Shoppers Drug Mart Reviews in Vancouver, BC Area

Pros

Co workers must be the reason why i come to work. Schedule is not bad I think management likes me. Nice work place.

Cons

Always understaffed. Always cutting hours. Not enough people to do the work. Infinity is great idea but will not work with out people. Pay could be better.

Advice to Senior Management

you do everything for the share holders. how about to do something for the employees? Why did you freeze the wages again? We work so hard ....... I was so proud to be sdm employee for the first 2 years, then I learned how the head office works.

Pros

It offers a decent benefit package and a safe work environment. Working there gives you a good resume value and you can work relatively close to home.

Cons

No professional or economical progress, constant workload increases and no management interest in rewarding good performance. Work hours very unregular (nights and weekends).

Advice to Senior Management

Value the staff. Make them feel you care about them and you appreciate and notice talent and good performance overall

Pros

It depends on who the store owner is. But the discounts are very useful (30% discount) and the coworkers are some of the best people I've met. The hours are flexible so it's a good stable part-time jobs for students.

Cons

The security is bad. They don't hire proper security and it is definitely very money oriented. Seniority is not valued and the wages are not always fair. But like I said, it's also very dependent on who the Store Associate is. I had a really great Store Associate but then he transferred and the new one coming in was horrible.

Advice to Senior Management

Treat your employees with respect and they'll work harder for you.

Pros

the location for me is close to home and i know many of my customers from the community.. in general i like the people i work with but there is a lot of flux and change right now.. the staff discount is generous more so than many other retailers.. i enjoy the variety in my job not always having to do the same things everyday and interacting with and helping people in the community being a pharmacy.. i appreciate the help we can give to seniors in the area including the 20% seniors discount.. the optimum program is really good and most people love it..

Cons

head office is cutting back putting too much stress on the owner and manager thus it filters down and affects us all and general morale.. there is a lot of finger pointing and misunderstanding.. staff and customers resent the affect it has on our jobs and ability to give consistent positive customer service.. comments are made about the profit shoppers is making but how the little guys are paying for it.. it has been very hard for me to get promoted and get better pay.. i work very hard and try to stay positive but feel i am never seen to be doing enough.. i feel too much is expected of me for what i am paid and the sacrifices i have made with regards to my time, energy and family.. people from the former union have way less responsibility and tend to be very lazy yet make far more money than me which really isn't fair.. there is definetly great wage disparity which is frustrating.. i feel somewhat threatened and insecure about my employment because employers have the upper hand with the economy being unstable..

Advice to Senior Management

what i would say to the big money earners and profit takers of this company is this analogy.. if you are the captain of a ship you need to earn the respect of your crew through your own example of hard work, leadership, and respect towards others.. if you treat people poorly and are a weak leader your crew will eventually mutiny.. otherwise valuable members can become useless to your goals.. if you want this company to really flourish treat your employees with the same respect you treat your valued customers.. your employees are the real lifeblood of your company and if they are satisfied it will reflect back to your customers.. don't cut back where it hurts the most.. cut back where you need it the least.. walk the walk don't talk the talk.. corporate actions speak volumes.. employees aren't dumb any more than your customers are

Pros

We can purchase some of the high end lines of cosmetics (e.g. No. 7, Jouviance, Clarins, Lancome) that they carry for a discount. We know exactly which sale items are a really good deal and always get first pick once a shipment comes in.

Cons

Pay, compensation, and benefits package does not match what other Canadian competitors are paying. Also you really really REALLY rely on the people you work with to keep your mood up. A few years ago, we used to be able to purchase products at cost and collect the promotional points (e.g. 10x or 20x the points events), but they stopped that. Now, we still get an employee discount but it's no longer at cost, and when there are promotional points events, you have to choose either to get the employee discount and get regular points, or purchase items at retail to get the promotional points. If you are ambitious, this is not the place to work.

Advice to Senior Management

They should provide better job descriptions and training to staff so that they know what level of performance is expected of them instead of having people from other departments doing their jobs for them.