store manager

WHSmith

Management was pretty good. I had a lot of flexibility with my shifts, and they were pretty understanding. Great, and diverse range of employees who made working there easy. Good company culture. Typical retail duties such as serving customers, stocking, etc. Salary was decent. 

I will mention: there are various WHSmith stores throughout different areas of the airport, meaning there's different management, and employees situated in those areas, so my experience may not be the same as others who've worked here!

The most enjoyable aspect of the role is being able to work retail in an airport environment, so you interact with all sorts of customers from around the world. It's a great 'first job'. Although, I wouldn't recommend it as a long-term job. I worked here for a solid few months, and it was a great experience, but I wouldn't go back. 

The pay is not the best and the staff discount is horrible it’s only like 5% off. Managers think they’re better than you and treat you badly, they give you a last minute shift without notifying you and then blame you for not knowing. Some managers are nice but there’s the majority that are just horrible. They tell people that they need to go from casual to part time because they “won’t get a lot of hours anymore if they stay as a casual”but they just say that so people will switch to part time and have to pay them less as part timers earn less hourly than casuals. Not a great work culture/environment overall. Wouldn’t recommend.

Understaffed, always.
No proper training.
 Insufficient cleaning equipment. Leaking fridges, broken equipment eg: shop doors, mops, self service machines list is endless any requests to fix/replace took a long time. No time to complete tasks properly.
If the Area Manager if they didn’t like you, you would only get 4 hrs a week work. 
Many staff were squeezed out this way. Even the best staff.
The most senior management would not even help as they are interstate and you would rarely see them. Although very nice any request for help from them was ignored.
Other staff were nice.
Worst part was trying to actually get hours.
Best part was quitting.


My role initially was on the news team. A team which sorts through all the news papers and magazines. Ensuring each store had their designated order. If any orders were missing we would have to investigate why and make sure we received the items or our money back. 

We were also responsible for sending back any out of date newspaper/magazine issues to the supplier. 

When there was a shortage of staff, I would have to serve customers on the tills and cover breaks.

I worked in a managerial position for over 7 years and I started in the retail side of Whsmith. So much support from everyone. Went over to food after COVID, and although some support was given, management had know idea. A lot of recruitment which meant I was pushed out as I was a threat. Completely cut off after 7 years and no phone calls or support from superior management. Very disappointing. new Chef manager bought in who has no idea what so ever of how to treat staff, or prepare food. Does not know what customer service is either.

Such a happy place to work..99% of customers we deal with are in very high spirits which is a great positive to the role .
Pay not the best and can be very hard work some days,due to the amount of stock you work with and being on your feet for the entirety of your shift (apart from break)Not everyone pulls there weight especially the old School(been there years).New manager entering the role,hopefully a lot of things may change on this matter.It is a great environment and the majority of the staff are very helpful and make this an enjoyable work place.
..I love working in the Airport and WHSmiths..It's my happy place!

Whilst individual store experiences may differ the treatment from head office is awful. Not only is there very little opportunity to work your way up in the company (they prefer to hire new staff than promote from within) but they also have no loyalty or respect for their employees and have unrealistic expectations of staff. 

Do not work for this company if you take pride in your work as you will receive no encouragement or gratitude and the only things that you will get feedback on are negatives.

Got routine of accepting goods from delivery drivers, accepting good's into system by GRing. Then calculating the distribution process and loading trolleys to be taken up to stores. Managing a small window of time to take stock, and co-workers splitting tasks to be most beneficial to company. Physical labour can be demanding at times. Atmosphere in warehouse helps in passing time while working.

very inconsiderate management. they dont have a care in the world for people when they have health condtions which may affect work life, but are willing to accept people with health conditions knowing full well that sometimes my not be able to work up to standards of a average person. gossip about one another. and deduct pay from worked hours you have done and holiday pay if your off sick. absolutely terrible management.

I was sorting stationary with a co-worker and sometimes rotating the food and drink so the newest stock was at the back. And i also got to help sort the magazines at points aswell.

I learned how to work as part of a team to get things done.

The management was good and friendly.

My co-workers were friendly and helpful.

The hardest part of the job was finding where things went.

The most enjoyable part of the job was sorting the stationary and the magazines.

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