duty manager

customer assistant

retail sales associate

store manager

team member

Dan Murphys

After working for Dan Murphy's for almost 6 years, I've experienced several stores and several management teams. It is true that each store has a different culture, so if you can, find out how the store you are applying for operates. My experience was not so favourable. My store management functioned initially on the model of Stalin's rule, under the original management - we would walk around with our heads down, terrified to speak to one another for fear of being sent to the Gulag (Manager's office). After some years that management was disposed and change arrived. Things became better at the store level, and quite enjoyable as a whole experience - so it does depend on the store management to a degree to set the store culture. After the tyranny ended, I learnt many more things and quite enjoyed working at Dan Murphy's.

However, the real issue was the several poor interactions with upper management (that is management that is at a level outside of the store, usually taking care of several stores). The discrimination and total disinterest towards the day-to-day floor staff was incredible. My greetings were ignored, my suggestions fell on deaf-ears and mocked openly because they came from floor-staff. When disagreement occurred, the management would often flaunt their status and even their pay-grade as to why they shouldn't be argued with. One staff member had been unfairly fired due to a heated argument over uniform with the area manager. But with the little resources he had (and the little he had lost in his termination), there was little need to pursue justice. All the while, Dan Murphy's management would frequently try to maintain a moral legitimacy with empty gestures of social-justice initiatives, and the like. So don't be fooled by rosy introductions or the inspiring training videos. However, fortunately, interactions with upper management are not that common on a daily basis. 

In all, after many years, one comes to realise that Dan Murphy's is a great position for some short term work, particularly for the young, but very quickly it becomes a road that offers little intrinsic value, a means to a very shallow end. My suggestion is for those who get a job a Dan Murphy's, is to use it for its training, its experience, and something to put on a CV and move on to bigger and better things.

Good: Stable job, good pay, great rapport with the team because you're all stuck in the same boat. Stricter codes to abide by so you know you can't get caught out by your own ignorance if you give underage kids alcohol. Multiple jobs in one shift (depending on which store you're in). One store I worked in swapped around the register shifts every two hours because whoever thought of that idea had been just as drained as anyone else on a register for 4-8 hours, so that everyone got a turn to be on the floor doing stock and helping customers which gave you a break in a sense.  

Bad: If you're a young adult who gets a job at Dan Murphy's, expect to be put on the Saturday night shift for two years. That shift teaches you some real patience. And instead of the fortnightly Saturday night shift swap idea, they don't want you to change the fragile eco system if it means putting someone middle aged on a Saturday shift, because they don't like that. This might come off as whiny, but once you deal with the incompetence that one has in two different stores in Melbourne, there's not a concern for good management, but because everyone is mates up top and they don't want to make things difficult for themselves. HR won't listen to your complaints, and brush off most issues, even extremely problematic issues like having your boss watch you over your shoulder while you fill out a mandatory quiz on how the work environment is and the management. We were lucky to have a lady on our team who was unionised otherwise one of the worst people in the world would have remained a manager.

The in-store operations and the camaraderie among the local teams remain the highlight of working here. The store-level staff are dedicated, hardworking, and truly care about the customer experience. However, the culture has shifted significantly under the current upper management, moving away from a supportive environment to one driven by unrealistic metrics and fear.
Where leadership used to be encouraging, the focus is now entirely on hitting KPIs that often feel unattainable. The pressure to secure perfect customer review scores has reached a point where it detracts from genuine service, forcing staff to solicit feedback aggressively. When targets are met, the bar is immediately raised without recognition; when they are missed, the feedback is often public and demoralizing rather than constructive.
There is also a growing disconnect between the company's stated values and its actions. While there is talk of caring for the team, aggressive cuts to rostered hours tell a different story. It is becoming increasingly difficult to retain experienced staff when they are expected to deliver higher results with fewer resources.
Ultimately, the environment has become one where 'managing up' and agreeing with leadership is valued over honest feedback or operational reality. Leaving the business, even for a role with lower remuneration, has been a massive improvement for my mental health and work-life balance.

The range of products is extensive and the prices are the lowest in the liquor trade. Customers come in mainly for that reason but I strongly believe that they also come to Dan's for the product knowledge that the staff have and for the manner in which they are treated, they get good staff service.

A typical day at work is made up of setting up the tasting table and teaching staff and customers about the wine that we are promoting, completing planograms ,Ltos , doing the ends for advertised stock and the blueprints. My product knowledge is extensive and my ability to give the customers the quality service they desire with confidence.

The Managers that I have worked with have great people skills, have good product knowledge,always give positive feed back to there staff. Another great attribute to the management and the company is the slow turnover of staff.

The culture of the workplace is great ,all the staff get on well are respectful to each other which makes for an enjoyable place to work.

The hardest part of the job is keeping ahead with staff training.

The most enjoyable part of the job is the people I work with and offering quality merchandise  at low prices and good friendly customer service.

