Hobby Lobby Reviews

Pros

The pay is much better than the average even for part time employees. Morale was always high, most people that I worked with loved coming to work, those that didn't never lasted long mostly because they are the chronically unemployable type. Generous vacation time too.
Employee discount was a nice little perk too!
Always have Sunday off.

Cons

I am still unclear if I had access to a 401k plan.
Despite the above average pay scale there was a glaring lack of merit raises, each time the company riased hourly wages everyone then made the same amount per hour and it stayed that way, no one ever got an extra raise or an annual raise. Only raises I got while there was when ever the company did a base rate raise.

Advice to Senior Management

Merit raises.
Make sure that employees have access to information about benefits or at least know who to direct them to for answers.
Lunch and breaks are MY time, when I am on lunch, DO NOT come and talk to me about work. If you have to interrupt my lunch, allow me to make up for the lost lunch time. Better yet, just respect the idea of me being OFF THE CLOCK and wait til I clock back in before you talk to me about whatever project you have for me.

Pros

The management staff communicates well. They work hard with employees and are clear and direct in expectations. Management remains positive with employee strengths and weakness.

Cons

There is no downside for a retail job. Hobby Lobby has a fair request for employees. You will definitely have to like retail to remain.

Advice to Senior Management

Lunch room chat from management should remain at professional distance. Lunch and breaks are a time for an employee to re-group and re-energize. When an upper management member -(Note: not store manager or asst. manager some other) comes in the break area and continues a work related conversation, the infringement becomes irritating. Because the job itself is THEIR life, the employee should not be viewed as immersed as his/her superior. Had I wanted a management job and that type of continued atmosphere in my personal space, I would have applied for that position.

Pros

Benefits? (but only if you are full time)

Cons

favortism run rampant here. They pay you well, but then they continually berate you. there is never enough time in the day to do everything, especially when they pull you out of your department to work in another department every time. Then they wonder why you haven't gotten anything done in your own department! The new manager is a control freak and LOVES gossip, while continuing to say that she doesn't want anyone to gossip!

Advice to Senior Management

Give people a chance and quit listening to the gossip. Try going directly to the person you want to know something about instead of asking others about you!

Pros

Great Employees who are dedicated to what they do and long term employees
Good Pay

Cons

Not really a Christian environment
Never enough hours to do all the projects, relays, entire aisle moves, frieght, seasonal sets, etc.
Payroll for store structured on a dollar ammount, not on hours budget like other retaillers meaning that many full timers only get 30 hours because they make a high hourly rate. part timers get 6, 10, maybe 12 hours. The rest of the burden falls on the store manager and co manager to complete whatever tasks are left over because they are the only salaried managers.
Stores are closed on sunday, but sometimes you still have to work
In one year, I got most Sundays, Thanksgiving, and Christmas off, however I only got one..yes one regular scheduled day off. Otherwise I worked 6 day weeks. Pretty much from Mid October through end of year, Store Mgr and Co Mgr pretty much work open to close. From Thanksgiving to Christmas, You go in at 7am and leave around 11pm EVERY DAY. Some nights, myself and Store mgr stayed later. I had to work one sunday during Christmas season with a 102 degree fever and was told I could leave early. I left at 5pm with everyone else. I was pretty much worthless that day.

Advice to Senior Management

Put more hours into the stores and use an hours budget vs a dollar budget on payroll. This would give more stability to your hourly team members. Cut back on the relays and projects. Visit the stores more often to take a pulse. When you visit once per year or so, it becomes a dog and pony show for a month before you visit. If you visit more frequently, you would see how the stores really operate.

