Pluspunten
70 percent discount on and off shift Basic training from barista level is decent, however the need to have training over in Bristol/Eastleigh is a far way to go consider a more central training base moving forward. Area manager support can be great however this is dependent on who you have. A lot of managers are very like minded which leads to a decent cohort. Progression up to store manager level is quick, however from there it’s non existent. This is due to a large number of vacancies, which don’t get filled because the pay is so low for the hours. Recent team bonus schemes were fun however if your store is in the quiet list you didn’t stand a chance.
Minpunten
Stop using “anonymous” questionnaires as your feed back. No one is going to reply negatively to those in case it’s not anonymous. No one is going to directly reply to an email from their boss with issues are they. Look through sites like this and indeed to see the true reflection on your abilities as an employer. Barista to boardroom? Behave. Look at the current upper management and tell me this is still the mantra. It’s not. So don’t advertise as such. Career progression is quick to store manager level, but unless you have the joys of a busy store you may as well not exist. (Sales does not equate to a good manager) whilst we are discussing sales, stop comparing to two years ago. Stores are operating at a profit in general so be grateful that we’ve not gone under. At least give internal staff the chance to apply for the jobs you seem to handing out. Nepotism is in play to the finest degree. Oh and at least make the stores you give to those people accessible, imagine having an area manager who doesn’t live in proximity to stores. Reaction to the pandemic was laughable at best. I cannot stress this enough, have the nerve to send out emails with concern about health but then then enforce managers to release any staff currently within probation period despite them agreeing to be on temporary 0h contracts. These people agreed to not be paid but you still made us sacked them. This is another kicker, upon reopening woe betided you with you went 1/2 hours over your allocated during the eat out to help out scheme when you needed it. But will happily employ positions in head office on large salaries which at the time weren’t necessary. How does that look to us little folk? I’ll tell you, a kick in the teeth to the people who’ve made that money. Please please just support the teams at ground level. Stores are operating at the same levels as they were so why are allowed hours 30-40 % down on previous, without cleaners. This is an untold stress on the teams and the reason staff turnover is so high at the moment. Larger stores are given the luxury of a CSA which is legally meant to be extra help however you will be told to use less barista hours should be lucky to actually get one. So they actually don’t offer much more benefit. The team leader role was to be removed at the end of august, managers told in July but told to not inform anyone. “Trust through transparency” laughable. How this can be kept as a company ethic without being ironic is beyond me. This is a message directly to whoever sanctioned the Christmas message. How dare you. Seeing the managing director think it’s funny to drink a bottle of corona in his nice house while we’re slaving away, including Boxing Day(look at the post announcing we were open on Boxing Day to tell you customer opinion on that one). that wasn’t even remotely funny. Customers who we’ve become close to died from this. We couldn’t attend their funerals, or make them one last drink. But don’t worry higher up got a good kick out of a corona joke. This should be considered a prime example of how out of touch head office truly is now. I am also owed money from a bonus scheme which should’ve been paid in the February before the pandemic however the scheme we were in was suspended in the April. Due to their lack of response I haven’t received this money despite it being owed to me way before the pandemic hit and I ensured that my AM was aware significantly ahead of schedule. There is little to no point staffing your store up correctly because you’ll only have these members of staff removed and sent to other stores. This is an issue, if you operate on the bare minimum when the proverbial hits the fan, it will go everywhere. Like before support is key. However this is certainly lacked. Contract lengths have inexplicably been changed, anyone with on the floor experience would know that this means less employees which means it then becomes harder to cover holidays because there’s less staff. 0h contracts for students were removed in the same vein, news flash, they’re available during the busiest times of the year why wouldn’t you want a fully trained member of staff at the ready? Complaints: if a customer makes a complaint expect to hear about it almost immediately. It is very rare/doesn’t happen if you receive positive feedback. Whilst reading this you’re probably thinking well what if you just don’t have any. Fair point: but to exercise this point I have asked customers and created falsified great feedback and guess what. Not one iota has been sent through or discussed. You can feedback good news as well as berating is for bad.
