Follett Higher Education Group Reviews

Former Employee – worked at Follett Higher Education Group full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – Some very good people trying hard. Some of the Mangers who came up through the ranks in Follett loved the company. Those who had transferred from other companies and industries floundered.

Cons – They react harshly to dishonesty not so much to the guilty but those who remain after the guilty are gone. Even as we sold a high priced, easy to shoplift product in a high crime, impoverished neighborhood, in 2.5 years they never paid for anti-theft cameras. They did, after we busted several people for stealing and had high shrink, start auditing the hell out of our store, making my life hell and disrespecting me. I resigned rather than put up with it. Training program is long-distance, heavy on phone calls and powerpoints, low on help.

Advice to Senior Management – If you can pay for Loss Prevention and auditors to regularly visit the stores, you can pay for in-person training in the store and all the necessary equipment.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at Follett Higher Education Group part-time

Pros – Interesting customer relations. Great direct managers. Flexible hours for student workers. Friendly staff. This is just one store. Others may be better. Also I think staff has changed.

Cons – Nepotism, lying among higher mgt made life miserable. Chaotic organization. Constantly changing company policies, etc. = irate customers.

Advice to Senior Management – Be fair, listen, pay attn to the staff (good and bad). Make it easier for direct mgt to fire horrible staff. Just because employees aren't hanging out after hours with mgt doesn't mean they aren't worthy.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Follett Higher Education Group full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – Relaxed work environment.
Higher level employees have a mentorship mentality.
Company routinely monitors industry pay scales and adjusts them accordingly.

Cons – Limited opportunities for advancement.
Industry is somewhat at the mercy of the academic field.
Pays below industry standard.

Advice to Senior Management – Management needs to be more aware of the industry pay standards to attract better candidates to open positions.
Given the growth of computer products and software and the volume of Follett stores, management should invest in more buyers/planners for those product categories.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Follett Higher Education Group full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – Good benefits, great relationships with other store managers.

Cons – Follett Values are talked about more than they are demonstrated, especially by upper management. Lack of important communication between home office and field. Too much irrelevant communication posted repeatedly and in multiple venues. Lack of retention of good managers.

Advice to Senior Management – Recognize more of your field associates and I don't mean with more Subway gift cards.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Follett Higher Education Group full-time for less than a year

Pros – Store is located on campus, lots of hours to work and work is amongst the easiest I've ever done and get to work with a lot of people my age.

Cons – Management/supervisors are rude and are micromanaged like crazy. There is absolutely NO TRAINING WHAT-SO-EVER!!! My direct supervisor is very rude and doesn't care about what anyone says regardless of who it is whether they are an employee or customer. Was hired with about 4-5 other people and within 2 weeks they were all gone.

Advice to Senior Management – Actually hire management who actually care about not only their customers but their employees as well. That means actually show respect to people. Also actually train employee's so they can effectively perform their jobs properly.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Follett Higher Education Group part-time for more than 3 years

Pros – Flexible work schedules for students. During the peak work period you can get plenty of hours. Variety of work opportunities throughout the store and a lot of different training available.

Cons – A lot of monotonous work that is not needed. They would rather have a lot of people doing redundant work rather than fix the system to make it more efficient. Difficult to get the management to work smarter not harder because they are so swamped with paper work and management. There simply isn't enough communication between workers and management.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Follett Higher Education Group part-time for less than a year

Pros – Casual dress is allowed i.e. jeans, hoodies, khakis, trendy sneakers.
Simple work that does not require a lot of analyzing and premeditation.
Ability to help and relate to customers one-on-one makes job more enjoyable for social people.

Cons – Job could become mundane and tedious if not a social person who enjoys talking to new people.
Hard to stand out with job performance because job requires easy, monotonous work done the same.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Follett Higher Education Group full-time

Pros – Friendly work environment, most of the people I work with are great.

Cons – Pay is terrible; during rush it can be extremely overwhelming. Dealing with customers can be horrible at times as they blame the bookstore because of high prices. The pay is extremely poor especially for the amount of work that needs to be put in the bookstore before every rush. Some managers (mostly upper management) do not have any compassion whatsoever. Company "values" associates yet compensation does little to prove that.

Advice to Senior Management – Pay definitely needs to be improved.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Follett Higher Education Group part-time for less than a year

Pros – helping students and professors with questions and concerns

Cons – having to deal with customers who expect you to know everything that is on their mind.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Follett Higher Education Group part-time for more than 3 years

Pros – The hours were flexible and got to work in every department

Cons – Hated the management team, there is never a equal opportunity.

Advice to Senior Management – Hire efficient managers.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company