From Ottawa, Ontario, Canada — 08/10/2010
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.
