Office Depot reviews

Management tends to be the bottom of the barrel

Senior management is very disorganized, lacks divisional communication, and is out of touch with the goings-on in the stores, from the Regional Managers and HR Managers to the District Managers. The HR managers are gender biased, and prefer to promote more females for 'diversity' but are adversely impacting males in a vauge attempt to 'level the playing field', which exposes them to litigation. Loss Prevention District Managers seem to be the most supportive and hardest working, but even they are subjected to the cut backs and are always at odds with District/Regional Managers. Too many failed programs and projects like 'project pearl' and 'streamline' that don't have a chance at success without proper staffing. Cut backs are at an all time high, with bare bones crews in stores. Most stores I've worked at have at any time 2-3 people on staff max at any given time. Back in 2005 a store that had 700 employee hours now is budgeted with <500 but are expected to do more with less (many more projects and higher sales goals). Usually 1 manager and 2 associates, both of which are on register and the other at the front door as the 'x-pert' (another failed program). District Managers do not support, at least in the LA/San Gabriel Valley area, they micro manage and ask stores to report sales by the hour and call up managers to chew them out if warranty sales aren't at their unrealistic goals. The company seems to promote not on skills, abilities or education, but who ever kisses up the most to the District Manager or Regional Manager (retail politics at its finest). Managers get promoted from stores that produce lack luster results. The Store Management training program is a failure at best, and is only there to give the appearance of any sort of real 'career' development. They tend to hire managers who don't really understand the business - anywhere from Wal Mart, Toys R' Us or Lowes - but don't get me wrong, those are great companies and all. But just because they were a 'manager' somewhere else and failed miserably at it, doesn't mean they will come to OD and work wonders all of a sudden. The only real way I've seen people get promoted over the years are if you leave the company and return at a higher salary/position. A real downside for the honest, career minded person but rewards the back stabbers and the negligent.