Upper management is incompetent, disorganized, and focused on irrelevant goals that do not meet the needs of the business.
Document all communication with upper management as you will be thrown under the bus for anything that reveals their incompetence.
Training is insufficient for management. However, you will be expected to know everything from day 1.
Pertinent information and tasks come at you from all directions and are located in so many areas of the network site that it is practically impossible to meet targets.
Plan on doing, redoing and redoing the same task while upper management changes their mind.
Schedules and deadlines change constantly. Be prepared to constantly change your time off to meet the ever changing deadlines. Previous commitments mean nothing to upper management. You are required to give up your personal life for the goals of company.
Consistently under staffed as a district. All managers are expected to change their schedules to cover shifts and drive daily to stores that are hours away and even in other states. Even with numerous open management positions, it is practically impossible to move up in the company and they almost never hire anyone new. It is not uncommon for management positions to be left unfilled for years while you are expected to cover shifts and your DM (who won’t hire anyone) is completely unwilling to also help stores in need. Capable, experienced, competent applicants are turned away for the most minuscule reasons. They are completely unwilling to train or work with anyone. The company wide initiative is to fill positions with the “right people” (over qualified individuals who are willing to give up their personal life completely for the business) and they will not sway.
The four “core values” initially seem inspiring and make you feel like you are working for a company who “values” individuals who possess the qualities that are listed. However, you quickly find out that the exact opposite is true. They are pounded into you day in and day out and applied to every single situation whether large or small. As a manager, you are required to have “core value” meetings with all associates throughout each and everyday. What initially seemed inspiring becomes nauseating and forced. You begin to develop a sense of resentment as you are forced to repeat the values over and over and over yet you are not “valued”. You are exploited for being the “right person.”
Pay increases are practically non existent and fall well below annual inflation. If you want to find a company that you can stay with for an extended period of time, this is not the place. You will end up making less and less every year due to the rise in inflation and the lack of pay increases. It doesn’t matter how loyal, how hard you work or your ability to accomplish goals, you will not see any financial gains.
All associates are required to complete extremely physical tasks with inadequate instruction, safety equipment, and materials. Expect to see the chiropractor.
