QVC Reviews in Philadelphia, PA Area

Pros

Haven't found better dental or eye benefits. Includes same-sex DP and adoption benefits. Benefits aren't free for individual (like some companies) but still very good. Employees are extremely friendly and easy to get along with. I've worked with 3 departments and haven't had a bad experience with anyone. Usually the bitter employees are looking for new jobs anyway. Most people have been with company for 5 or more years and don't plan on going anywhere. Bigger company, which means lots of departments to move to if you start to get antsy. Cafeteria on site, bank on site. 30% discount.

Cons

The downside to it being a big company is that there is lack of communication and LOTS of people to contact to get a job done (and lots of competition for job openings). 24/7 business creates pressure to work holidays, weekends, and late nights. Pay is modest and promotions are capped at 5% increase per grade level increase. Come in high or you'll have to leave to get a decent pay increase. Constant changing priorities result in job role changes and employees being pulled in too many directions. Lots of jobs done poorly instead of one done well.

Advice to Senior Management

Stop with knee-jerk reactions to business. Plan ahead and get priorities in line. Choose most important initiatives and execute them well, instead of turning out "high-priority" projects at the last minute. Communicate the results of past initiatives (like the nightly news, there could suddenly be a big story that ends up losing its importance after a few days and employees are left wondering if the initiative was successful).

Pros

paid and benefits my particular work situation

Cons

Infighting, very political, I think the quick growth and the centralized group think lends itself to a CYA mentality first line supervision and middle management don't take risk.

Advice to Senior Management

Empower first line supervision and middle management, less lip service.

Pros

They had good benefits, and you could see some famous people once in awhile. Employees in the studios are always nice.

Cons

Atmosphere by a lot of fellow employees was generally ok towards eachother, but people don't understand the extent of behind the back gossiping that goes on there. I have visually seen people be considerate and nice towards other workers, then turn around talk horrible things about the person. I think some of the worst is in I.T. Management also tends to waste way too much time doing nothing when there a loads of deadlines to be done.

Advice to Senior Management

Recently there have been layoffs, I luckly have already moved on just before this started. I think that a good way to help increase productivity would be to restrict some of the access given on computers. Why should our manager sit on myspace one day then sit at his desk the next day laughing at videos on YouTube? Where is the productivity in that?

Pros

Fast paced environment. Good positive culture. Excitement of a 24/7 live TV network. We have a solid and loyal core base of customers and a huge potential to attract the next audience if we are able to show them who we are. Our brand is highly polarized which is both good and bad. We have a great opportunity to eliminate the classic stigma.

Cons

Pace is voracious and tough on the creative process. People have so many opportunities to chase down it can be frustrating if you let it get out of control. It's sometimes tough for new people to crack through our successful formula to implement new ideas. You really have to be persistent, do your homework, and build relationships.

Advice to Senior Management

Continue doing a great job of communicating through these times of uncertainty. Purchase another company that can cross promote our brand.

Pros

culture, environment, teamwork, excellent benefit package, flexible schedule/e-commuting options. great location - suburbs of Philadelphia, cafeteria & credit union onsite.

Cons

promotions - limited salary increases. also, there are some employees that have "seniority" with the company but do not add much value (skillset wise) any longer. yet they are still moved from department to department, because upper mgmt refuses to just eliminate their jobs. this drags down morale of departments because workload is not equal or even shared, because the "senior" employee is not current with technologies or skills that are relevant to what the job they are "moved" into.

Advice to Senior Management

hold more skip level meetings or round table discussions with non-upper level employees.

Pros

QVC is a great company to work for - there are great opportunities for employees to grow and learn.

Cons

QVC is going through some changes now - they are positive changes but there will be some growing pains along the way.

Advice to Senior Management

Continue to stay focused on your employees.

Pros

Employees can have a healthy, balanced life outside of work. I see employees walking or jogging outside at lunch. There is also flex-time. Some employees work from home on two days out of the week. Others work Monday through Thursday for 10 hours and take Fridays off. There's two weeks of vacation for employees that have been at the company less than 5 years. Employees that have been with the company for 5 - 10 years get three weeks vacation. More than 10 years earns 4 weeks of vacation a year. People speak to each other around the building and seem genuinely happy. People like to get dressed up for work here as well. It's not unusual to see 4 1/2 inch heels and a-line skirts, which doesn't bother me a bit.

Cons

I see a lot of IT people here who don't appear terribly bright to me. Some of the legacy mainframe developers don't strike me as geniuses. There are some really bright Java developers here, but there are also some developers that seem to be skating as well. I'd prefer to be in a high-energy creative product development environment and be around the kind of people that type of environment attracts.

