Once the glamour wears off you will discover the company is not all it is cracked up to be. There is a divison between Corporate, all levels of management and employees which creates tension.
You will be force-fed the company mission and initiatives. You will be expected to eat, sleep, breath 'Ferguson'. You will have to go the 'extra mile' for the customer even if that means working without pay, which is pretty much expected. A typical work week is 50 + hours. It will be noticed when your late and when you leave early, but no mention to the fact you may have worked a 12 hour day.
You will be 'empowered' to be the best customer service representative no matter what your title was but slapped in the face, laughed at, humiliated or treated like an uneducated idiot when you suggest ideas to help improve customer service.
Branch level managers govern iniatives and incentives rolled out by corporate so even though you may be eligible you most likely will never get paid. Outside Sales and Management given excessive perks like paid cell phone, gas card, and freedom to expense just about anything. If you go the extra mile as an hourly employee and make a delivery in your own vehicle that is your choice and you will never be reimbursed for gas or even better told: a job well done.
Upper level employees are career Ferguson employees who have been there for 20 or more years. They have been in there position forever but are completely inept or poor at their job. Any disagreement or question of policy or procedure is considered contempt and grounds for termination.
Ferguson was not prepared for the economy downturn, and the entire system was built around growth and volume. When home sales and home building took a dive, so did the company. In a sort of last ditch effort to save face the company cut expenses is to reduce labor costs resulting in many lost jobs. A lot of the former employees went to the competition.
