The work experience has been very good; the employee relations experience has been a disaster.
Pros
Co-workers are very nice and easy to work with. I have had the opportunity to learn a great deal about DIY home improvement - projects, tools, procedures, etc.
Cons
Menards management expects "Stepford Wives-like" behavior from employees. I am a firm believer that an employee has an obligation to do his job as the employer chooses. I also believe every employee has the right to question, in an non-challenging way, management. At Menards such questioning is viewed by management as "not being a Team player"; management feels threatened by it. Menards has what must be the most extensive Policies and Procedures system in corporate America. During orientation they teach new employees how to access and search these P&P's. But as it turns out, management really only invokes them when it is convenient for management. When an employee has the audacity to research a P&P and find that it disagrees with local management's opinion, that is viewed as wasting time and causes local management to become angry and defensive. Menards is a textbook example of top-down management style. All important decisions are made at corporate headquarters. Personnel motivation, from top to bottom, seems to be primarily by constant inspection, threats and, if necessary, intimidation. I have never seen local store management more motivated, concerned and just plain worried than when a corporate "Store Advisor" is visiting the store or when someone from corporate has come to do a "Department Inventory Audit". If even half this energy went into customer service, Menards would be the premier retailer in the nation. I have no information about the pay rates of management, but the pay scale for non-management employees is ridiculous and embarrassing. The system of "merit" pay increases is down right silly. After three months of employment, and every six months thereafter, each employee receives in the mail a "Team Member Pay Rate lncrease Merit Review Eligibility Notice". If the employee chooses to pursue his or her pay rate increase, they must: 1) Schedule, take and pass a written competency test administered by computer, 2) Complete and submit the Merit Review Eligibility Notice to their department manager, 3) Meet with their department manager for an assessment of their work performance and get approval from the department manager for their pay rate increase, 4) Meet with the store's General Manager and Human Resource Coordinator for a further assessment of their work performance, and get approval from the General Manager for their pay rate increase. Assuming the employee successfully passes through this gauntlet, THEY RECEIVE A PAY RATE INCREASE OF ... WAIT FOR IT ... TEN CENTS PER HOUR. This never changes, no matter how long you work for Menards, no matter if you are the very best employee in the store or you work so slowly it requires time lapse photography to verify you are moving at all. Each and every non-management employee receives, every six months, the "opportunity" to earn an additional ten cents per hour.