Salaries aren't super-competitive here. The benefits and quality of life make up the difference to me, however.

A haven't met many people here who are self-aware either. Maybe that's true at most companies, I don't know.

Advice to Senior Management

None.

Pros

Good benefits - decent salary - 401K - working with wonderful vendors and guests.

Cons

Management incompetence. Favoritism. Self-promoting people who don't ever look at the big picture, they just want to worry about themselves and gain favor and more people under them.

Advice to Senior Management

Look at who is really contributing to the business - and who is simply trying to get themselves promoted. Look at the number of directors and vice presidents who have been added since Rob Cadigan left the company. Every new leader comes in fresh and seems to be convinced that the QVC lifers know what they're doing. The lifers then find it very easy to convince senior management that a reorg is necessary and they ALWAYS work it in such a way that they create VP and director level positions allowing them to promote each other and their friends. And when senior management sees the true need for a reorg in a certain area they never consult those who will be most affected, but rather listen to the lifers who have their own agenda (promotions and more staff under them).

Pros

- Nice people, positive culture
- Unique business model presents amazing challenges
- Good benefits
- Nice work environment - good onsite services, good food in the commissary, ATM, convenience, oil changes
- Nice little perks like sample sales, holiday dinner, summer picnic, etc.
- Challenging
- Good work/life flexibility (compromise - see below)

Cons

- Salaries generally poor and increases are meagre. People considering joining Q should negotiate aggressively before they join because the attitude is that once you're in they have the upper hand and you should be thanking them for a 5% increase.
- Unsurprisingly, best talent generally moves out because of salary, leadership and other concerns. What is left is mediocre+ employees.
- Q4 is your life. Vacation in Q4 is discouraged, which is par for the course for retail. But, the rest of the year there is a fair amount of flexibility and there are open minds for nonstandard working arrangements like 4x10. But during Q4 (and big events outside Q4) there is a certain expectation that one will do what one must to get the job done. This may mean LONG hours - like 8AM - 2AM or consecutive 12-14 hour days. Get used to it.
- There is a residue of "old timers" who have been with Q since the early days and the company takes absurd pains to avoid firing them regardless of poor performance. Thus, they get passed from department to department, dragging down performance and morale all along the way.
- Some of the upper-level "leadership" is woefully lacking in people skills (and frankly lacking overall). They need training, guidance, and coaching.
- Difficult to get budget to develop staff with activities like training, conferences
- Difficult to get resources to get anything done

Advice to Senior Management

Make it easier to move tenured but low performing employees out.
Make a real effort to retain your top talent (pay, rewards, respect).
Coach your mid-upper level leadership. Low-level managers (Director and below) are carrying the leadership weight of those above. They should be supporting one another.
Look at the marketplace- your employees are. Compensate accordingly.
Reward best talent with training and exposure to industry events.
Seriously evaluate the initiatives in the pipe and identify where the best business cases reside and cough up the dough to make them happen.

Pros

A high level of creativity. The company is tapping in-house creativity on a regular basis. The CEO is determined to improve corporate culture and has created a senior team more in alignment with his views. Our President of US Commerce is forming small pockets of creativity throughout the organization. Our Benefits department and SVP of HR are focused on attracting and retaining top talent. One approach they're taking is through a more flexible workplace including e-commuting, flextime and job share. Part-time professionals are becoming more commonplace. Attention is being given to the workplace to provide a comfortable and satisfying work environment. A CEO who regularly communicates his thoughts to the entire organization and takes the time to report on what's working and what isn't. A new willingness to look at legacy policies and procedures and make changes where needed.

Cons

Too many promotions where the rank and file are left scratching their heads. Getting so bogged down in processes that it takes forever to get an idea launched. Too many layers of bureaucracy and too many people afraid to take a calculated risk. Getting information on comparable compensation is on you. Getting jobs re-classed is a ridiculously arduous process. Senior Managers who do not model the behaviors of the CEO and Commerce President. Taking too long to get back to prospective hires. We lose good candidates because of our slowness, our often non-competitive salaries, and our short-sighted vacation policies. A talent management program that is ridiculously complex.

Advice to Senior Management

Don't just talk to each other. If you want to know what's really going on, start listening to your frontline managers and supervisors and do it in such a way that their truth telling doesn't come back to bite them. Eliminate some layers in project management, particularly in the approval process. If a Senior Manager is inappropriate in how they address their directors and managers, don't ignore it. Call them on it. And if their bad behaivor is in a public forum and in violation of our stated values, call them on it publicly...otherwise cynicism will grow.