Work/life balance is basically non-existent past certified tech. Even on your off day, you are on-call to come in, vacations are nearly impossible to take, and when you do take them, you're made to feel guilty most of the time. Most typical vacation times are also "VIOC busy times" or record-breakers, so don't get your hopes up around Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, Mother's Day, 4th of July, etc. Never get a weekend off, often stay later than scheduled (or sometimes sent home early, losing out on pay, depending on level of business). Basically, never expect to leave when you're scheduled - a condition I was taught once becoming manager is that if an employee leaves after I ask them to stay, I can literally write them up for "job abandonment."
After a certain point (Sr. Tech), most people feel stuck and can no longer move up and/or have to wait to move up until a position opens up. This has nothing to do with how much a supervisor wants to promote someone, and "blockers" are a real hinderance to career growth.
Complete lack of transparency. Big events, promotions, policy changes, etc. just get last-minute dropped on employees and they're expected to roll with them. Meanwhile, vacation approvals (again, depending) can take days to weeks to months, even for vacations that are planned months or years in advance. Many supervisors have an "I talk, you listen" training methodology, resulting in many instances of feeling left in the dark and not being communicated to.
Little/no support for personal or professional growth. I asked my supervisor how to get to the next level and was told I was be given the materials. Checked in a couple months later after having not gotten materials and was basically told not to worry about it because employees X and Y were in line to get promoted first.
People will frequently throw others under the bus to save themselves. "CYA" is the VIOC lifestyle, and if someone happens to get in the way, so be it.
Stress. SO much stress. Monthly massages were not enough to combat the stress. I was terrified every time my cell phone rang for 2 months after leaving Valvoline because of how many times my employees called me to deliver bad news. It was ALWAYS bad news.
50+ hours a week for managers. 10+ hour days, reaching up to 16 (yes, really, 16. If inventory starts at 3am and you work until close at 7pm. This has happened to me a number of times because we "needed coverage," so I couldn't leave).
Physical pain from regular repetitive tasks. Back pain, knee pain, shoulder, wrist, and neck pain. Bruises, burns, cuts. One of my employees was PRAISED by my supervisor for accidentally slicing his hand and instead of opting to go to the doctor to get stitches (which were necessary), he super-glued the wound closed so he "wouldn't file worker's comp."
After you hit manager, no one teaches you anymore. You're supposed to magically know things and are only contacted when something bad happens. Annual review went something like, "here are all the things you didn't know you needed improvement on because I didn't tell you, so you don't get a significant pay raise because of it."
Possibility of transfer at any point to any store within 50 miles. No advance notice is needed. Sure, you could say no, but that also puts you at risk for basically voluntarily resigning.
Truly, I could go on and on and on.
