"some constructive criticism vs venting." - Recensione dipendente - Sales Representative presso Stone Source

Company Culture - Baring basic office politics, the overall work environment depends on which office you work for. As someone who does not work in NY, having that disconnect adds 1-6 steps to your job. NY reps get an unlimited amount of resources/support by comparison other reps are inevitably disgruntled. This is a male dominated company with no women on the executive team. Marketing – Branches must organize their own events while marketing does the leg work for NY. Asking marketing to help support events are nonstarters. Extending the brand perspective beyond NY is nonexistent. A solution would be to have a marketing person who primary focus is to with the other branches as the current marketing has a full plate. Involving your sales team in the marketing and marketing processes is also a great way to personalize the brand. Procurement/Project Team – There is a new rule set that was put in place recently without the input of the sales team. The average order company wide does not fit with the new limitations. The new limitations do not account for the specifications that have been qualified in previous years. We are now losing orders because we choose to no longer supply orders due to new limitations. Procurement can take anywhere from 2 days to 2 weeks. Sourcing resources are limited beyond NY. The other branches are often told to find locally if they get an answer at all. Support on large projects from upper management, project team and procurement are limited while NY projects tend to be treated as a priority. There is also a lot of posturing as to what team does what vs working together. Solution, revisit limitations. Consider other branches when working on project request. Stock - Big issue. The website not only conflicts with the previous mentioned limitations but it also implies we have stock of items when we do not. Solution, we need more stock and update website. Growth – Moving up the ladder as a sales rep is not an option. Other positions have been promoted but not this role. Simply put, there is nowhere to go and eventually reps leave because they want more options to grow. Some solutions are to invest in and involve your reps. Most reps are A type personalities and want to contribute their voice vs feeling isolated and having to accept their fate. Solution create team leads or senior sales positions. Create options to help with the other dept workloads. Product parade was a great example of engaging the reps in the process. Allow reps to travel to shows or for education in order to better themselves as a resource for the brand. Invest in your reps again. HR/Benefits – There is no HR. Handbooks are out of date and have not been updated since 2010. Holidays are limited to the basics. You get 2 weeks’ vacation and additional 3rd after 10 years. The vacation time is use it or lose it even though that is not legal in most states. Matching 401K up to 5%. There is a fear of repercussions if making a claim because there is not a 3rd neutral party to file the claim with. Solutions, more of everything. More holidays or floating holidays. Lower the 10 years for 3 weeks’ vacation. Compensation – This has recently been revised. Basic package consisting of a very low base, commission with a threshold and accelerators. Most accelerators are not achievable with revised plan. The low base is a plan designed to reward based on performance and weeding out the non-performers. Performing reps often have little to no work/life balance. There are no raises. I would suggest the executive team not only consider the cost of living in markets but also rewarding the employees of milestone/tenure with a increase in base.