Lot's of responsibility - no payroll hours to complete effectively.
Pros
Great employee discount on product as well as salon services. Wonderful product lines to work with. Great vendor relationships cultivated during my employment here. The company is growing rapidly. New stores open often so there is room for advancement for those who want it. More full-time, non-management positions available than when I first started with the company. Regular customers are wonderful, and very rewarding to work with. Many fun experiences doing unique events, such as photo shoot events.
Cons
Upper management is not always aware of activities that go on in the store. People who are unqualified or undeserving of promotions get them often (at least in my district). Being a prestige manager I always feel spread thin. Payroll hours are a low commodity. At times I will be the only person to cover the prestige section. I hardly ever have overlap with my staff. It's nearly impossible to coach and develop a team when you are never scheduled with them! We are held accountable to extensive appointment goals for corporate mini and mega events, high sales goals, as well as managing small boutique brands within our department. All of these things would be so much easier to accomplish regularly with consistent time and overlap with prestige staff. You're basically relying on the other managers in the store to follow up with your associates at all times. This can be difficult, as other managers have their own responsibilities to fulfill and may not always be consistent about following up with the prestige staff. Another problem is that when new hires are brought on board, there is little to no time to train them. Basically, when I have to hire a new person for my department, I look for somebody who already has artistry experience as well as experience with multiple brands we sell, for the simple fact that I know that I might have one shift to train them on everything. Training on prestige brands is only offered to the prestige staff. Cashiers, task, and salon are never included in these trainings. I think this is a huge mistake on Ulta's part, because it often times makes us look like we don't know what we're talking about. And again, because I have no overlap with my staff, after a training takes place I am rarely able to reinforce the new knowledge with them to ensure that my staff is 100% comfortable and confident. Ulta is very "event happy." Events should be rare and special. We have been over-saturated with events in my location, to the point where my staff is exhausted with bookings, and our clients are so used to coming back for "free events" they it's become exceedingly difficult to achieve appointment goals. Corporate, on more than one occasion, has had very poor communication when it comes to event planning. I have had instances where vendors have received a different date than us for a corporate event. I find this to be exceedingly unprofessional and difficult. You're making tons of money and you can't even be sure to proof-read a spreadsheet before you send it out? It doesn't make sense to me.
