Pros
The atmosphere of working in a Museum is always rewarding. I have loved The Henry Ford since I was a child attending Greenfield Village for the first time. Every member of the team is all about selling the experience, communicating with the guests to ensure they purchase something that will help them remember the best part of their visit, I enjoyed talking with customers about their experience. The people I worked along side and those that reported to me as well were all great people, working hard to meet the standards of the job position and adhere to company policies. Management meetings were always helpful and structure to allow input from the managers on what was working each day and what could be improved on. Gave the impression that what we thought actually made a difference.
Cons
Brownnosers; honestly this is such a strong issue for me. Allowing certain management staff to be off the floor to chit chat with the directors about their lives while the sales floor is overwhelmed with customers and because the day has been so busy numerous breaks and lunches are behind as well. IT isn't about how hard you work at, it is how much time you have spent chatting with the Directors to ensure that they know every detail of your life. Hiring of friends: my most recent director felt it necessary to hire an old co-worker of hers as a manager, who was in between jobs. She seriously lacked the skills necessary for the position and was the first to blame others for her mistakes. AS the friend of the director she was believed over other staff members who had been working at the location for years. The "friend" left a short while later for a new position and now that an assistant director position has opened up, this "friend" has had 3 interviews and is most likely going to get the job, when she knows nothing about the venue, the strength of those who are currently working there, or the responsibilities throughout the day. Although, this "friend" is somehow more qualified for this position over others currently working at the venue that have been turned down. Policies consistently changing: There is a shift called an on-call shift where you have to keep your day open for being called into work if necessary. The procedure for this process is constantly changing, sometimes you are to call in by a certain time, or others they can call you at anytime of the day. It isn't consistent, and frankly it is ridiculous to have a fake shift for someone who could possibly make money that day or possibly could not. Scheduling is a joke, it is in a system but is also printed out and can be changed at any point, some managers call and let you know it has been changed while others expect you to read the changes. The Director doesn't always approve the changes and sometimes she will change the schedule back to its original when changes have been agreed to by the individuals working the shift. The starting of 2013 all managers were only allowed to work 30hrs a week to allow Event Network to keep our job status at part-time and avoid giving managers full-time status. Managers would be disciplined with a write up for any hours over 29 in a week and were expected to manage that ourselves, regardless of the fact that sometimes the Director made that mistake. Sales goal and PWP percentages are unreasonable, especially if a venue has had the same item for over 2 years. The expectations of the staff is too high for the pay that is being enforced. As a manager I made 9.50 at 29 hrs a week (if I got the max hours for the week) which is $275.50 a week before taxes that is less than 15k a year. How could anyone survive on that, especially in a management role you will get what you pay for.
