. The managers in larger stores get paid very well but if you manage a smaller store, the pay is poor for what is expected of you. However, your bonus is so easily attainable that you can top up your salary sometimes as much as double your basic. Trainee managers and supervisors are not paid well at all for the work they do and sales assistants get over minimum wage but not the living wage. There are barely any benefits - travel season ticket and an employee support scheme but nothing else. Even the support scheme is not used to its full capacity. No support for long term ill health. They have these enormous and lavish manager meetings every 3 months - the first one I attended was in Europe. People flown in from around the world. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. It was very nice but then they say they can't pay people more money (supervisors especially) or they pull you up on spending too much on tea and coffee and biscuits for your team or having too many staff and going over budget. Yet they still pay huge bonuses. The company is all the wrong way way round. The parties must cost millions each year. Overall, a sad experience for me and I will be moving on. They are just not who they say they are.

The company has changed a lot, say compared to what it was 10 years ago, and that is fine, it's progression, but the company as a whole seems to be moving towards being quite corporate. The fun side of Lush is slowly disappearing. We have 'candy shoppers' (our mystery shoppers), and the expectations are completely unrealistic. If you mentioned everything you had to to a customer, the customer would not return. We have to approach and re-approach every customer. Lush don't fully understand that not every customer likes this. You are not allowed to have an 'off' day at Lush, you have to paint that smile on and just get on. There seems to be a culture of favouritism and a lot is heavily based on 'if your face fits'. My current manager and trainee should not be in their roles together, they need to be separated. There is a lot of bullying that goes on, from management, highly unethical goings on, name calling, taking A LOT of sick leave, when he rest of the staff get bad attitudes and hung up on for calling in sick for one day. Staff aren't allowed to be friends. Staff are played off against each other. The threat off less shifts if you upset management / if you're not 'favourite' that week. It doesn't help there is no HR department, whilst perhaps 10 years ago there wasn't a need for one, the company has changed a lot and this is something that needs to be implicated. I can't say the same for every store but a lot of good staff have been driven out because management are bullet proof. Head office will always protect managers. If management want to keep you under them, regardless if you want to train to be part of the international team or a therapist etc.. They will not let you flourish. Very disappointing.