Too many "new, absolute priority" programs, unrealistic expectations, not a clue about day-to-day work environment.
Pros
Co-workers can be the best part; I have worked with some of these people for many years, and call them friends as well as associates. There are many people who really care about thier job, the work they produce, and the customers. And like me, they used to care about the company. (see cons for more) Depending on the store manager, the flexibility of hours can be wonderful. 8 am-10pm, Sun-Sat offers alot of time options. Just know that as a new-hire you will most likely be covering nights and weekends. For a cashier, there is a limited amount of job variety because you are sort of tied to a checkstand, but if you ask and show initiative, these tasks do expand. As a supervisor, I am rarely bored. So many different things to do, so little time to do them in. I'd say before you choose a specific store to apply at, ask a few associates about the store manager and assistant manager. These two people, especially the store manager, make the difference in whether your job will be enjoyable or miserable.
Cons
So many more cons today than there were a few years ago. In the PROS section I wrote, "And like me, they used to care about the company. I say used to, because very few of us care anymore. We are glad to have jobs, but have seen this company change so drastically in the past several years, and not in a good way, that it has become almost impossible to care. For a lot of us, this is what makes the day-to-day so difficult." Every day is a challange. Long-time employees who used to take pride in their area of the store, the area we were in charge of, are embarrassed by what the customers are encountering now. District and Corporate management does not have a clue! The top management at Rite Aid has become so focused on creating "new" programs that they have lost total sight of the stores and have absolutely no idea what is really needed. The Wellness + program has some great things attached to it; you get the sale prices and people like the +UP coupons, but they HATE having to sign up for a card to get these sale prices. And the employees hate the constant numbers being sent out with CAPITAL LETTER rants about how many customers are making purchases without a Wellness card being swiped. Never a positive, always a criticism. The G.E.T. program................constant notices reminding us to "Greet, Engage, and Thank the customer. This would not be a bad concept, but if senior management is in the store and you are not using the exact script they have chosen (Welcome to Rite Aid, Thank you for shopping at Rite Aid, Please come again), you are not following G.E.T and can be written up for it. Maybe trust the employees to handle G.E.T. in our own fashion (Hi, nice to see you again, Thanks, have a good day, See you next time)? But to this new Rite Aid, exact words are the program, and exact words it must be. As a supervisor, what I see most is the lack of focus on what needs to be done at store level, and a total lack of understanding about the time constraints we are facing. There is a serious need for a reality check. What used to be priorities; getting the freight out, keeping the store clean, having enough cashiers to help the customers and let management do their jobs have given way to meeting the plan, having the highest new-program numbers, and the "top priority" of the day. Every day that I walk in the door, I am told to "work on this; it is the most important thing, it has to be done". The DM has called and said this....today. Yesterday the DM called and it was this other thing. And I look around at my unfinished work, and my messy store, and my overworked, discouraged employees, and I know that the joy has gone out of Rite Aid. It makes me sad. more cons: The pay is bad; it starts low and ther is an automatic 2% raise each year. We do a self/manager appraisal every year, but they are pointless. Good or bad, it's 2%. The hours can suck. 8 am-10pm (which translates to anywhere from 5am-11pm), Sun-Sat is a lot of hours to be open. We are open 365 days a year, including Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, and Christmas. For a company that claims to value its associates so much, this is a bad situation. Again, it didn't used to be like this. Only in the past 5 years or so has the total greed taken over on the holidays. We used to close on Thanksgiving and Christmas, and close at 5 on Christmas Eve; now the hours don't really change at all. A bad store manager is a long-term bad store manager. Short of getting caught stealing, they are around for years. I've been through good and bad, and the bad are getting more common. Short work days, chatting on the phone all day, playing favorites with associates and schedules,kissing up to the DMs.......I unfortunately am seeing it all these days, every day.
