When I started with this company it was great. I was very excited about the potential of the company and the growth that they would likely experience. Over the past year or two things have really changed in this company...
1) This company used to be very people focused and they would make sure they were constantly developing people but recently the focus has shifted to profit. I understand that you need to make money to exist but the people need to make the money for you. The people first mentality that they talk about in orientation is no longer their motto.
2) A few years back they changed the name of the home office to the support center. They say they did this so it was clear that their role was to support the shops. This used to be true, but not anymore. I currently have several open work orders with the IT department that haven't been answered. The payroll department can't seem to pay people right and as a results, I have lost a great member of my staff. When I asked them what happened they just say there was a mistake, Nearly every payday someone comes to me and says they didn't get paid right even though they clocked in and out for all of their hours. The accounting department is pretty much non-existent as far as support goes. I always have to fear looking at my P&L because even though I know exactly what my numbers are, they always end up being different. Usually it's something that never got charged when it should have or a simple accounting error.
3) More about what I mentioned above with accounting, they will tell you that it's too late to change anything once they close the books on a fiscal period, even if it was their mistake. Guess where 50% of your bonus comes from? You got it. They just took a big chunk of that. The values that all shop level employees are supposed to follow are NOT the values of upper management or the support center staff.
4) This is probably my biggest con. I've consistently performed at a high level in this company and provide solid results even when the rest of the market may be struggling. Despite all of this, I am constantly pushed around and told different things about why I haven't received a promotion. I'd totally understand if this was something related to my performance but I have never been told that it was so I find it hard to believe that would be why. I watched other people come into this company and get promoted with months and they didn't even have the results I did to back it up. Is that really fair? I even just recently accepted a new temporary position by replying to the job offer saying "I accept". Guess what? A few days later they changed their minds. Is this even legal?
5) The standard at Potbelly is to be 110% staffed. Meaning if someone calls off for their shift, you will still be okay. In order to hit the labor budget you are given, this isn't possible very often. If your shop is down in sales to what was budgeted, they still expect you to run the same numbers for labor. This can make it even more challenging since building sales requires some labor.
6) They will tell you all sorts of great things about how you will work close to home, have a great quality of life, etc. If you are in management, this may hold true for some but it's certainly not the norm. They will move you to any location, at any time, without asking for your input. They will refer to the value of Teamwork to make you feel bad about saying anything against it. It doesn't matter that you have to drive 45 minutes each way and work a 10-11 hour day, every day. In most cases, there would be no additional compensation for this.
