Michaels reviews

I had 10 years with Michaels and poor communication from cooperate down was the worst. Many times rolling out new programs before we have all the information. They will start so many new programs and initiatives at the same time and then wonder why they aren't working or why they were not executed correctly. Many of these were just quickly thought up to try and generate more business within the stores. Some times less is more and learning that less well can help you see the numbers you seek. Payroll - there is none. Many people who do not get paid nearly what they should are asked to do the work of 2 to 3 people. You see the value and knowledge that people you interview or currently work for you have but your hands are tied to a pay scale that is below the industry standard. Turn over is huge because of this and the lack of hours. Completely understandable. You hire someone PT with open availability and a month later they come back to you with very limited availability because they got a second job at more pay/hours and now you get the scraps and are forced to hire another. Michaels is a great place to work (non-management) for those that don't need to rely on a steady income and want REALLY pt. For managers you will be asked to do a lot which is expected of a manager but Michaels can take it to a whole new level. There is no payroll for training ( you will need to cut it from somewhere else), BOPIS (buy on line pick up in store orders), daily ad sets (Sunday sets are the only ones funded) and many times under funded for major resets within the store. You need to be very organized and a planner if you are not you will sink very quickly. Much of your time is spent in the office planning all the tasks for the week ahead and for the day after your store walk, sorting/printing ad signs for the next week and for the multiple ones that come up daily (sometimes just a few sometimes over 60), writing a schedule and somehow trying to get full store coverage on barely there payroll, POG planning, new /initiative planning, looking at your Rewards percentages and who you will need to conversations with, looking at your VOC comments/numbers. All these tasks are fine and expected with the job but very difficult to get done in a decent time frame when back-up cashier, completing BOPIS and SFS orders and taking care of customers because your staff is already spread then. The higher ups that be all say "they understand" and they promote work/life balance but it is always followed up with here is a new program/reset and here is a list of last minute to do's to try and get more sales so the roll up is due by end of day today to show you have it done.

Negative Things 1. Underpaid: Very low salary/pay for a full time management position. Especially considering what is expected of the position. 2. Impractical Expectations: Workload does not make sense against what we're given to work with. Your always having to "make do", but your supervisors will be expecting these huge results. In many cases, you're made to be responsible for things you have almost no control over. 3. Skeleton Crew: This is a particularly stressful point for this position. The store is in many cases basically empty due to minimum payroll. The budget you're given often leaves room for nothing. As a result, often times, aside from a lone cashier (who may be peeved they didn't get many hours), you and maybe one other associate (the store manager, a sales associate, framer, etc.) are having to sprint around the store like a bat out of hell to do everything (the sole register back-up, answer customer phone calls, help custs on the floor, coordinate and plan company-mandated events, make time-sensitive business calls, verify in-stocks, be a loss prevention officer, recover the store, receive and send UPS shipments, fix malfunctioning computers, respond to/send emails, and on and on). All the while, the company pushes the idea that the customers should feel like we have a whole fleet of staff. This makes for an exhausting, and morale-killing day, particularly during busier times. Customers often identify this fault, voice it in colorful ways, and at some point, the blame will somehow fall on your shoulders. 4. Training/Development: You're might be given a crash course, but all-in-all, you're left to kind of "figure it out". Most everything I learned and accomplished was either by injecting my personal skill set, by trail-and-error, or by being strategically nosey. Mostly the latter. Opportunity/Corporate-to-Store Disconnect: At least at the store level, opportunities to grow or show what you're capable of are few and far between.There's almost no openness as to the potential career possibilities or avenues within the company. It almost appears hidden to the stores. Its easy to feel stuck, or that you've reached the a ceiling.