Pros

Customers are usually very sweet
Great coworkers for the most part
Potlucks
Sundays off
Good full-time retail pay
Work environment is always presenting new things

Cons

Manual cash registers
Understaffed EVERY shift
Too much work to complete with not enough people or time
Closing shifts on truck days are impossibly understaffed
Managers feel the necessity to treat employees like scum because they are constantly treated badly by upper management
Two-faced managers
Far too much emphasis placed on achieving perfection when the emphasis SHOULD be on customer service and providing a positive environment
Manager's favorites and long-time employees get the more desirable hours, even if they are lazy and incompetent.
If you call out honestly sick (which I have done only twice in a year), they become very suspicious of you and guilt you over it.
NO recognition given for good work
Managers place impossible work loads on employees and embarrass them in front of customers
Managers gossip constantly about employees and other managers (where others can hear) but threaten to fire employees if they gossip "because we're a family here"
Life revolves around a sense of fear that an upper level management person will arrive because the focus is never what is being done right, but always the tiny nit-picky things that are HORRIBLY WRONG

Advice to Senior Management

Negative feedback does not motivate employees to stay with your company. Shift the focus to acknowledging and rewarding the positive things, and you might just get to keep your good employees.

Pros

Starting Pay, off Sundays(sometimes), dedicated employees

Cons

Where to start...

Payroll: The requirement of $12/hr has made most stores unable to achieve payroll without working their FTers under 30 hours a week and letting their PTers pick up the extra hours. On top of this you are required to complete massive relays with your limited staff. If it's not done on time, no big deal, just let our salary management work open to close all week, 14 hour shifts are the norm to spend time with your family right?

Conflicts between upper management: One week we are told to add fluff(greenery) and grapes to all of our tables and build displays on all drive aisle topcaps. The next week we get in trouble for overstocking our greenery and grapes and are told to have no displays because it too causes overstock. A month later the VP comes in and tells you to have more displays. This is one example of upper management not communicating or seeing eye to eye.

Never satisfied: You could run a beautiful store, all freight out and processed, great scores on all tests, increase in sales, make(or at least get close) in payroll, and RVP/VP will come in and beat you up for tape residue on fixtures and base boards that need painted(which is 75% of the store every quarter). Which also results in 70 hour weeks for management(or again blowing payroll)

Promotions: I read one review that talks about great opportunity to promote within at this company.. really? Co managers become store managers usually then they get fired or quit. The ones that stick around if they know someone can become DMs eventually. Assistant Managers used to could do the "Ladder program" to become a Co-Manager, that program has since been done with and Assistants are stuck at that position for life or until they find another job.

If you are single and have no need for anything in your life besides work and don't mind being constantly knit picked and never complimented then this is the job for you.

Advice to Senior Management

Read your own sign on the door of all of your stores ".. .to allow employees time for family and worship" and apply it to Management as well. That or please stop using God and the church for publicity and sales.

Pros

Pay is ok, but when you average per hour it is way below min wage.

Cons

Horrible hours. Most days worked open to close. I got to work by 7 a.m. and never left before 8 p.m it was usually at least 10. Only saw my kids awake on weekends.

Advice to Senior Management

David Green should do that show where the bosses go to work in there store. He would find out his company is nothing like he thinks it is. most managers can't go to church on sundays because they are either too tired or are at work.

Pros

Store hours favorable compared to other retail.

Cons

Made it known at hiring that I was looking for full time. Coming week scheduled for 17 hours.

Pros

We get a 15% discount!

Cons

You need to be a favorite to work at our store (blonds get all the things that they ask for and get special treatment).

Advice to Senior Management

Treat everyone with respect! Make your own evaluations of a person and there abilities dont count no someone elses!

Pros

Most Co-workers are great to be around.

Cons

Guilty before you can prove otherwise
Absolutly NO TRAINING
When redirection is given all negative no positives
Spoken to as a complete moron instead of an educated (degreed) individual

Advice to Senior Management

I believe the owners are genuine caring people! The store managers however leave a lot to be desired. Sitting in the store office does not constitute good management. Getting to know your staff and their capabilities is important and vital to the every day running of the store. Working alongside your staff, encourages and enables them to work to their best. Positive reinforcement is critical. Personnel management courses would be well in order for All managers. Leading by example works well too.