Vantaggi
Free Visuals - the company gives you inspiration and you give it your personal twist Boutique Ownership - francesca's gives managers the ability to feel as if they are the owner of their boutique, (which is quite liberating if you have come from any extremely structured environment.) I can see where a manager with limited experience would have a tough time in such a free environment. This freedom allows you to create your own management style and personalize the atmosphere within the boutique. Once again, this can be both a positive and negative because quite honestly there are more negative managers than positive ones. If you care about the business, the staff, and the customers in the most sincere of ways, this is a very rewarding environment. Caring - My RM specifically is the most amazing person I could have ever hoped to work for. This is only one person specifically and I can not vouch for any other single person employed here. It is hard to read the other reviews because my experience has been wonderful. I also feel like I receive the utmost respect from corporate employees. If you communicate clearly and in a friendly manner, they do as well. I have never felt anyone was being inappropriate. As for me, I personally love and care for each one of my staff. I could not do my job with out them and their hard work means the world to me. I do not dump my work load on them nor do I take all the credit for their wonderful ideas. I base my success on the success of the employees I train and if they don't succeed neither do I. Work/Life Balance - I have had more of a life with francesca's than with any other retailer I have worked for. I am expected to work 40 hours and not a minute more unless I am absolutely needed to, ( which is a stipulation of any manager at any company.) You are responsible for your business and you should know that going into being a manager. If my whole staff decides to walk out, I am well aware that I will be there from open to close until I find replacements. When holiday strikes, I may have to work overtime and not get paid for it. I do it to help my business and I don't complain about it. They give you 3 days off over major holidays! I have never worked for a company that offered this. This is a huge win! You get 2 weeks vacation after your first 90 days. The last company I worked for required a year of your service for 1 week. They listen to you - If you toss your ideas out to the right people, they are very responsive. If you are complaining constantly and your emails and general attitude are negative, they will not respond in order to not encourage this behavior.
Svantaggi
Salary - I agree with the other postings on this subject. The company pay scale is insulting for those of us with a good deal of experience. I am paid the same as managers with little experience, and that is heart wrenching. This company will lose the good managers to higher paying retailers, and that is a true loss for this company. Organization - It is by no means terrible. It is evolving as the company is growing, and there are bound to be plenty of bumps along the way. Some decisions seemed to be rushed, but they are far from overwhelming at store level. For everyone that complained about this in their posts, decisions are made for a reason, they are not just sitting around at home office randomly deciding to make your day difficult. Decisions are sometimes planned and sometimes rash based on the performance of certain areas of the business, this is why things seem unorganized. I assure you, the last company I worked for was so much worse, this is like a cake walk. If you can not handle what francesca's throws your way, you are not qualified to be employed here. This is simple for anyone with experience.