Pros
→ 30% employee discount --get to buy relatively nice gifts for family and friends → fantastic sales staff -- people are generally very friendly and eager to help; staff is pretty diverse with many people from all sorts of backgrounds → inspirational products -- learn a lot about the products, and get ideas for your own home and entertaining events → plenty to do -- learn about several aspects of running a business with sales goals, displays, and merchandising → being well-equipped -- the company provides many means/tools to provide good customer service competitive with other well-known retailers, which makes pleasing the public much easier → great team dynamic -- several departments work together and create a cooperative atmosphere → retirement/401K plan available → seasonal hiring -- it's a really fun, though stressful, time to work during the holidays → flexible schedules -- perfect for part-timers (eg. students, etc.)
Cons
→ heavy emphasis on numbers and figures -- for instance, every person has to earn a certain amount of money for the store, pitch the store credit card a number of times, etc.; there's always a lingering notion of demerits for not reaching numbers, which can be motivating or demotivating depend on how you look at it; numbers are closely monitored. → internal competitiveness -- pressure to reach numbers often make people more competitive against each other → corporate culture overrules employee input -- can not voice grievances/complaints without being retaliated against or singled-out by management → not very solution-oriented -- once corporate gets set on some implementation, it doesn't care how it affects the workplace, negatively or positively; no amount of feedback will mend any flaw in the system → looming favoritism → sporadic scheduling -- company relies heavily on special automated programs, giving employees sporadic work schedules every week based on one's profitability → little room for growth/promotion → lack of full-time positions with benefits, unless it's management → other typical retail fare (low pay, unpredictable customers, working on feet all day, etc.)