Daily work routine is just that, either load stock to shelves, maintain store appearance, register work. Trying to get ahead is all but impossible, if you do not fit the management roles, you are forever permanent part time or casual. There is limited opportunity to get into a management role. Whilst they say they are going to continually train and improve your skillset, it is a very long drawn out experience, if it ever happens. I was promoted to a Duty Manager (but not management). paid a minimum increase to be expected to run the store by yourself on shifts that management did want to do. Team culture is there in pockets, if you fit in with the in crowd. There is a lot to learn if you are not wine/spirit/beer savvy, and whilst they say they will give you time in store to learn, I did all of my training at home on my own time. The most enjoyable part of the job WAS the interaction with customers, seeing them find or advise on the products on offer. Having them return on a secondary visit and thanking you for the recommendation made.

Was a great place to work when I had a certain manager. Things ran efficiently then and everyone knew their responsibilities and place within the team. Was a great team culture.

Since management has changed, regrettably the store has lost structure, direction and we are all often barely keeping the business functional. Manager is terrible and enforces no team structure, so job roles/responsibiities have become unclear and details have been missed for months to the point now where they are near impossible to fix. On top of that we are severely understaffed, particularly in duty manager roles, so staff often have to pull double shifts or come in on their rostered days off because our manager is too cheap to make new hires. Different stores may have a better structure than ours.

Job is fairly physically demanding which I enjoy because it keeps me fit and makes the day go quicker. The business has very busy periods so not good for people who arent used to working in an environment dealing with high customer/stock volume. 

Hard to leave because I am on a permanent part time contract where I am able to design my hours around University. As soon as I find something permanent part time in a similar role I am out of there!!

A typical day of work was usually alright. I could find many things to entertain myself with and little tasks that needed to be completed but something I have learnt here is that being a busy worker will not get you the hours you want. A lot of the time, you had to flirt your way into more hours or be 'popular' in the work force. I do have a lot of really great co-workers that recognize this and just focus on their work, but, there are some that take advantage of this knowledge. 
Working at Dan Murphys was generally an easy job, I sometimes wished that they would allow me to learn more about the company and let me do other, more difficult jobs but one thing I did have to deal with was refusing customers service. That was a tough job because either the person was really kind and left the store calmly or they would put up a fight and insult me, threaten me, or make a large scene about how upset they were. Even though there were some pretty nasty customers there were also the really kind ones. I always look forward to seeing the face of customers I know because you get to talk to them about their lives, say hello to their kids and just gain a relationship with them that you wouldn't normally working in any other part of the store.

Middle management are set up to fail. Too many jobs, not enough time to complete them. Too many responsibilities. When something is missed, no matter how overworked, how well the store is trading or trending, all that happens is that you get hammered by upper management. Standing up for a co-worker risks being targeted by senior management. Covert surveillance of staff looking for the slightest pretence to put pressure back on whoever is falling out of favour (at that time). Conscientious, hard-working co-workers, bullied, micromanaged. Discrimination of various kinds used unfairly on the team. Managers throwing subordinates under the bus. Harassment and bullying happen far too often. Area managers do little to address it enabling further abuse.

It's such a shame, that a workplace that could be so good, so rewarding and fun to work in, is turned into an unpleasant workplace for so many talented workers. It reflects poorly on the organisation and the middle and upper management.

The team are great. The customers (mostly) are great.
Management and corporate culture on the other hand are disgraceful.

Would not recommend working there.

As every job goes they have their ups and their downs. As for the store I worked in I witnessed and experienced many unethical behaviours with upper management such as temperamental behaviours, poor communication, use of scare tactics including treats of loss of job and blaming injuries on staff not being fit for the job instead of upper management not using appropriate rotations of staff to avoid repetitive movement injuries. 

Team members were helpful and friendly. I did witness and work with many stores with amazing management and team members that had great spirit and pride and it was reflected in their store.

Great ability to grow, learn and with ambition and effort climb the industry ladders. 

Lots of HR resources. 

If you have a passion for the industry you can learn so much. There are so many opportunities to experience, explore and to try so many different products and learn the histories. Event nights can be so much fun being able to engaging with customers and share your passion and love of products. 

An average work shift at Dan Murphy's as a Stock Assistant will include moving stock coming in off a truck to the floor of the store each morning continuing until about lunch time, sometimes longer. Between that time once the store opens at 9 AM, you will be back and forth dealing with customers and trying to finish putting out the load. The fridge and the cool room has to continually be replenished to provide cold products to the customers such as beer, white wine and champagne/sparkling wine. You may also be required to take up a register momentarily if the counter queue starts to get longer than 3 people to avoid wait times for customers. Dan Murphy's closes at 9 PM on a normal working day, if you're doing a closing shift the fridges must be full, the stock on the shelves must be pulled forward neatly with labels facing outwards and you may be required to count a register if more than two were used, general tidying up in the warehouse and on the floor and you're out of there by 915 PM.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Duty manager 10 salaries reported	$29.10 per hour
Customer assistant 4 salaries reported	$27.00 per hour
Retail sales associate 3 salaries reported	$31.33 per hour
Store manager 3 salaries reported	$88,000 per year
Team member 3 salaries reported	$30.00 per hour

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