Working at Michaels Arts & Crafts — Reviews by Employees

First of all, I want to say this for the benefit of anyone reading this thinking about employment in a Micheals store in Canada: I think that there is quite a large disconnect between the stores in the States and Canada.

Having been a Micheals employee at the location I have since it opened, I have to say that it has improved drastically over the four years it has been open. When we first opened, granted, most of us were new, had never worked for the company, and many were coming from sectors outside of retail, including myself.

I'll hit on the areas that we rate on briefly:

Pay - About what you would expect in retail. Your mileage with increases will vary with your store manager, since its at their discretion. Mine has always done much more than he had to in that regards, so I can't say any negatives, but the increases are usually no more than 10 cents at a time.

Respect - Whilst there have been a couple bouts of drama in my store, it has usually been resolved in a pretty expedient and careful manner and while I don't always agree with the resolutions, I can generally understand the reasons behind them. The store manager and district manager are always pretty helpful when things do come up. The customers at my store generally range from indifferent to pleasant s while theres a lot more indifferent than pleasant, I can appreciate that they're not the screaming in your face type some stores get.

Benefits - Non-existent, unless you're full time. I really think this is somewheres the company as a whole could improved. I don't expect full health insurance or something, but its the part-timers that often need the assistance more than the full-timers anyways, as they aren't going to be making the money.

Job Security - Mileage varies greatly here. This is basically a store level quality. My store has retained quite a few good and pleasant people to work with over the years, but even within the city I hear the turnaround is much worse at the higher volume store. If you're looking for job security, consider the lower volume stores in the area. It'll probably help your sanity too.

Work/Life Balance - Not much to say here. The store manager has gone out on a limb to make sure that everything is within my personal availablility.

Career Potential/Growth - Another milage may vary. This really -really- depends on your Store Manager and District Manager, considering how ambitious you are. I've been offered up for promotions a couple times without even having to seek them out, however, so I cannot complain personally.

Co-worker Competence - This one is a bit of a pickle. In a retail environment there is always going to be some kids (and adults) whom are frankly just doing a minimal job for a minimal paycheque and it shows. But the truly poor ones have always been given the chance to improve and tossed if they don't, and there's been a genuine effort on the SM's part that I appreciate, to keep the good ones.

Work Environment: Compared to past jobs, Micheals has been relatively stress free. Not to say that it doesn't have its stressful moments, and staff cutbacks since the company's acquisition some years back have made things more difficult than they have to be, as large workloads get piled on smaller amounts of people.

Bottom line: Due to the way the company is stuctured, your experience at Micheals can vary - both as a customer and as an employee. A lot more power is given to stores and districts as opposed to the more "from on high" approach of Wal-Mart or Loblaws. This can be a blessing or a curse. In my case at the store I work at, it has been a blessing.

Areas/Suggestions for Improvements: Offer viable, reduced version of benefits for part time employees. Give stores larger payrolls to better be able to meet increasing demands of Price Changes. POG Sets, and Loss Prevention targets. Increase the budget for merit increases. Review merit increases at the company level to provide a second sober thought about merit increases. Allow managers to offer off-cycle merit increases for valued employees.

Having worked at many jobs in many states, my time at Michaels has been one of my best experiences. Are they perfect? No, but I am fortunate enough to work at a location where 99.9% of the employees, including the management, are good people to work with. That makes a world of difference in the working environment. I also very much enjoy the work my position entails. As long as all that remains the same, I look forward to many years here.

It's not a bad job. everyone complains about working there. the only thing is the cut hours but, that's all because the economy is terrible. i love working this job, you don't get out late, i don't have issues since i'm a student with my studies. i can still have time for family, school, church, and friends. it's not bad. i like my co-workers, sure, somedays i about want to choke someone but, everyone has those days. at least i have a job, i can say that much. and i enjoy my job.

