Joined after being head-hunted from my job (that I was fairly happy in at the time) on the guise of a higher job title, better pay, lots of benefits, massive chance for promotion and above all else; excellent training in a great job. Naturally I took the chance to work for them and got straight in. I did a week's training at the start of my employment in Leeds, which was great and I loved. Sadly the buck stopped when I got back. It became apparent that I was headhunter to manage a store where nobody could be promoted either because they didn't want to take the ridiculous amount of pressure thrown at them, or because they weren't at the standard the manager wanted. It became apparent that infighting was widespread through the store, with most people involved at some level. Got to the level where I was hearing about other staff members STDs and being asked if I had been fired 'because so and so said' on a weekly basis. The main store was closed while I was there, which meant even though I had been told I would be doing about 45+ hours, I ended up doing about 26/28. I would understand this but the alleged construction of the new cafe kept being pushed back further and further, which dented the income my family relied on considerably. The biggest issue by far however, was the training or lack of. I received sporadic, minimalistic training on my job, with monthly 'catch up sessions' to ask how I was doing as a follow up. Whenever I struggled with something, I was talked about behind my back and then talked to like an idiot, and rarely shown how to correct my mistakes. It honestly seemed like nobody could be bothered to train me. I was 'helped' at one point by being told that I could take a voluntary demotion because the manager believed that the fact a member of my family was terminally ill meant I couldn't do my job correctly, and continually told me 'it'd just be til your home situation improves' (evidently no regard for the definition of terminal.) ended up feeling like I couldn't say or complain about anything for the knowledge that it just didn't make any difference. many other staff members were very disgruntled or leaving there and the morale is really poor to say the least. I had tried to address this issue and make the environment better for staff, but it got swept under the rug every time. Sadly most of the staff that were awesome and actually made the job fantastic are seeking employment elsewhere, which speaks volumes.
I have no personal issues with the staff there and hold no grudges. I even still hold a high degree of respect for the manager still, but I would say to anyone thinking of a job here; consider it very carefully. It's not all it seems and unless you're very good at blending in to this environment, I'd avoid this.
