For those that missed the original post, I quit my IT career for a part-time job at Lowe’s, for 1/4 the pay. Can’t afford the low pay ATM, but I think my wife and I can muddle though until I go full-time, get promoted, whatever. I want to thank ALL of you who encouraged me! Cannot say how much more sane you all made me feel.
First thing our trainer did was give me a 10% discount card and program it. “Are you married?” Made another account for my wife. No lie, first thing we did.
I worked closely with HR on my last two jobs to build and improve our onboarding process. Lowe’s made me feel amateur. Let’s just say it was about as slick as such a complex legal and logistical process can be. (Yes, there’s far more than most people see or think about.)
The person that got us going did the job I’ve done in my last two roles, got new people on the right foot. Yes, even working IT, I was the first person they met and got settled with. She did pretty damned well. Got stuck watching a recorded onboarding meeting, loathed the presenter. Ever known one of those women who are all smiling teeth, while frowning at the same time, and totally fake? “Oh my gosh! What GREAT input!” Fuck me. I started first and the other 3 guys finished first because they skipped some video. Cheating bastards. :)
LOL, they had the exact rig I built for one company. Some flavor of Debian, locked in kiosk mode, Firefox, on a crappy PC. Perfect for onboarding, training and as a time clock.
They seem pretty cool. The CEO was nice to listen to, seems a solid leader. Black guy, and they talked about DEI initiatives a good deal, doubt they’re backing out, I’m sold. The store manager chatted with us for 30-minutes. Hell, my last CEO was an excellent leader, with half the staff, and he didn’t take 30 to talk to 4 low-paid beginners.
The main thread I picked up, from my interview, to the CEO talk, to the manager, was that you can move up fast if you come in, do a good job and take care of customers. Well hell, that’s what I’m best at. Everyone I’ve met in leadership started on the floor for shit pay, CEO as well.
Turns out my direct super is the British dude that’s helped me before, love that guy! Be sweating my ass off in the outdoor area soon enough, the position I asked for, but I think having that man on my side will get me through.
So, be honest, am I fooling myself here? This ain’t my first rodeo and I got very positive vibes, but it’s a monster retailer so there’s that.
EDIT: Forgot some of the meat of the story. Time and attendance policy seems lenient enough, though I’m not used to even thinking about it. PTO is crap compared to what I’m used to, which taking about every Friday off. Can’t say about health, 401K, all that, but they offer it to part timers. Not great, more than I expected, who knows. All in all, no threatening crap like I expected for $15/hr. “You toe the line or you’re fired!”, kinda bullshit. Turnover is a metric they take seriously, and call out management on it. I’ll drill into it more tomorrow when training is more 1-on-1.
I don’t get it at all, personally. Or at least I don’t get going into big box retail anyway. No shot I ever want to go back to that.
If that’s honestly your goal, do yourself a favor and look it up. Lowes is huge and this information is no doubt out there. But if your goal is to make it into their management program or something, working from entry level retail position is usually not the play.
Yup, my buddy got her MBA from UT Austin and her first gig was an assistant manager for Target. You aren’t running a 10-100 million dollar a year store woking up from a stock position.
Haven’t met a soul who didn’t start out on the bottom, all the way up to district manager. CEO claims there are guys on the board who started on the floor. Vets clearly get preference though, and that ain’t me.
Keeping a close eye on how things are done, how happy the employees are, all that, ready to bail the second I smell bullshit. I got nothing so far. Hell, just got my schedule after saying I wanted Saturdays and nights off. Fine, got every other Saturday, or less, and most nights off. She put me on a few nights so I can learn how to close. They’re very intent on getting everyone on the same page.
Spent 4 hours watching training videos. Well, you know that sucked, but still, best corporate training I’ve engaged. Well focused too! They guy next to me who will work lumber got much different tasks.
Sounds like an unbelievable strategy in today’s big-box world, but it’s hard to argue with success.