Pros
- Diversity! The company (at least at a corporate level) is actually really committed to diversity, which is a truly great thing. - People! My co-workers are, for the most part, an amazing and wonderful group of people who look out for each other. - Pay is decent for retail. - Good training programs. - Opportunity for advancement. - You get to learn new skills, like operating a forklift. ;) - Flexibility with scheduling - at least for part-timers. - Parental/maternity leave.
Cons
When I started working at THD, it seems there were plenty of people on the floor. That diminished over time. Now we are spread terribly thin, and sometimes there are only two or three sales associates in the whole store in the evening. When someone quits, they are not replaced. Department heads are now expected to also work the floor as well as keep up with their regular duties, and departments are merged so that there are half the DHs as formerly. Associates are expected to offer outstanding customer service, do aisle maintenance, and do a lot of stocking. If it is busy and you can't get to the maintenance, you are looked upon as a slacker. It has become extremely stressful, and we are having a lot of injuries because of working too fast. - NO employee discount. Yes, you read that right. They offer "Perks at Work", which is a third party discount service that offers discounts on stuff most of the hourly workers can't afford in the first place. Just give us a discount and forget that other stuff. - They hammer the employees to push credit cards. I am NOT comfortable with that. I couldn't wait to leave the front end because of that pressure. - Management is in a bubble. They also seem threatened by intelligent subordinates. - My store is in the Bible belt, and though Corporate stresses acceptance and diversity (and keeping politics and religion out of the workplace), our store seems to be run by a clique that all attend the same fundamentalist church. There has been some proselytizing, which I don't appreciate. - A lot of the work is very heavy and physically very demanding. Also a lot of walking on concrete. Sometimes I rack up as much as 5 miles on my app. You will need good shoes. - Awards are given to those whom management likes, and if they don't like you, you won't ever get them. If you earn one by meeting certain goals, it will be very grudgingly given. It can be very discouraging to work hard and see slackers getting award after award. - The company has their "values" on every apron, but the only one that actually matters is "increase shareholder value". They are pushing profits to the exclusion of all else, and it is on the aching backs of the hourly workers.
