Lands' End Reviews

Current Employee – been working at Lands' End full-time for more than a year

Pros – Very caring company, gives back to the community, fantastic activity center with free fitness classes. CEO is driving the company in the right direction. Great benefits, competitive salaries--esp considering this is basically a rural setting. GREAT people.

Cons – VERY large company, can be very difficult to move the cheese.
Has been misdirected, although getting back on course. Very unstructured company, especially considering the size. Owned and abused by Sears.

Advice to Senior Management – Keep true to the heritage. Open more stores outside of Sears.

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

Former Employee – worked at Lands' End full-time for more than a year

Pros – Great group of talented people
Management is open to hearing new ideas
Workout facility
Strong brand culture
Summer Hours

Cons – Dodgeville is a tiny town in the middle of nowhere
Commute from Madison gets to be far too long everyday
No bonuses in the past few years
Promotions are hard to come by unless you are a favorite
Being owned by Sears has more negative effects then positive
Many layers within the large company can make it hard to get things done

Advice to Senior Management – Promote based on actual skill, not as a last minute retention method
Get out of Sears and open free standing stores

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Lands' End full-time for more than a year

Pros – challenge, quick work days, inflated salary

Cons – 100 mi/day commute : home office is an hour outside 'largest' city
poor work/life balance
stressful environment
political

Advice to Senior Management – value your employees- do not get caught up in politics

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Lands' End

Pros – Good benefits, good work out facility,good parking,great pool

Cons – No bonus in years. Bad coffee.

Advice to Senior Management – Listen to your employees. Learn what your employees actually do.

Former Employee – worked at Lands' End as an intern for less than a year

Pros – * The culture is awesome!!!
* Overall the people were incredible to work with!
* The company is very generous with its employees.
* Great onsite fitness center (an entire building dedicated for this purpose). Very impressive!

Cons – * If you are used to living in a medium to larger sized city, Dodgeville might be a little smaller than you are used to. That being said, I lived in Madison while I was there and commuted. It is about a 45 minute commute.

Advice to Senior Management – * You have such a strong culture at Lands' End. Make sure to continue to hire people that fit that culture properly so that you don't put that great asset at risk.

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

Former Employee – worked at Lands' End part-time for more than a year

Pros – Some great people on the front lines; 40% employee discount on product; "flexible" schedule

Cons – Extremely reactive management, e.g. 1) frequent last-minute addition of sales promotions in response to any drop in call traffic, 2) company direction (ex. "we will no longer be promotion-driven") frequently stated and reversed within weeks; Decision-makers and systems designers appear to have little to zero awareness of day-to-day realities faced by the employees impacted; Dozens of minor, poorly designed processes add up to ongoing unnecessary stress throughout each workday; Consistently inadequate training; Little to no coaching for long stretches; Recognition / promotion based more on toeing the party line / "being positive" than ability or critical thought; Emphasis on sales, weekly $ quotas, and call handle time vs customer service; To avoid providing benefits, management has chosen to cut many formerly 40 hr / week call center employees' hours to < 29 / week, while recruitment of new PT employees has stepped up; more PT staff has led to: 1) rising attrition rate, and 2) an increasingly chaotic response to customer needs (one order may have half a dozen reps involved from start to finish); Overt micro-management by poorly chosen / trained "lead" staff has contributed to an increasingly toxic environment and low morale.

Advice to Senior Management – Don't be afraid of critical thinkers who speak their opinions: instead, listen to (and actually hear) their concerns, and give them a place in your focus groups. Provide better training for all of your employees, starting with the trainers. Re-visit the decision to require a blended sales & service role from your call center staff: savvy managers know this concept has failed across the board. Honor your employees' strengths, stop focusing all your "coaching" on weaknesses.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Lands' End part-time for more than 8 years

Pros – Used to be a great place to work, friendly, pro-active

Cons – New policies feel like they are taking out the brunt of the economy out on the hourly employees and lower paid people who try to live pay check to pay check. . Very difficult if not impossible to become a regular full time employee with benefits. Now with what all of management blames on Obamacare, they are cutting everyone hours so that you can NOT get get more than 29 hours in any one week Appears like they've hired more people to make sure 2013 averages result in no one getting enough hours to get benefits. They don't care how this change effects their front line. They send staff home 15 minutes early to save $4 in wages?

Advice to Senior Management – Have a heart and realize that these changes effect your front line, the face and voice of Lands End. The trickle-down communication through leads and managers who can't do anything about decisions made up the ladder is cowardly.

Current Employee – been working at Lands' End full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – Management actually cares about you and your success! Great work/life balance! Incredible support! Amazing product that the customer loves!

Cons – The shop within a store concept causes a crazy dotted line supervision battle between the store management and your LE district management. (Not difficult, just tough at times). The store side doesn't understand the LE operation.

Advice to Senior Management – Upper management does a great job of recognizing their employees and making them feel appreciated. They dedicate the month of October to their shop leads and send little notes and gifts throughout the month. Keep up the great work!

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

Current Employee – been working at Lands' End as an intern

Pros – The people were great and I was given clear direction and support to reach my goals. The health center and cafeteria are top notch. They are also working hard to make the office a sustainable environment.

Cons – Long-term prospects are stated in an unclear fashion. Dodgeville is a little far from Madison at about 45 minute drive. The company is controlled by Sears, which leaves a sense of uncertainty in its future.

Current Employee – been working at Lands' End full-time

Pros – Full health facility, good work life balance. Great brand heritage and commitment to the customer. Commitment to product quality and the highest level of service.

Cons – Turnover in executive ranks has caused multiple shifts in strategy. Makes it hard to get traction in the business. Commute can be difficult to get used to if you live outside Dodgeville.

Advice to Senior Management – Focus on execution of goals rather than if they are the right goals.

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