Zero integrity, poor culture, high Management / Associate turnover
Pros
Michael Hill online sales training is comprehensive. They've adoped the highly successful Friedman Gold Star Selling program, which many major companies use. Except they take it to the extreme with their interpretation. Although they only allot you two hours a week for three to four months in-store to complete it, which is impossible so you are "highly encouraged" to finish it on your own time at home. This job is good for someone who wants to get into retail management with little or no experience, expectations, or standards.
Cons
I was recruited via my professional online profile. Although I originally turned down the recruiter, they were persistent and finally I gave in. My decision to join Michael Hill was the biggest mistake of my career, leaving a Management job that I was completely content with only to be enticed by the sales pitch of being given a brand new store with the potential of earning a six-figure commissioned and bonused salary. The one thing you can learn about a company is how many jobs do they post at any given time and how often do they post the same job online throughout the year, giving insight of their turnover and ultimately culture. The second thing you can learn is when you Google reviews for a company, and more negative reviews than positive ones show in the search results, that's a big red flag. I failed to listen to my instincts or at least observe the obvious. The store where I was based went through one Manager every year for the last five years and a dozen Manager's in Training (MIT) during the same period. MH never hires outside for Store Managers despite their misleading job postings. You must start off as a Manager In Training (MIT) and go through their intensive online training to become a Store Manager. The 52-60k salary is reserved for Store Managers, MIT salaries are typically lower. As a person with Executive / Field Management experience, I was wary of accepting the MIT position as it seemed like a step down, but I was convinced otherwise. Also, you must "apply" to be a Store Manager when a vacancy becomes available. They claim that Michael Hill is one level below Tiffany & Co and one level above Peoples Jewellers, when in reality they are at the very bottom with the low quality and overpriced jewellery that they sell, and excessive discount marketing tactics. They have a "Crazy Sale" or a "Diamond VIP Event" every other week so customers don't bother buying now when they can just wait for the next sale. This cheapens the brand and product, and does not create a sense of urgency with their customer. Upper Management expects no less than $10,000 sales during these unadvertised one-day sale events, regardless of store location or volume, thus bringing another unethical business practice into play. "Sandbagging" or taking customer payment for product but not registering the sale, instead putting it into Received on Account (ROA) to be saved "for a rainy day". This business practice is encouraged at the highest levels, including the Country General Manager, the fabricating of results to appease their masters. Commission is virtually non-existent, it competes directly with your wage and is complicated to understand. Bonus through selling protection plans (PCP) at $4 each plan sold is more achievable but you must maintain a minimum 30% PCP KPI. The Min Sell, or lowest negotiable selling price, on any given product is approximately 30% off the tagged retail price. The Staff Price is approximately 70% off the retail price. Because of the high markup, the company is still makes good margin on Staff purchases as the Staff price is marked at keystone. Therefore the company still makes 50% margin on your staff purchase. Managers are expected to sell and coach 100% of the time, and sell as much as your full-time Associate. Zero operational duties, no "big picture, running the business" required, thus the created position of Office Administrator who does most of your paperwork. Highly sales-centric culture to an extreme. Goals are unrealistically set at 25% over last year's sales. If you miss goal aka "Gold Star" more than twice in a row, you will be action planned and eventually fired. On my second night closing, I was paired with a non-keyholder who wasn't trained on back-end closing procedures, of which I was only shown once. I hoped for the best and eventually closed the store properly. Apparently, you are only shown things once and expected to remember how to do it with no supervision. You are also expected to train yourself, not by your Manager, but through self-taught, learner-driven online training. Let alone, they got a Manager who only worked for the company for a little over one year with no prior Management experience to train me. Apparently, two years is considered long for a Store Manager at Michael Hill. For a jewellery store, they do not enforce their own security protocols, ie. no bag checks, inventory improperly stored, inconsistent inventory control, etc. Small-minded business thinking is still pervasive in Michael Hill culture and their policies and procedures. It's almost as if the company and its founder has an inferiority complex, apparent when you are forced to read the self serving book he wrote, "Toughen Up", as part of your orientation. The company is so insecure, as part of the customer diamond presentation, it preaches the company was founded in the late 1970s, it's "one of the world's largest publicly traded jewellers" (only on the New Zealand Stock Exchange), and justifies selling lower grade product because it's less expensive for you. Nepitism and untrusting, considering most of upper management is Michael Hill's family, friends, and Australian / New Zealander.
