Pros
Whole Foods encourage their employees to move around the store to different areas and departments to encourage job growth development and knowledge. All of the Assistant Team Leaders are encourage to visit other stores and move around and gain leadership experience in order to become new Team Leaders and so that they move upwards and create openings for other Team Members to move upwards. WFM encourages job development and training constantly. The open door policy of managements means that issues can be resolved quickly. WFM changes and adapts the neighbourhood that they are in, and tries to find like minded people to work at the store. WFM encourages guest relations and really encourages TM to treat guests as if this were a neighbourhood grocer in a small town, where "everyone knows your name!". Guests treat WFM employees differently to other stores, because all employees are empowered by TL's to take the initiative and improvise when it comes to giving a guest great service. WFM TM are treated as intelligent individuals with an opinion and a life outside of the store, rather than supermarket monkey's. The Team Members Awareness Group really tries to make contact with all TM's and acts as a liaison between TM's and TL's, helping to bring to the TL's attention issues and problems that would not normally be exposed..... therefore helping to stop ":mutiny within the ranks!" WFM has a wonderful global and earth awareness philosophy, which they constantly try to educate and teach guests and TMs. So they really practice what they preach and WFM tries to find like-minded people to work for them. Everyone that works at WFM is enthusiastic about working there and about incorporating the philosophy within their own lives.
Cons
Sometimes the training and development of staff get left behind when the store goes through a rough patch and Leaders struggle to pick up the pace again. Part Timers should also be offered better benefits for service hours. TL need to collaborate more on working standards and expectations as working with different TL and shift supervisors leads to confusion in the TM ranks.