Bullying, issues handling diversity, and poor communication. - Recensione dipendente - Supermarket Assistant presso Waitrose

- Issues with diversity: when I worked there I had a colleague tell me I only got the job "because I was brown". I later had an apology from a manager however the issue wasn't ever addressed with the person who made the statement. They also had an issue of the staff magazine that actually said "we like to hire ethnic minorities so that we know what they eat and we can sell it" (that's not a direct quote, but it was written to a similar standard). This same magazine said that they support LGBTQ because of the Pride festival. You might as well say that we hire diversity so we can use their heritage to make sales and we hire LGBTQ because they have parties. They're so insensitive when it comes to diversity. Further to this, the area in which I worked I experienced racism from the shoppers. I've been told basically "go home" and some people wouldn't come to my till and would rather queue. It REALLY has an impact on your self-esteem. - The hours and pay they advertise for positions aren't what they say they are. They might put full time however they won't have those to give you. If you say you want those hours you're seen as "inflexible". They also advertise up to 9.91 on some job vacancies, however even some lower level managers won't get that pay. The pay is closer to £8.40 or £8.99 if you're a driver. - Communication is TERRIBLE. Having worked part time I decided to try and find some more hours somewhere else. A few years later I noticed they now had full time hours. I applied and was sent an invitation for a group interview with only 1 time slot available. I went into store and asked if there was anything else available and was told it "wasn't PC" to do this as it would be seen as too advantageous. I was due in Hospital, so really I thought it'd be better to ask rather than decline and seem disinterested. So in the end it was anything but advantageous. They did eventually put up some more dates for a group interview, but when I attended it was a one on one interview. I had to answer some questions and then do a test, and if I was successful I was told that I would have to do a driving test. I was then told I was unsuccessful. I also had an application in for another store at this point, and so I went to this interview and when I arrived I was told that a) the guy who interviewed me rang this other store to talk about me and b) that this interview (which I received emails about) was not on their books so I'd turned up for nothing. I was told later that this other store had put in an offer for me, however when I rang resourcing they told me that this didn't exist and that the interview should have taken place. They then spoke to the store who was supposed to ring me back and since then no-one has given me ANY information! All I can assume that the original store had an issue with (I wouldn't be surprised if this was to do with diversity) and rang this other store to somehow stop this interview going forward. When I received feedback from the original interview, it didn't even correlate to how the interview actually went and it didn't even include any information on the written assessment I was made to do. - Whilst I worked their they changed the whole "free coffee" thing so it was unavailable for staff on their working days .. NOT just during working hours, but the entire day. So if you'd worked 8 hours you couldn't do you shopping and get a free coffee, and then if you're working full time you could only do that 2 days a week on your days off. - One of the higher ups during my "tenure" made some terrible comments about trading with France. He wasn't disciplined, he just made some terrible excuse with a half hearted apology. Yet somehow people have been fired for making some small comment on Facebook! - The bonus is dwindling. It's so meagre now for employers that it barely means anything yet it's still touted as a perk. I mean that small percentage each year is fine if you're paid more .. a lot more. - They've removed their canteens now so all staff have are vending machines. - Booking holidays makes no sense. I was asked to book my holidays for the year all in one go at the start of their calendar year. Given that I can't account for what might happen in the year I found it near impossible, but you're made to do it by a certain time or they book it for you, and they will just squeeze it in where they see fit (even if it makes no sense). - If you write into their staff magazine and raise a complaint they will tend to come back to you with a "we're sorry that you feel that we are wrong" so they can avoid actually apologising whilst continuing to tell you that they are in fact right (which just reads like a terrible University letter). - The uniform is pretty damn uncomfortable. I'd advise to get your own trousers unless you like static shocks. Honestly, there is so much more I could list but this is on the verge of turning into a dissertation so I'll just leave it at that.