1. Salaried management is a world of difference from hourly. I expected to put in more hours and have more responsibility, but the crazy amount of tasks I'm supposed to perform with a small amount of team members is a constant source of stress.
2. The pay for team members is terrible. It's difficult to motivate 1 person to do the job that 3 people used to do (which is the way things are these days) when you only pay the 1 person minimum wage or slightly above.
3. When you are salaried, things like "mandatory 6 day weeks until further notice" or 12-14 hour shifts are commonplace. Heaven help you if the market director/GVP/or a member of the Meijer family is coming for a store visit. Plan on an 18 hour day the day before they come and a few hours sleep before coming back in for another long day while you wait for their arrival. Given the amount of hours I'm working, I make less money per hour than I did when I was hourly, and back then they actually had to pay me for the overtime.
4. Speaking of management visits.. I'm sure it's like this for all retailers, but I'm sick of rushing around and trying to clean things up to put on a show for upper management. We've got problems that need fixing, but it's never going to get addressed if we keep putting on a show for upper management when they come visit and then let things go down the toilet again once they are gone.
5. I could go on and on. If you could take one thing away from this review, it is to stay in hourly management unless you are single and have no desire to spend time with anyone outside of work. The extra salary does not make up for the lost time, and when you figure in the hours you are working, you are actually making less than the hourly people.
