Office Depot Reviews in Miami-Fort Lauderdale, FL Area

Pros

work experience was great, everyone was very nice to everyone
opportunities were great to move up into a corporate position

Cons

a lot of hours
worked weekends, usually got one weekend off a month
working during back to school was very difficult

Advice to Senior Management

corporate needs to have more help put in during back to school -- this is what drives the sales for the company

Pros

-Being such a large company, you can a lot of experience with different areas.

Cons

-Management lacks innovation, vision, and risk taking.
-No concern for the impact certain decisions have on the workload/hours of staff
-Lots of politics, territoriality, and horrendous communication

Advice to Senior Management

Replicating what Staples is doing is NOT a marketing strategy and will be the ultimate downfall of Office Depot. Stop being conservative. Start taking risks and innovating!

Pros

401 k
health benefits
paid vacation
flexible with scheduling

Cons

employees are spread way too thin
management operates from an ivory tower
the company's efforts at making employees feel valued are inconsistent

Advice to Senior Management

Get involved more with the actual hands-on tasks in the store. True, I understood that it is good to maintain some kind of distance between the work that you do and that of the employees, because people will rebel when if they see you as an equal. However, you will always lose the respect of your employees if you come across as pompous and authoritarian.

Pros

Management is earnestly strategizing and executing ways to tred these tough times. The things they are doing not only position us to have the best chance of succeeding now, but gives us a strong foundation for when the economy does improve. I believe many people in the organization have their heart in the right place.

Employees at all levels are given the opportunity to present innovative ways to strengthen the company. Not only are they heard, but they are rewarded for the ideas.

Cons

I have worked in enough companies to know that nothing is perfect and a few bad apples does not define the whole. There are plenty of people with the right mindset. I'm just giving us time.

Advice to Senior Management

Of course there are prior benefits I would like to see again. I understand that some steps had to be taken to reduce our financial risks. We should just make sure that if the man at the top of the totem pole is compensated at the end of the day, then should all those that were on that totem pole. Don't forget the guy at the bottom, he's the one closest to the rhino's tusk.

Pros

Office Depot is a great organization which has brought in many hard working, dedicated executives over the past few years.

Cons

Red tape. The commitment to employees is lacking below the director level.

Advice to Senior Management

Hire more skilled employees instead of spending money on contractors and consultants. And spend more time/effort in training/preparing these employees to do their jobs and rise through the organization.

Pros

The company promotes from within and diversity is strength. Advancement opportunity. Pay for performance is also a real strength of the company, which awards the employee for a job well done.

Cons

I have to say after working for Office Depot for 17 years now, I have never seen a down side to be working for Office Depot. I quit a grocery company that I could write a book about and not on the positive side, but Office Depot has been the best company in retail as far as I am concerned.

Advice to Senior Management

Keep doing what you are doing now. I have all the confidence in the world that Office Depot is doing all the right things now to be number #1.

Pros

Promotions within company, Fair salaries, Customer Service driven, Fair scheduling practices, Bonus/commision programs for all assoicates including management, long term advancement opportunites.

Cons

I have been here with OD for alomost 15 years and had no long term issues. I have been retail over 25 years and previous employer was not as compelling to work for.

Advice to Senior Management

keep doing what your doing. We are a great place to work for and we have a great shopping enviroment for our customers.

Pros

Opportunities - in the IT environment, opportunities abound to work in various technologies and different business areas; management encourages this sort of "cross pollination" and cross-training, though few take advantage; also, advancement opportunites are generally good
Compensation - pay is pretty good; benefits are reasonable, given current economic climate; vision and dental programs are excellent

People - I have worked with some of the best, most competent people of my career (of over 20 years) here

Work - work is constantly challenging, trying to break new ground for the business; adaptability is a requirement, as things are changing and generally moving rapidly

Lower Management - for the most part, lower management is very reasonable and tries to provide for a good balance between work and life (WorkLife)

Upper Management - though I believe some major missteps have been made in previous years, I believe upper management has finally put together a really good plan for the future and the initial execution is already looking positive

Location - South Florida is just a great place to live; the relatively new Boca Raton location has excellent facilities (gym, cafeteria, conference rooms with fully electronic connections and comfortable chairs, auditorium, parking deck)

Communication - the company does a great job of keeping all corporate employees up-to-date with all company information and offerings; quarterly corporate meetings; monthly IT meetings; e-mails; electronic newsletters; intranet home pages by department

Attire - business casual all the time; "jeans day" on the first Friday of each month

Cons

Old decisions - we are still dealing with some poor decisions made in previous years, concerning the direction of the company as a whole and IT infrastructure, in particular

Office - lower walled (4 foot) cubes are both a blessing and a curse (increases collaboration, but can get load at times); "ergonomic" chairs; flourescent lighting only; limitations on personal appliances in cubes/offices (no refrigerators, coffee makers, toasters, etc.)

Leadership - a few of the company and department leaders are still questionable, in my view, especially ones that make derogatory remarks about other departments, trying to fault others for their own poor performance; some of these are the ones that made/drove the Old decisions referred to above; some slant their decisions based upon positions held years ago, instead of looking at the entire business

Advice to Senior Management

Continue execution of current plans, moving from "survival" mode into a more aggressive "attack" position in the market;
Continue the revival of the focus on Retail without losing ground in other areas (in my view, the loss of focus on our Retail markets had a major impact on overall profitability);
Continue to balance the needs/wants/requirements of customers, stockholders, and employees;

Pros

What I like most about the company is that all the decisions are made based on doing the "right" thing. We may take a bit longer implementing certain things but we don't just rush through and implement something that's not going to work. There are no hidden agendas. The goals and objectives of the company are clearly communicated and we all take acountability for our areas of responsibility. This is a very caring company...for it's associates, customer, the environment and the community. After twenty-some years with Office Depot, I still wake up feeling good about what I do and the direction we're going in. I'm proud to be a part of the team!

Cons

We're a little lean right now in terms or resources, as I'm sure many other companies are as well. Our business is complex in terms of channels or ways to reach our customer base, but we're working on that...constantly partnering with other internal departments and improving processes to better align and work together on common goals. Tell me what other smart company isn't constantly trying to shift and change with the every changing business environment and economy? Change is a good thing. It makes you grow.

What I see as a CON is not related to working at Office Depot...what I see as a CON is certain media outlets who continue to paint a picture despite managements best attempts at describing the facts. It appears that often fact are irrelevant and the media just wants a story.

Advice to Senior Management

Continue being the caring company you are and always doing the right thing. The right decision is not always the most popular one and you're not afraid to move forward, even though you know the media is going to try to rip you apart. I respect that. For me, this is the best place to work, with all it's good and bad. Thanks for all you do!

Pros

Immediate group management has been excellent for the decade I have worked for the company. Department leadership has changed a little too much during the decade, but has always pressed forward. Company morale has always mirrored macroeconomic environment.

Cons

Sometimes work/life balance falls too much to work imbalance. But, that balance takes effort by company and associate.

Advice to Senior Management

Keep preparing the company to be successful once the macroeconomic environment improves. Judging by the volume level of business activities, it is starting to turn around already.