Main Office is Run Like a Tiny Company w/o a Defined Culture
Pros
Trader Joe's continues to grow - somehow (see cons) Good benefits Good brand Customers are happy Good food Annual party is fun
Cons
* No defined culture. Anyone can behave anyway they want. Several law suits against TJ as a result of the former loose cannon Controller. Her boss, the COO, let her ruin peoples life's / careers due to her outbursts and intimidation tactics. Her staff won't even participate in meeting discussions, afraid they will get fired if they speak up. * IT is a mess and the last priority for TJ. No disaster recovery, all software is out of version, and the IT VP is creating a smoke and mirror environment where everyone is frightened and knows he says one thing and does another. Very calculated killer, and willing to do anything to make himself look better while crushing others. * Dan walks around the open / cubical environment with his hands in his pockets, finds 2 people discussing an important issue and says "Do you know why conference rooms were invented?" * Office furniture is old, falling apart and chairs are back killers and dust is built up every where creating an unhealthy environment * Conference rooms on the executive side are "unaccessible" for meetings because they are next to the executives - and there are not enough conference rooms. Lots of meetings are held outside. If the TJ University is in session, then there is no where to meet. * Scheduling Conf rooms is straight out of the 1950's. No integration with Outlook, per Dan. A binder with 3 months worth of dates for all the rooms is kept in the lobby. A complete waste of time and inefficient for all involved, again, upper management's head in the clouds not caring about how this impacts productivity. * TJ prides itself on not adding headcount, but adding more work to the people. This creates a lopsided work/life balance, frustration and a feeling of upper management being out of touch. * Complacency is rampant. No one cares, no one wants to give any suggestions, and most of the people have been employed for 20+ years and are so out of touch with the outside world, it is a throw back in time. * Annual "anonymous" gallop survey for the main office not favorable. Dan called all Managers together and told them "If you don't like it hear, the door is over there, go ahead and leave now". Very telling - and self describes the culture Dan and his inner circle create.