L'Occitane Reviews

Pros

Sample all the products. Friendly people work there. They train you how to gift wrap during the seasonal times. They have pretty good hours and perks and usually the customers that come in are friendly to deal with as well.

Cons

I do not remember any downsides of working here. I applied here only as a seasonal employee so I could make some extra money for the kids at Christmas time. I applied there as a mother of two, working 2 other jobs and they were great to me. Maybe the pay could be more?

Advice to Senior Management

If they have not done this already they should bring on some type of employee recognition or rewards program for the employees. A happy and motivated employee will do great things for the company and treat it like it's their own if they are being recognized.

Pros

Amazing product
"Green" company
Organic
Relaxing environment
Loyal customer base
Strong Human Resourses department
Strong learning and development team
Large presence in the social media world

Cons

You have to wear ridiculous aprons that no one looks right in
They have a delusion of what "luxury" is
It feelsl impossible to meet their demands and standards
No incentives for the sales people other then a bonus that is impossible to reach
The gratis is one product every couple months that is chosen for you by marketing
They treat their customers like gold and their employees like coal

Advice to Senior Management

Stop comparing yourself to the luxury industry. Understand that L'Occitane is a revolving door of talented people that have reached their boiling point and the turnover is why the company will always be in a struggle. You expect too much from these associates and don't treat them with the expect they deserve. Stop being so generous to your customers with free gifts and give to the people selling the product. Most of them don't use it because the it's too expensive for them to try it. Open the gratis for them to pick what they want so they can become true ambassadors. And get rid of the aprons. They look like the help.

Pros

Good quality product, pretty boutiques, simple work uniform,excellent skincare, a decent employee discount, good benefits for full time employees.

Cons

Too much paperwork, poor training for what this company expects of it's employees, the work load is excessive and demanding.

Advice to Senior Management

Simplify the paperwork, update POS systems, inorder to sell more and make our stores profitable we need more staff and payroll.

Pros

Beautiful product, loyal clientele! Some of the best I've worked with, on both accounts.

Cons

Waste! Monthly window changes with props that were rarely kept.

Waste! 3 year shelf life of product & then it's to be THROWN AWAY. Does soap really expire? Could it not be donated to hospices or shelters (which I did as a store manager...very hush, hush). Frequent shipments of already expired merchandise from corporate to stores.

Unsafe! Some business practices put employee safety at risk.

Unprofessional! Regional/Corporate management is completely ridiculous, worrying more about the color of ribbons on boxes than actual ways to increase sales.

No Product! Basic stock and promotional items were frequently out.

Outdated systems! Promotions for customers rarely rang up correctly in the POS system. Inventory system was painfully inaccurate. Frequent "freezes" or "crashes" of the POS.

Poor communication! While some TOTAL falacies were told during the interviewing process, the lack of listening/poor communication on a daily basis is unmotivating, frustrating, and ultimately leads to seeking employment elsewhere.

Advice to Senior Management

This will go down in history as my least favorite retail position of all. Get things fixed: hire inspiring leaders, make a product that is consistently available, make your "front lines" proud of the work they are doing. The only reason L'Occitane isn't more successful in the US is because of the leaders of L'Occitane in the US!

Pros

Great concept, worked side by side with some fantastic managers in the field. Wonderful store atmosphere and luxurious products.

Cons

The VP of HR made this experience miserable. Poor management at the top to say the least including the East Coast Director. Disorganization at the higest level you could possibly imagine. Just the blind leading the blind. This was the most stressful job that I have ever had. Turnover is the highest that I have seen at any company. Most open positions are filled from within the organization, but most are green and incompetent.

Advice to Senior Management

Please hire some professional retail managers to run the corporate office. Although people work very hard, they are running in circles to accomplish simple goals. It's retail not rocket science. There are too many District Managers without experience and too much corporate turnover. The Retail Director needs to learn a tactful way to communicate with people.

Pros

quarterly gratis, decent starting wage for retail, SOME products are very nice, mostly friendly customers.

Cons

frequent display changes (lots of trash and waste). gifts with purchase run out long before campaign is over. overpriced. catty management. no opportunities for advancement (while i worked here, i saw a new store manager hired who had never worked for L'Occitane before - she knew less than i did, was not familiar with the company's background or sales techniques, but would be in charge of a shop and all of its employees?! what?!). constant negativity and never any positive feedback. you have to meet your individual sales goals each week but you do not get anything for it unless the entire shop meets its collective goal, then everyone gets a meager bonus. very little product training before you start selling on the floor. frequent marketing changes with last-minute notice. white-glove store inspections (speck of dust? major points lost). strict, all black, business casual dress code. products are discontinued all the time, leading to disappointed and sometimes angry customers.

Advice to Senior Management

stop requiring individual sales goals without commission! more positive feedback instead of constant criticism. more opportunities for employees to try products free of charge (samples, more gratis, etc). promote from within! stop putting so much pressure on your overworked employees - they work hard, and it's not their fault if they can't meet your excessive dollar expectations.

Pros

- Reasonably friendly coworkers. Overall the company seems to have a good relationship with its employees, although like most jobs the business always comes before any friendships you might make.
- Generous employee discount.
- Beautiful stores.

Cons

- A lot of learning material. For a new hire, there's your main training booklet and then a new training booklet for everyone every month.
- Waste. For a company that says it is so committed to a green environment, they waste a lot. New displays every two-three weeks. All of the old stuff gets thrown out.
- Labor-intensive. You hand-wrap everything and are generally expected to multitask several different things at once. It can get very overwhelming and frustrating. This is not the company you want to work for if you can't gift wrap or if you can only focus on a few tasks at once.

Advice to Senior Management

- Reduce waste. Reuse certain elements of the displays, or consider making the displays less extravagant so there isn't so much to throw out.
- Condense training material to a single booklet every 3 months or so as opposed to every month.
- Although hand-wrapping every gift item is very nice for individualized gifts, it takes a lot of time from other more important things that employees could be doing. Consider hiring someone at shipping and receiving to pre-wrap the gifts.

Pros

Products are amazing and easy to sell, great training, bonus. You skin will improve dramatically just by working here.

Cons

Promotions are based upon friendship, and achievements are rarely or unfairly recognized.

Advice to Senior Management

Recognize your best workers with something more substantial than a star. That's just a cheap attempt to appease your angry workers.

Pros

Products are classic and good quality, many customers are true fans and really help meet sales goals some days. A great place for customers to find gifts and we are able to wrap them beautifully!

Cons

Lack of clear marketing & promotion direction sometimes, inability to advance, management turnover. Staffing coverage sometimes doesn't allow for a bathroom break without closing the store for a moment and that is frowned upon!

Advice to Senior Management

Why do you have some strong employees that don't want a management position and for those that do, you are missing out!

Pros

fun environment, good smooth energy, friendly environment, great relationship with boss and great friendships with co-workers

Cons

discount sucks, they could pay more and give more hours on a weekly steady rate

Advice to Senior Management

promote more within