Politics and Myopic Thinking Are Destroying This Company - Anonymous employee Sally Beauty Employee Review

1.0
Jul 6, 2017
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- Casual Dress Code - Full Service Cafeteria - Friday Half Days

Cons

I had to give a legitimate review after working at Sally for a few years, instead of bullet points. The company culture is seemingly casual, but it has transformed most recently into a very hierarchical environment where politics runs all decision making. The best ideas don't win in the marketplace of ideas, so the smartest people leave the company well before they have advancement opportunities (opting for advancement with a new company once they see what Sally is all about). The only people who are actually happy and motivated are the Senior players and above. I have talked to several employees across departments and the morale is extremely low. In just this past year, I've seen about 30 people leave the company who were with the company less than 1 year in my department alone. There is essentially no on-the-job training and it is plagued with bad processes. There are way too many decision makers for every task, because heaven forbid, someone's ego gets crushed if 1 of 10 senior managers didn't approve the direction. Many people are eager to play the blame game when things go wrong and there is unfortunately quite a gossipy environment (it's a Beauty company, I guess that is to be expected). The worst thing though, is that there is no real structure for advancement. The people who tend to advance quickly are the same ones who perpetuate the politics, kissing up to senior management and never questioning broken processes. These people are not innovators and the company really suffers by having this way of rule.

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5.0
Jul 13, 2026
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Pros

Easy, great management, fun co workers

Cons

Unrealistic customer demands, lack of upward mobility

2.0
Jul 14, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

My store manager and team were wonderful! If you make the right moves you can move up the ladder reasonably quickly,

Cons

You can move up the ladder quickly because turnover is so high. Management will lie to you and tell you whatever you want to hear to keep you from leaving. Your experience is entirely dependent on who your store manager is and if they are willing to advocate for you. District management does not care about employees.

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