***This was my experience in the store I worked in. I've heard way more positive employee experiences from other stores so bare this in mind and don't judge the company entirely by this. Just be aware there are many regional factors which will affect how well the store operates.***
Training is not thorough enough. The only way you will get through this job is from previous retail experience.
Severely understaffed. This leads to us being inundated to the point it impacts on the quality of service customers receive. It's common that customers have been left waiting for service or have had to be told to contact customer service for any queries for something as simple as stock levels in other stores.
Management are affected by the lack of staff and are unable to get important tasks completed for the store and for the team. Store layout moves will be delayed because service was suffering. Requesting a reference took many weeks on end.
The overall caliber of staff hired is poor. The online recruitment system does not screen fairly and as a result, a number of poor performing candidates are shortlisted for interview. A lot of the candidates who turn up for the interview are quite frankly rubbish to say the least but there's a set number that selected and hired. It's not long until some of the new starters go AWOL or leave. If they stick, they're not trained well enough, often don't turn up, or don't have the right attitude and don't perform up to expectations. It's painful to witness a customer ask for assistance only to be told by a member of staff, "I'm too busy." I can't believe one colleague on several occasions would never turn up for work but was let off multiple times due to the fact disciplinary was such a longed out process. In any other job I would have been fired on the spot!
All these factors of low staff numbers, inexperienced staff, and inundated management lead to aggravation and customer service suffers. During my time I've witnessed many upset customers who wont ever shop with River Island again as a result of poor service.
I personally have no interest in moving up in the company however if you wanted to become a senior sales advisor, there is no incentive apart from the opportunity to move further up later, or to have managerial experience on your CV in order to exit the company. You aren't paid significantly more than a level 1, and you aren't paid extra for the overtime you WILL be doing.
