Before I begin, I am not a disgruntled former employee that was forced to leave. I'll give you a balanced depiction of what you are getting into: First, don't come here expecting to be promoted anytime soon. You are not only in competition with peers on your shift, but people in the 28 or so other distribution centers and outside hires for those 5 or so senior group leader positions. They love to dangle the carrot which is labeled as "development", but in reality it's all a mirage. Performance and results do not get you promoted (at least on the distribution side). I've seen newer group leaders come in and be placed in preferential lateral move positions when they haven't even proven themselves in a department. If you speak the language and have a bubbly personality, you get placed on the fast track. Those that make things happen but do not do these things are passed over very frequently. I've literally seen several individuals come in for 6 months and be placed in the production controller spot where you are required to know how each department runs so they can be properly staffed. This person would get on the call and make suggestions that would literally have stopped production in the building had other group leaders not pushed back. This continued after that person was in role for a year, and they have now been interviewing for senior manager spots.
Speaking of senior management....they come and they go, every year or two some will leave or be worked out. Their main job is to develop you, a few are good at this, most are not. It looks favorable on a senior manager if one of their group leaders gets a lateral or upward promotion. As a result, seniors with the most pull upstairs put people who are ill equipped to be in that role are put in these positions. There is a lot of in fighting among these type-A personalities, and group leaders are often put in the middle. Pick the wrong side, and your career can get derailed. Their paranoia over metrics or the annual audit corporate conducts yearly create unnecessary chaos that trickles downstream to your team members. They will run around frantically after getting a "tip" that corporate is in hotels nearby. They will ask you odd questions such as, "are we green today?!" Now, as I'm supposed to be running my own department, I'm never sure if the building will pass an assessment, but I always say "of course" to send them buzzing around someone else.
Meetings- There are way to many pointless meetings. Most are held from senior management, many others held by peers so they can have a bullet point for their goal plans and say how they lead other "execs". Floor presence is preached, but there are days when I've literally spent 60% of my time in meetings that could have been covered with a quick e-mail.
Team members- I was fortunate to have some really good workers that were under me, and really helped train me more than other group leaders did. But, the fear of unions and the annual best team survey gives them way too much power. I've seen groups of employees complain about things that would get you walked out of other companies, but they are babied and senior management will back them over you.
Peers- Most group leaders are experienced and hardworking. Most others I personally wouldn't hire to bag groceries at a Target store. Again, if they speak the fake language and play the game, they are perceived favorably even though other group leaders have to work twice as hard to fix their screw ups and lack of basic knowledge. My department was downstream from another department where a recent college graduate basically went over her plan which resulted in my team getting crushed. After providing her feedback many times, I approached senior management who thought it was cute and was asked how myself and others could help her.
Accountability- You will hear this word. A lot. Yet, it is never followed through with my senior management. Again, I've seen many group leaders that are perceived favorably slip out a few hours early each night and never turn in vacation hours for time off, yet nothing is said. The shifts where senior management isn't present leave the building in a huge mess, and they always tell us to "provide that feedback". At the end of the day WE AREN'T EACH OTHER'S BOSSES! Start doing your job and holding your group leaders accountable.
Turnover- The turnover is INSANE. As others have posted here, I have seen 20 people leave in a year and a half. This leads to problems that were resolved years ago, or processes fixed years ago being screwed up again.
This place is good for experience, but don't stay too long. Remember, perception management rules, so make the right alliances and drink the kool aid and you just might get told you are in line for a senior management spot!
