Pros
-The job is almost entirely free from stress, with most days going by with only a handful of customers. During downtime, there are a few tasks to keep you busy, but they are seldom urgent or difficult enough to be worth stressing over. The environment is very relaxed. -You spend hours with customers really getting to know them and talk with them, and hear their stories. Many of them have lead rich and interesting lives and others a just really pleasant to talk to. A lot of them are very elderly and/or disabled and thus (especially in our current climate) don't leave the house often, so getting to speak to someone knew seems to really brighten up their day. -The teams are small and tight-knit. So long as you get along with them, you'll have a great time. This can become a negative. The teams are so small that if even one person is unpleasant to be around, it effects the morale of the entire team -Very comfortable chairs. -You certainly get the feeling HSL genuinely cares about their customers; at least to an extent. Definitely more than most companies of a comparable size. -Although it might seem like an unremarkable retail job, I would say it is much closer to sales. You aren't just working off a script, but actually have to have an in depth knowledge of the company, products and what is good for posture. -You can feel like you are making a difference, both to customers who you help find something that is genuinely great for them, but also to the business as a whole. This makes the job very rewarding
Cons
-The main drawback is of course, the pay. HSL simply does not pay their comfort Specialist anywhere close to how much they are worth. The fact that a company can refer to you as a specialist and then pay you barely more than minimum wage is quite frankly insulting. There is a bonus scheme (for which I am grateful), but is unreliable, infrequent and doesn't make that much of a difference. I work 4 days a week and have tried increasing my hour (which has always been shot down) and taking second jobs. I do have other gripes with this job, but most of them are either relatively minor or would be were it not for the pay. This is the reason I am giving the job 3 stars instead of 5. I am finding it increasingly difficult to support myself on this salary and I therefore cannot in good faith mark them any higher. I even waited until now to post this review to see if this would change, as a new that I would have to get a pay rise in April, as otherwise I would be below minimum. However, the new hourly rate will on be 10p above the new minimum wage, so my review is unchanged. HSL needs to understand the living wage is only enough to live on if you are working full time, which again, they won't allow me to do. -There is little to no room for career progression, but hey that is the case with ever shop. -As with all retail work, you can occasionally face verbal abuse from customers, however this isn't all that common and probably is much less frequent than in most shops. -HSL sometimes takes positivity to the point of toxicity, whereby problems cannot be pointed out, and being branded as negative is something noone wants to do. Which leads me to my final point: -I feel like it is worth mentioning HSL has been frequently sending out internal emails to leave reviews on glassdoor. It says it is anonymous but HSL does monitor it, and the teams are small enough that some may be worried if they leave a bad review it will be traced back to them. People don't want to be seen saying something negative about the company
