OfficeMax Reviews

Pros

Good team of people at my store, managers are very helpful,flexible schedule.

Cons

Pay is terrible, oppurtunities to move into the corporate office are almost nill even if you work for the company already.

Advice to Senior Management

to senior management: we need to have enough of the items in the store that are in the ads.

Pros

paycheck
climate control
how to become a jerk free training

Cons

you become a jerk
you never feel secure about your job
you know you are unfair with people, but you still do it for a "salary"

Advice to Senior Management

Stop selling your soul for money, it is not worth it and you still will be on the unemployment line.

Pros

-nice people
-customer service experience
-learn more about computers, printers and cameras

Cons

-very low pay rate
-little to no training for new employees

Advice to Senior Management

Offer more pay and you will get better quality employees.

Pros

Solid personnel in mid management levels. Forward thinking in private label development, branding, business services. Comfortable working spaces. Good cafeteria. Competitive pay & benefits.

Cons

Changing leadership = changing priorities. Lots of consultants over the years without a lot of tangible results. Slow moving I.T., Business Development and eCommerce departments. Process focus can choke creativity. Little tolerance for risk taking. Not enough resources to execute plans.

Advice to Senior Management

Let mid-level management drive change. Allow creativity & risk taking to become part of the culture. Recognize & reward internal expertise. Add personnel where gaps exist. Break out of silos.

Pros

Salary in line with other retail Mgmt Positions

Cons

To much emphasis on driving sales through pressure selling

Pros

Large span of merchandise
Spiffs for sale of warranties and in-store tech services
Relatively light amount of mean customers
Emphasis on delighting the customer vs. making sales

Cons

Average pay
Little other compensation besides warranties and in-store tech (competitiveness between associates, other associates taking credits for your warranty, etc.)
Little actual training--must learn on the fly and hit the ground running

Pros

Co-employees are great. Great communication with floor managers. Good scheduling if you inform them early enough. Easy to work out problems.

Cons

Disorganized stocking and overstock. When the truck of new product comes in, it's usually products that aren't actually needed. There's a pretty big disconnect between corporate and store management.

Advice to Senior Management

Do more market research on the store locations. Pay attention to the products that are actually needed at each store so we don't have to call the next closest store to get a hold of something we should have gotten the previous day with the truck.

Pros

Store hours were good. Time off requests were always granted.

Cons

Pay was bad, specially transferring from one market to another, only got a dollar adjustment for cost of living.

Advice to Senior Management

Pay a fair wage for supervisors that are doing the same if not more work than the assistant managers.

Pros

Local Management was good
Hours were reasonable
Insurance/benefits were adequate
Associates were great to work with and cared about their job

Cons

HQ was out of touch with the field and the issues there
Micromanaging/poor managing
Decisions were reactive to Wall St. with no consistent plan for growth or customer satisfaction
B2B was an afterthought vs. Retail
Politics & nepotism contributed to advancement

Advice to Senior Management

Develop a consistent multi-year business plan instead of reacting with knee-jerk initiatives based on Wall St. quarterly analysis. The new CEO looks like a good start.

Pros

It helps pay the bills and pay checks come on a regular basis. . Good hours. Safe working environment. Regular performance reviews. Great co workers. Offers disability insurance and other benefits on a cafeteria plan.

Cons

Low pay. Micromanaged to the minute. You are watched on everything you do. No sick days. Only so many days off a year and if you take a sick day or other unscheduled day it counts against you. Got to show up as work is vital! No slack for life events that happen to you. Unrealistic performance requirements. Poor training. Poor equipment that does not work. When new programs are installed you are still held accountable for your performance even though the program does not work. Management does not listen to employees. No positive feedback, only negative feedback! 2 bathroom breaks and 1/2 hour lunch each day. Extremely stressful. Put up with angry customers. Provides little support in day to day operations. Unrealistic expectations -- the almighty dollar and profits come first. God forbid that a call center get closed in a blizzard. Got to answer those phones!

Advice to Senior Management

You are asking way to much of your employees. For the pay that you are providing you are expecting someone with a high school education to perform tasks that really require a college degree. You need to compensate your employees better. They are your front line and can make or break the company. Give them recognition and more benefits -- more vacation time, separate sick days, longer breaks and lunch times, and stop the micromanaging. Your employees HATE working there. Find out what they REALLY think!