The company as a whole needs some major work. If you have a good management team, like I do ,they understand that and will do what they can to work with you and your famiies. Corprate needs to stop and look at all their changes, instead of makeing change after change. I spend alot of wasted time redoing things that had they thought about they never would of had us do. They want us to work smart, help the customers, and stay within our hours. Well I'm sorry Michaels I'm only human and can't do it all like you seem to except. My family is my first and foremost priority and when I started you agreed, however your bottom line seems to have replaced that work ethic. It's a shame because this company has alot of great customers and alot of awsome employees and you don't seems to look up from your spread sheets long enough to notice.Well I can say this if you don't start listening to your employees, you better start listening to your customers. They have noticed the change and are make their points. It's time to start reading those CRI comments because they all are telling you whats wrong. Now the true question is do you care enough about this company to do what needs to be done? In case you don't know what that is let me suggest looking into the amount of hours assigned to a store, training for all employees, and that infraction policy that makes it very hard to help the customers and suggest buddy items when you need to leave in 2 minutes or be fired. I joined this company 5 years ago and have held 4 postions in that time. I love my job,my co-workers, and even my DM. I'm sorry to that I can't say the same for the people who get to make the policies and payroll. I'd like to see you all come on down and try this end for a week. I promise it will be a eye opener for you.

The pay in the Michaels corperation could be better for those who actuall do there job well. Michaels is an unusual job as far as the products you are selling. To do the job well you must be able to know the products and explain in great detail how to use them. Therefore you must have some drive, ambition and be a litttle self motivated to do this job correctly. Unfortunatly the payscale does not allow for hires that meet any of this criteria. Lack of these abilities leads to customer dissatisfaction and cranky, irratable and rude costomers. The lack of any sort of motivation on some cowrokers part and their desire to do nothing more than breath the air sorrrounding them leaves the good emploies unhappy and over worked. I had the feeling that it is easier for the store manager to over look the slacker because the make now waves with the managment. The good worker has ambition and back bone enough to express their oppinion. This makes wave with the manager and assistant manager of the store. Because these two women still have not out grown their High School catty, clicky and gossopy stage, making waves and telling the truth herts there pride and feelings. The take it personaly and seek their revinge in small petty ways. Unfortunatly it all reflects in the quality of the overall store. Respect is nill since the new store opened and the Assistant manager moved into the management position. The store manager as I said before along with the assistant manager Are clickish and gossopy. The question other emploies and seek out information to gossop about. She has created her own little girls club by selecting her management team of like minded and inexpranced individules. There is never the slightes appreation for a job well done but always a quick verbal beat down if things are not as the think they should be. It does not matter what the cercumstances are they will not take the time to find out. They just jump on it and chew. Repromands are given freely on the floor and in front of costomers. Those who do not do there job are allowed to slide and those who take up there slack are repromanded if because of there work load can not complete the slackers work. As far as benifits are concerned you are better of to save your money, because the little coveriage you get from the insurance far undewweighs the cost at the office. Sick and personal days Do not take it! If you have a life or death sergery, know that the time off you take for the 6 weeks recovery will be brought up in your review as too much time off. In fact if the store is slow and they ask for volenteers to go home Do Not Volenterer. It will be held aghenst you in reviews and in the very slim chance you may have for raises or promotions. Trust in their emploies is nill. I have worked in retail for years and can understand some mistrust, but Michaels takes it to extream. Michaels has a 100% tolerance to shoplifters. It is accepted and allowed. Because of this I almost believe costomers feel it is incouraged. Come on Michaels Prosacute those low lifes. After all when costomers are allowed to steel it is coming out of my pocket in the long run. The funniest thing is, that costomer that is walking out with a pocket or bag full of unpaid merchendise is the same one screeming at you about the fact that they cant use two 40% off coupons. But have heart if they scream loud enouh they will get what they want. Further undermining any respect or kindness we could hope for from the costomers. What is the Coupon police this month, this week, TODAY? Job Security I addressed above with Do Not Use Any Benefit Time Offerd You! Life balance. Be there for your scheduled 3-4 hour shift which could be 1-3 days a week for you minimum wage. {Hay I almost coverd the gass it takes to get me to and from work.} Hope to not get sent home when it is slow, because remember you will no longer volenteer. But hay if some one else is niave enough to call in you better show up for there shift or your hours will be cut more. Potintial growth it non existant. You are not a part of the girl club so the store manager would rather have someone in the position that you have been doing with out a management wage that has never had any experance at it at all. Even though the inexperance person doesn't even want the job or like the job. She just needed a bit more money and the manager sinsed she was the type of person that would not make any waves. Nope unless you are in that High School Girls Club you have reached your glass celing at this Indiana Michaels. The location are great. No matter which store. I tend to do my shopping however at the North location. The staff is friendlier. I think because although many of the problems that effect the emploies attatude in the last couple of years are at the corprate level, individual store management has distroied the South stores over all comfert and feel. The emploies are so unhappy that you feel it in the air. Several costomers have approache me out side the store and asked me what has happened to the store. They feel that they are a burdon to the few staff members that they can find to help them. This is mainly because they have cut staff, combined work loads and chastise openly on the floor anyone who does not achieve what they are expecting. They put alot of pressure one the emploies to do the work that it took two or three people to do three years ago. The drive to not be repromanded publicly drives the emploie to neglect the costomers so the can get that work list complete. As far as compatence ot the co workers. If you do not do any crafting. If you have no desire to do any crafting. If you do not want to learn anything about the products. If you do not want to work. If your only desire is to stay home watch your TV and pet you cat, DO that. You Have No Business Working There. If you do not want to do anything other than breat quit! Much more to say!

