Vantaggi
Holiday entitlement good, as is the sick pay policy. Uniforms are supplied and direction from Reddich (head office) is frequent & clear if delivered properly by the line managers. At any level below supervisor/management, you don't have to take your work home with you.
Svantaggi
Terrible management structure. Senior staff are stretched over several areas and stores. There is no senior management structure in more stores than you would imagine, instead using supervisors & key-holders to perform duties that are often well above their experience or pay grade. The wages at this level are poor & do not reflect the responsibility that these roles invoke. Customer centered training is poor & product training non-existent when compared to the huge range of products in an average size store. Stores are so under staffed at peak trading times that tills become unmanned and security is compromised. Entrenched senior management are more than happy to sit on inflated wages & take the weekday early shifts due to the lack of accountability to what are pretty nomadic area managers. There is an endimic "jobs for the boys" culture across my whole tenure from starting in sales, right up to leaving as a "store manager" in all but title (which would have required a reflective wage that they would never had paid) Avoid Halfords unless you want to stay as a sales person or have a pal in senior management.