Not what it used to be - Sales Team Lead Grainger Employee Review

1.0
Jul 26, 2019
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Good Co-workers. Pays the bills

Cons

Benefits are average at best compared to other companies. At branch, training is limited you will have to figure a lot out on your own. Management support does not exist. Do not expect management to help in the actual work that needs to be done even if branch is short handed. Promotions are hard to come by. Management will tell you that it is because of the amount tenure employee's the company has. That is not entirely true. The way to get promoted is by being in a very small and exclusive inner circle with the managers. Sure your manager might vouch for you, but more than likely the head of the inner circle already has a person in line. Trust me when I say that conversations about the position have already been talked about and agreed upon with managers in the know and the person in line. The inner circle is not a training/mentor program by any means. All of this happens before the position is posted. In my experience when all of this happens the position is posted for 1 - 48 hours to comply with EEO regulations and no announcement is made until the last couple of hours that the post is up. This is to limit the amount of people who will apply. Those people may or may not get an interview. Those that do will just waste their time because as I said they already have made their choice before the position is even posted. I know this because I was put through this process every time I put my name in the hat and when I was finally put in leadership these are the instruction that were given for me to follow. Being a business major I questioned the ethics of this practice and not soon there after things changed for me and the branch in terms as attainable goals. When goals were meet a decision was made to close our branch anyway. When I brought it up with HR it all fell to deaf ears and no follow ups. In the end because I questioned the leadership I was not given an exist interview. I was told this in private by a person in the inner circle which still exist to this day. I have since moved on but still feel dirty that so many talented people have been done so wrong. I am in no way a disgruntled ex-employee. I just don't feel that it is right for so many people to have to go through this and still do as the inner circle still exist. This cancer exist in the managers, directors, and VP's alike.

Explore other reviews about Grainger

5.0
Jun 25, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Schedules were very flexible! Leadership cared

Cons

It was really exhausting, hot work in the warehouse

4.0
Jun 6, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Benefits are decent and reasonably priced. They offer a 401k match, BCBS insurance, FSA, HSA, dental, vision, life insurance, and accidental D&D coverage. They also do a 3‑to‑1 match for donations to non‑religious 501(c) organizations. There’s a big emphasis on volunteering, with plenty of opportunities to get involved. The building itself is beautiful, with a free on‑site gym, a coffee shop, real trees in the atrium, a waterfall, and a large cafeteria (though the food can vary). They’re also flexible about which days you come on‑site, depending on the team’s schedule. If I needed to switch a Monday for a Thursday, it was never an issue. My manager was also supportive of remote work on days when the weather made commuting difficult.

Cons

Admins do not get an annual bonus. They're really strict on Overtime, really weird about worrying about mini costs. Like they'll spend 50k on a week-long training but freak out if people want to rent a car while being in town. Can't buy lunch for this 3 hour meeting to cut costs, but we'll drop 10k on this other thing. It's also so unfair that some people get to work remotely and others are forced to come in 3 times a week, for the exact same roles. Every meeting is basically online, so it's just silly and a power trip.

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