Pottery Barn Employee Reviews about "upper management"

Pros

My peers and employees. Sometimes I am amazed at what we accomplish together! The product is beautiful and inspirational Our customers are very loyal. Upper management is always looking for ways to improve customer and employee experience. When a customer is not happy, you are empowered to do what it takes to make it right. You are able to commnicate with corporate partners regarding inventory levels and product.

Cons

As with most retail careers, the work life balance is impossible. Visual merchandising is very extreme. We paint walls, hang ladders, build props. The floorsets are very difficult to complete within deadlines on the payroll given. Sometimes upper management have grand ideas with unrealistic expectations for execution. Our company is very adaptable to the changing retail environment and make quick changes to gain market share. This can make our jobs very stressfull!

Pros

This is a good company to work at if you're starting out and need to build experience.

Cons

It's very difficult to grow in this company unless you fit in with upper management.

Pros

Compensation-management only Working with kids If you can do this job you can do any job

Cons

Expensive health care Upper management doesn't help but only barks unrealistic goals that no one in the company can meet Faulty product always damaged Always dealing with online order issues and furniture delivery issues No training No systems in place to hear real needs of the business Hostile work environment No payroll even when you are up double digits to last year, district manager will have you continue to save so they can bonus No job security always threatening your job

Pros

Excellent chances for career advancement since there are three brands within Williams Sonoma. Also they tend to pay higher than similar stores. Upper management is very in touch with the stores and visits them often. Also they have great incentives for sales contests which keeps the energy of the stores up.

Cons

They are somewhat top heavy with too much upper management at some stores and not enough help at others. Also they are very insular and tend to recognize the same people over and over. New blood is not something that is added very often.

Pros

Some of the product is good. Discount is good if you buy. My stores' team is what keeps me still working at PB.

Cons

Upper management needs to work a week in the field to understand the high expectations that they put on the teams. Being an associate you can only work so many hours a week but you better make those hours count because if you don't make your goals, your hours may be cut or worse, the DM will make the GM fire you. I've seen that happen with an associate that had worked there for years. Also, you want top talent, then you need to expect to pay for top talent. So many times I've seen holiday help get hired on getting paid more than a Design Specialist. And now they want their managers have a sales goal? Ok, do you want us to help develop our associates? Be able to have those coachable moments? Find our top talent? Make sure we are at your beck and call to the receive the 15 emails that tell us we have to cut payroll or we have to be on one of 10 conference calls? Do you want your stores to look visit ready?Who will make sure to follow up with the processing team so trucks are 100% processed so we have product to sell? Who will deal with countless CSI issues because of furniture delays? Who will make sure floorset is mapped and done in the time frame you seem to think it should the done at, and if we don't have the product because nobody is making sure truck is processed, guess who has to do double the work? Not the associates, they don't get paid enough or the time to deal with it. Well, neither will I for that matter. You will find me at an In-home trying to make my SPH goal so I don't get fired next.

Pros

When I first started (many moons ago) the company LOVED and VALUED employees. The pay was standard, but the perks were worth it. Birthday off paid! And you just felt like you were part of something great. I stay with the company for the flexability in my schedule. I've developed relationships with management that allows me to adjust my schedule so that I am able to put the needs of my family before my job. I like the way that I'm treated by the in store management team. they know that I am more than capable, and they trust my judgement when I am left with a project or customer service issue.

Cons

Upper management assumes that they know how to better service a customer than an associate. That is not always the case. People at corporate create silly policies that they have obviously put no thought in to. The only time we have enough employees on staff is when there is a district or regional visit. So the customer is less important than the RVP. If we put as much time into our customers as we do into a floor move, the company would be more successful. Corporate issues a bi-monthy publication to stores telling us that they are going to make sure we have all the tools we need to do our jobs, NOTHING trickles down. It's just a bunch of words. Casual employees are forced to come in unpaid to complete a job. We must also use our own ipads & tablets for in home visits. Most customers don't want you to come over and just read them the catalog.

Pros

the sales team is great and it is fun working with the customer. Setting up rooms.

Cons

upper management very inconsistent with what want. They would like to make the customer happy. But the systems are out dated it does make the task easy. Customer service does not help by keeping the store team on hold for long time. The customer think we have a special number. its the same one that they call. waste payroll

Pros

Great associates who care about each other and the store managers. Experienced store management and associates who know how to juggle many people and tasks all at once. Talented retail people with lots of energy who dream of someday bringing Lester's spirit home.

Cons

Payroll hours (minimum wages) cut by upper management leaving stores understaffed and broken. Constant pressure from women who claim to be 'innovative thinkers' but have no skills with relation to running a retail business. Top women in company are failing customers by ignoring and losing talented employees.

Pros

The store team is composed of great people. They are the true center of the company and really believe in pottery barn.

Cons

Upper management above the store manager level. If you are not part of their click you will not get their support to succeed. Upper management above store level is disrespectful and create hostile work environments. Including people on their human resources team. Entirely the most disrespectful managers I've seen. They really think a lot of themselves and if you don't fit in watch out because you won't succeed.

Pros

-Nice location on the bay walking distance from BART -Once you get this company on your LinkedIn profile, recruiters will be banging down your door -You can grab lunch at the Levi's cafe next door

Cons

BUSINESS ISSUES: -There seems to be no such thing as strategy and planning here. People just run from firedrill to firedrill.
 -Lots of 11th hour reversal of decisions from upper management based on hourly sales reads. I agree it's important to react to market trends, but this company takes it way too far and the teams doing the execution are burned out and miserable.
 -Extremely messed up sale & promotions process, making implementing a marketing strategy next to impossible.
 -Lack of control over product inventory. You never know which products will be available to market until the last minute.
 PEOPLE ISSUES: -This is a company that will work you to the bone and not even say 'thank you'. There seems to be a philosophy of extracting the maximum possible value from employees without rewarding in pay, bonus, or promotion. They do have paper awards but you can't take those to the bank. -Very hierarchical, autocratic culture. All decisions made at VP level and above. If you're Director or below, you're just executing. I've never worked at an organization where leadership was so involved in the minutia of operating the business. -Professional development is non-existent in practice. Managers don't bother to set goals, deliver mid-year reviews or even meet with their people to discuss careerpathing. My managers no-showed or cancelled to just about every TB I ever had with them - even when they themselves scheduled those TBs. When I asked directly for feedback on my performance, I was told 'everything's fine.' -PTO is REALLY REALLY stingy. Two weeks a year for the first 5 years.
 -The 401K funds from which you can choose are horrible. There are only a handful and you can't even create a balanced portfolio with them. The company match is a joke. They match you twice a year after the first year, depending on date of hire, so you could be waiting around a year and a half to be matched. Also, you have to wait 5 years to be 100% vested.