Meijer Reviews

Pros

Good place to work while trying to further you education.

Cons

Dead end job. Promotion is not based on merit or loyalty.

Advice to Senior Management

Live up to the proclaimed values of the company, including corporate.

Pros

great customers and atmosphere and the food selection and prices are really good. the employee discount is good too

Cons

low pay and not enough hours and some customers can be really rude and its very strict now and rules are tight

Advice to Senior Management

raise pay

Pros

family values,
 dignity & respect,
Profitable & progressive retailer
Controlled, steady growth
Like working at the retailer most people prefer to shop

Cons

constantly changing personnel at most levels

Advice to Senior Management

Think daily about (and implement) Fred Meijer's original values for treatment of customers, suppliers and team members.
  Greet each of your team members by name whenever possible.
Require Team leaders to plan work schedules a week in advance with limited changes.
Management should really work as if they are their teams "FIRST ASSISTANT", management's success is based on the success of those who work for them.

Pros

It's a nice job for a student or teen getting there feat wet. The hours were flexible, and working on the sales floor can keep you busy.

Cons

It's retail: team leaders with very little creativity or personalities, incompetent or unmotivated co-workers, nasty customers, low pay, no work-life balance, cutting hours, not following through on promises made at the interview, horrible environment: smells, crappy lighting, musiac; dull chores with no mental value, no professional development, no real hope for promotion after a certain level, being looked down by your bosses, it squashes ambition, snuffs out life, dulls the soul and makes one cynical about this fleshy mesh known as humanity, like I said, it's your typical and average retail job.

Advice to Senior Management

One of these days someone from the creative class will finally take control of a retail institution and make it an exciting, enjoyable, dynamic place for talented people to work. When that happens that organization will boom and dominate retail. Unfortunately, retail is driven by a groupthink at the highest level and their result is plain to see everywhere; it's the sheep following the sheep. But one day there will be something new, different, and will change the way retailers think about their relationship with their employees and how that interacts with the customer. My advice to Meijer is: that might as well be you! Get to it.

Pros

Good opportunity to see how retail really works. If you enjoy interacting with customers and like to be helpful to them, you can do it here.

Cons

About five years ago, Meijer embarked an a program of restructuring their operations and has trimmed staff at all their stores. Often there are not enough people to perform the tasks required and any comments made to Senior Staff about conditions are met with the attitude of "you don't have to work here"

Advice to Senior Management

Like all retailers today, Mejier must do what they can to remain competitive and profitable. There is a fine balance between the bottom line and doing what is right for those that work in the "trenches". One of the principles that Fred Mejier built his company around was that his employees would be treated with respect and dignity. Senior Management talks the talk, but does not walk the walk. Fred Meijer is no longer active on a daily basis, and I am convinced he would be heartbroken to know what is really happening in his stores. Like any successful company, you are only as good as the people that work there. It appears that the current family leadership is not invested in the same way that their father was. It is now about power and control at every level of management above Store Director.

Pros

Company owned by a customer-centered family. Friendly people is a priority when hiring employees.

Cons

Pay is at or below average for same position at other stores. Lack of communication to the employees about their job performance. Involuntary union fees deducted from every paycheck.

Advice to Senior Management

Show more appreciation for the work of the employees. Communicate better with the employee about career development at Meijer. Treat every employee fairly.

Pros

Being outside, managers don't really care what you do as long as you push your carts in and the lot isn't disgusting

Cons

Horrible pay
Work in all weather conditions
Not given hours promised
Treated like animals
Not given the time of day by mangers

Pros

-Mostly very good co-workers, and several good managers.
-Co-workers are willing to share their knowledge.
-Told what the job is, and, once you prove you are good at it, left alone to do it.
-Often praised and thanked by management, and thanked by co-workers.
-Paid every week, and no 'hold back' period on the first pay.
-Can grocery shop after work, saves on gas/time.

Cons

-Schedule posted at store remains 'subject to change' until 8 PM Saturday, but the new week starts Sunday AM, so employees are told to come in every Sat. night and check the schedule!
-Terrible scheduling. Will have 3 or 4 days (unrequested) off in a row, then will be scheduled to work until 10 PM, then 'held over' until midnight, then come back to work at 8 AM. Repeat.
-Poor area scheduling. 3 workers in one area, only 1 in a larger area...and whoops! nobody at all in another area, so we all must leave our area, stay over, cover that one at the end of the day.
-Hours per week vary wildly. 18 hours one week, 34 the next, then 21 hours, then 30, then 19...
-Not told at interview that new hires are mandatory part-time. We have to 'bid' on the full-time slots once we have been there a year!
-Several employees bring cell phones in (not allowed) and spend their work time texting.
-Called to the front and required to work as Cashier several times each shift, because the store never has enough Cashiers scheduled. Then 'our' work hasn't gotten done, so we (sigh) have to 'stay over'.
-Often do not get breaks, because there is 'no time' or 'no one to cover'.
-Too many 'bosses' giving more work/orders than one person can actually, physically, complete in a shift.
-Only ONE water fountain in the entire store. Working in the front, and desperate for a drink after 5 non-stop hours? It's a 10 minute walk to the water (we are not allowed in the breakroom while on-shift), then 10 minutes back. Get stopped by a few customers needing help, and it can easily take 30 minutes or more.

Advice to Senior Management

Co-ordinate the work schedule and workers better!
Schedule more cashiers, they can always help 'on the floor' during down time!
If GM workers come in at 4 PM, work their area (but get called to sub as Cashier 2 times) until 9 PM before finally getting a 15 minute break, then go back and work their area (subbing as Cashier one more time) until 11 PM...then get 'held over' until midnight to help because somebody's area did not get finished (and forget about lunch or a second break), get home/cleaned up/to bed at 1 AM, then back up at 6 AM because they are scheduled to work at 8 AM...and this happens a dozen times a month...how long do you think it will be before they decide to quit?

Pros

-Good co-workers
-Open-door policy with management
-Union job protection (provided you pay dues)
-Somewhat flexible with times for breaks and lunches
There are days where I enjoy it. It's not a terribly hard job, but you need a high stress tolerance, especially when it's busy. It's a high customer interaction job, and you need to know how to deal with people.

Cons

-Apathetic upper management (basing everything on a model, and not on how individual stores can work best. It's getting a little better, but still not great)
-Crazy schedules (gets worse when departments are shorthanded [which is typical] and around the holidays)
-Pay's not far off from minimum wage, and not based on performance, but seniority (one downside to the union)
-Some poor workers not weeded out as quickly (another downside of the union)
-Being held over past your scheduled time to leave (due to poor scheduling [it's not the managers that schedule, but the store directors, and they don't know what each department needs half the time! It's not completely their fault, but it is an issue])
-Not much opportunity to move up the ladder

Overall, it can be really stressful, and can make you want to pull your hair out. It's an okay first-time job, but if you don't need it or can find something better, get out while you can.

Advice to Senior Management

Please listen to your "low on the totem pole" employees more! We see the in-store stuff every day, and can probably provide constructive feedback to make the business a better place to work and a better place for customers to shop (and to spend). We don't want to be miserable at this job; we want to enjoy it, and we want to be able to contribute to making Meijer a better business.

Pros

Meijer is a good place to work if you need a job.

Cons

Lack of promotion opportunities. Managers are hired off the street.

Advice to Senior Management

Management doesn't listen to advice.