Apparently, Michael's has been really working on profitability lately, with the corporate structure making lots of changes, and it resonates downward to all of us at the store level for sure. Apparently, instead of focusing on increasing customers or expanding business (to be fair, this is done to a small extent, but with no eyes toward advertising beyond word-of-mouth), Michael's is increasing profit margins by cutting expenses primarily. The pay-scale did not adjust upward when minimum wage was adjusted, which was disappointing...I'm certain I could go work at a Little Ceasar's and make pretty close to the same amount of money. Further, they increase the workload for everyone who works there on an almost weekly basis. We get more and more things to do, more freight to put out in fewer and fewer man-hours. Corporate policy encourages a high turnover rate to keep wages low, and last year, they actually changed the yearly wage increase policy to save a quick buck, knowing that many employees would quit before they got another raise. The ironic thing is that nothing is done to reduce external theft.. The so-called Loss Prevention team refused to authorize our store to even call the police with respect to a $1500 theft, but they have placed a lock on the trash compactor so that no employee can throw anything away, ostensibly to keep burglars out, but I'm fairly certain it's actually to keep employees from throwing away merchandise that could be sold.

Local management is good, and many of my coworkers are excellent, exemplary employees, though finding new, competent people is difficult, given the pay-scale. While my store is great, I worry about the retailer as a whole, given that the whole thing will come tumbling down if they destroy the lower levels from within. CEOs don't make sales, Sales Associates do, and without them, how do we expect to make money? Wal-mart may not need someone to explain the products, but how many people know what kind of glue you can use on glass and stone? Or what color a mat should be around a photo of your deceased grandmother? Or how to outwit a woman who is trying to trick a cashier into letting them use fifty coupons?

I hope that most companies still understand that people are their most valuable asset, but Michael's, at a corporate level, is losing that.

I can only really talk about the Michaels store on Ina and Thornydale, as that was the one I worked at. I did send in an application to the store on Oracle, but was denied because I wasn't mean enough (The majority of the associates really are just awful and rude at the Oracle store). I really miss working here very much. Though I got no hours, no benefits, and almost no pay, I felt fulfilled working there.

