Cotton On & Cotton On Body

My first job since moving and I have been championed and encouraged. My store manager and assistant manager are the healthiest and most hardworking team I know. 

I have grown exponentially in confidence and my customer service and would recommend their leadership to anyone. Not all management under Cotton On Group can be said for the same but for most management they really do consider your work life balance, needs and wellbeing.  

I really like my Regional Manager in QLD as she is a personable, lovely and supportive. I have nothing but great reviews for current management that I get to work closely with as well as my co workers who make work environment enjoyable. 

Only Cons is the pressure of KPIs and foundation donations. It takes a toll on your confidence if you don’t meet targets but long as we make an effort.

It’s a good workplace as far as the environment goes. Nearly every single person I have met at the company has been nice. 
As far as the work side of it goes, has nothing against the individual store I work at as it’s a nationwide-company. The KPI expectation can feel a little overwhelming at times. Being able to sell ‘W.A.P’s (With any purchase) products on P.O.S can be difficult as majority of the customers choose to pass up on them. I strongly am an advocate for the donation-scheme Cotton On has ,however,  it’s not pleasant to receive so much negative feedback from the customers when we have to tell them the bags are $5. 

The discount is very generous, the job can be fun, when not on P.OS. the job also consists of fitting room attendance, stock-processing and displaying, folding t’shirts & sizing clothing and helping customers.

I used to enjoy working at the Cotton On Group and worked well with my zone and state manager.
Salary for store managers does vary greatly, can expect about 46k-60k depending on how well you get on with your direct manager. Very tough to get on the state team - VM, Area or state manager as these are highly sort after roles and are held onto.
Once I stepped back from store manager to department manager role I was micro managed by the store manger, she made my life difficult and did not let me "own" my department. I was more experienced than her too, jealously perhaps.  
Very high expectations on hitting KPI's daily. Can expect phone calls from area manager if you fail to meet standards a few days in a row.
Staff discount is pretty decent at 50% for 25 items a month. 

Working for CoG is very hit or miss. I was employed for almost a year here as a casual. I saw new employees get offered full time positions and more hours than the older staff due to previous management issues and training. This ultimately drove staff members away that had been there longer than most. KPIs that are required aren't tailored to the specific region and are constantly pushed on staff as they state that shifts are "performance based". They preach about being environmentally conscious but every item comes in its own plastic sleeve. The quality of their clothing has also decreased and it is obvious they are becoming a fast fashion brand. 
Apart for the bad, the plus side is those you work with and the discount. 

The day to day job is relatively boring - even as an assistant manager. All you do is run stock, fold clothes and stay in the same place within the store for 8 hours at a time. 

My managers within my store told me that ‘I wouldn’t be next for their position as I had to experience other positions in the business’ even though my next move logically is their position. It wasn’t as supportive as an environment as originally told by regional managers. 

The good is that the culture within the company is extremely helpful and the teams there are a wealth of knowledge - most of them being within the company for 5+ years. You learn more from the long term casuals than your managers. 

The actual work load isn't so crazy. For a casual retail job, it pays pretty well, you do get awarded for late night hours, overtime, early mornings, etc. So you do get well compensated. The only problems are the unrealistic KPIs and the frequent changes in upper management, my store alone has gone through 4 managers and I only started a year ago.  Frequent periods where there's no manager and you're forced to fend for yourself with your other coworkers. KPIs also suck because they are held to like an unrealistic standard, especially if you work at a centre/site that doesn't have lots of foot traffic or people who have lots of expendable funds. Overall, it isn't bad, definitely bareable, just isn't the best.

Discount was 50% full priced items across the entire brand, excludes charity items. Really good place to start when going into retail, really pushes you to be more extroverted. Upselling every customer feels weird at first but eventually get used to it. Shifts picked up in November and December but really slow down after Christmas. Staff is very nice and welcoming, good environment besides some bossy co-workers. 

toxic workplace, authoritative leadership, do as I say - not as I do culture, no work life balance, over worked and underpaid, operates inconsistently and unaligned to supposed values, made to feel like nothing, it’s about who you know- not what you know, favouritism,  mean-girl vibes, burn out, complete decline of mental health and self esteem, and never given recognition and credit for hard work or ideas (managers will take the credit)

It’s very hard to progress into a higher role at cotton on. They only care about the customers not the workers. No career progression at all. Very KPI based, you lose hours if you struggle to sell items. No clear conversation with management. They favourite certain workers and only give hours to them.

It’s clicky and juvenile and Can be toxic at times because management make it that way. They punish you like little children by literally cutting your hours right back if they don’t like you or you aren’t sucking up their backside. They tell you one thing and do the opposite. They have so many staff on the books while people are begging for hours. 3-5 hr shifts maximum. The culture is woke and it breeds toxicity. 

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