How did we go from an American icon to a laughing stock? From a great place to work to one of the worst working experiences for anybody who is unlucky enough to get a job here these days? From one of the biggest and best department stores to the bottom of the barrel?
Who is to blame for this fiasco?
TL was an egomaniac. JG was Slow and making changes and HL was just horrible at everything.
Be glad Mr. Hatchet man is gone. Hal was a disaster.
Be decisive and move quick.
Macys should not have eliminated the in store human resource managers. They were an asset in most stores.
I started in 2012. It was very strict and you had to dress in dress pants , tie, dress shoes, dress shirt you looked the part . YOU DID Your JOb!! As the intro my client it was a great idea to retain customers. The problem was as the years went on you got bogged down with unreasonable work load to the point I felt many times I was gonna collapse on the floor from exhaustion. No after being wiped out exhausted from lack of help you now want me to do my client. I’m not even thinking about it cause I’m overloaded with too much to do with zero help . Then you hire these young kids. Pants is half down you can see their underwear hanging out , they barley do anything. Return policy for damages his away and shorten the 1year return to 60 days. People come 61 day and can’t return , get p-ss-d and never come back. As the years go I notice every caring less and less. Started to wear anything they wanted to work. Didn’t care about customer service, came in and barley worked as things piled up. New receipts don’t even make it to the floor and time they do they’re already on the sales rack. Managers doesn’t seem to notice. Until corporate tells them to put it out. By then it’s too late. Profit has been lost. I expect my job to be gone in Jan / feb. I lost all drive to be there’s for lack of any leadership, help, direction , my store manager just seems like she’s battle the sale manager who probably could do her job better than her and tries to fire her so she has no competition . It’s like watching rats fighting each other as the ships are sinking. That’s another problem I notice. Everyone is battling each other and there’s no team effort. (Management) all I have read on here spells a bleak future. When Macy’s goes down and it will. All these “ managers “ will flock to other dying retail jobs only to start the process all over again.
One of the best leaders downsized and moved on to Belk. So many people have followed her there. NWR is falling to pieces. NBS has been terrible to work for.
A decline in leadership at the levels where it matters most is a significant contributing factor. Our region has seen so many DVP's and Store Managers leave to go to Belk and other retailers, and there aren't even any Belk stores in our part of the country. Unrealistic expectations for those who work with customers at store level, requiring leaders to work 24/7. No respect for personal time or work life balance, calls and emails everyday of the week at all hours of the day, no concern for number of days worked in row, or any interest in really helping to address key factors like low pay for hourly colleagues and unrealistic workload. Why work at Macy's for $11 an hour and you are held to terribly high expectations, when you can get a job making $15 an hour working fast food or in the mall with realistic expectations?
Region and district teams talk about improving our onboarding experience and ask Store Managers what they are doing to make their stores a more favorable place to work, but nobody wants to invest in our people and pay a reasonable wage. We have either Boomers who have worked for the company for so long, they want to finish their retail career here, and we have those who get here and leave within the first year or two.
I am sure all of the hourly team members are looking forward to their huge 10 or 15 cent raises in May, really, how many more months can we continue to push back reviews to save a few bucks? How about some more dual store managers and executives covering two stores, districts, or regional jobs? Focus on the leadership and find people without huge egos that actually care about their teams, and stop the 24/7 workload and give people a decent work life balance.
I agree with "humble opinion." Started with TL but really driven home by JG since before TL left. Their inability to listen to really smart people who worked for them who could see both issues and opportunities doomed Macy's. It is painful to listen to customers talk about how bad it is. I also worked for company for over 25 years. My millennial went shopping with friends and they spent a lot of $- walked into an elite Macys - said it was a"sh*t show" and left.
Not too worry- all the top hotshots will cash out big time- company goes on block, stocks rise briefly...
Just my humble opinion.......retired executive almost 3 years.......almost 35 years with the company......who is to blame? Many things have contributed to the current situation......Terry Lundgren wanted to build the largest department store chain.....so he bought up too many regional store chains.....some were not doing well.....too much duplication.....too many stores......the market was over saturated.....company was not proactive with the on line opportunity......because of the generous return policy, we gave away the store for years.....we had a free rental business.....the company got away from the basics.....you can't run a business from a messy stockroom and even messier sales floor. You have to treat employees well and listen to everyone. There has been a HUGE disconnect between the reality in the stores and New York for years.....I used to tell my boss that "I manage to the truth"......perhaps if everyone did? To all.....thank you for all your efforts to try to help M have a good Holiday season , and enjoy a well deserved day off tomorrow......