Pay: 2 (7/10)
Pretty bad on all levels, but it was always enough to pay my bills. Raises happened on or around the anniversary of your hire date, and they weren't very big raises. Still, getting something is always better than getting nothing. I believe that is true for all jobs, however. I guess I can put working hours here. The current week's workable hours are based on the last week's sales. This kind of sucks a lot, as there is an ad every other week. So, during the sales week, the store is understaffed (based on poor monetary performance the week before) and the non-sales week is overstaffed (based on the excellent monetary performance the week prior).

Work/Life Balance: 4 (9/10)
Pretty good, actually. Especially if your rank is lower than Lead Sales Associate. It is almost impossible to take work home with you.

Respect: 3 (8/10)
It you know what you are doing, and also treat others (mainly the managers and the FES) with respect, you will be treated very well. Trustworthiness also bestows you with a great amount of respect.

Career Potential/Growth: -3 (2/10)
It doesn't really exist. From what I have seen, Michaels generally does not promote from within. It does happen sometimes, but it is rare. During my four years at Michaels, I had seen only two people get fired. Everyone else who left did so by quitting.

Benefits: -3 (2/10)
They are available to everyone, if you are willing to pay for them. Signing up for benefits, and maintaining them, is close to impossible for a part time worker, especially since you are usually only paid slightly more than minimum wage.

Location: 3 (8/10)
It really depends on which of the four stores you work at, and whether or not you drive. Every store is reachable by the via the city bus, except for Ina or Sundays. All four stores in very close proximity to a variety of fast food restaurants, so lunch is usually taken care of.

Job Security: 4 (9/10)
Very, very good. It takes a lot for a person to be fired. At least, it did at my store. Pretty much the only way to leave is to quit, which a few people do.

Co-Worker Competence: 2 (7/10)
New hires are not good at their jobs... yet. The same is true everywhere. But, some of them refuse to learn, and stay almost useless during their while time there. It's not very hard to learn how to do anything. It takes maybe a week to learn the basics of the job.

Work Environment: 2 (8/10)
Really very good, actually. To be honest, it can get somewhat stressful during the peak season. However, that is to be expected, considering the number of customers that visiting the store between mid-October and mid-February. The rest of the year is rather relaxed. Besides manning a cash register, slamming freight (stocking) and go-backs (restocking) are what make up the average workday. Of course, there are also special events, which the customers and associates all enjoy immensely.

Professionalism: 3 (8/10) (Not an official scoring metric)
I know this site doesn't have a measurement for rating professionalism, but it should. Therefore, I am adding it here, and including it in my overall score (I wanted to have a x/100 score, honestly). The associates are only truly professional when the District Manager visits. While I was working there, we had quite a few visits, most, almost all, of which we passed spectacularly. Of course, being courteous to the customers is a key element of being professional, and I have seen and heard a manager (who is no longer a manager) being quite rude to (primarily female) customers (and belittling the associates and other managers in the same breath). Needless to say, that particular person is no longer a manager, especially after a couple of the female associates complained to one of the managers about his behavior.

Overall Score: 18 (68/100)
Looking the scores and assessments as I wrote this, I thought I was being much harsher on Michaels than I intended to be. Turns out, I gave them a rather high score (for me, at least). I always thought that Michaels was a great place to work, even with its downsides. I made many wonderful friends while working there. I would go back in a heartbeat, if I were able to. However, my costs of living have increased significantly just before and slightly more since leaving Michaels, so I would no longer be able to support myself there. Luckily, I left on great terms.

The corporate office does not allow enough workers to run the store without stressing the workers---especially the cashiers=======Customers constantly complain about waiting in hug line with only 2 cashiers. Customers even call on their cell phone while on line asking supervisor/manager to open more registers which is impossible.

I was hired as a seasonal employee and have now been hired as a part time sales associate. I really like working there. Sure some of the employees are cliquey but honestly, I think anywhere you have a bunch of people, esp women, it happens. The pay kind of sucks, but I like the environment, feel there will be opportunities to grow with the company, and think the management is pretty respectful and responsive.

None of my co-workers really care about the store. I understand their is a I in michaels but we don't really work as a team.