salesperson

sales representative

warehouse worker

sales associate

cybersecurity lead

Harvey Norman

The day would start being at work before door opening to the public so we can make sure all demo stock (coffee/ popcorn) is clean for use, all computer's are switched on and my undelivered is up to date, stock is safe and secure and no obstructions in between ills, giving duties/ instructions to co-workers in smalls department, as clients come in during the day - to make sure that each and every person is greeted friendly and served timelessly with friendliness, advice and the best product suitable for there needs and in there prise range, always offering all KPI's to each customer, including finance. Handling any returns or complains answering phone calls and queries, while making sure that all other staff is performing there duties for the day, encouraging co-workers to perform there best and help were needed. Receiving and checking stock in warehouse distributing it to the floor and putting away in warehouse what is not needed on floor, checking on stock to re order, following up orders that has not come in yet, following up stock that was sold that was not received yet, contacting customers to pick up stock that was payed for and now received. cashiering when needed, Reporting to management if needed, e-mailing suppliers, housekeeping, merchandising, cleaning all demo equipment for the day, make sure all equipment used is turned of, shutting down computer's. The most enjoyable part of the job is serving people, interacting with them and to make them smile- enjoy there shopping experience. What I have learned is that the most important part in sales is being honest consistent and reliable, that will make your customer happy and satisfied.. Helping co-workers out were possible, is satisfying and rewarding for on the day when you need, they will lend a helping hand. Mutual respect amongst co-workers is what makes us a family. Management being your direct boss, or the admin, or warehouse- manager,, is always firm but friendly, in times when you need assistants they will help you, and as long as you keep your side clean it stays a healthy relationship

A typical day at work, was pretty relaxed and quite not many customers in the area i was working in, but the management was on our tails for not being to hit daily targets despite literally not having anyone walking into the store during some hours of us being open. 

I learned that the workforce is always going to be a bit unfair but the favoritism in this company is just through the roof.

Management always preached equality and its a team but when some of the staff get passes on certain things and some others including myself were not given that luxury, i found that quite frustrating.

Workplace culture was honestly not awful but not great either, I got along with a lot of the other staff, but there were certain members of staff I could not see eye to eye with. It became so toxic at one point that we had to have an intervention and still nothing changed, management just swept it under the rug without addressing the problem.

The hardest part of the job was meeting KPIs and the constant pressure that was placed upon me and a few other younger members but som of the senior members whom I had similar numbers as, got nothing, no warnings about performance or anything just a "good job" move on.

The most enjoyable part was honestly just some of the staff and people i got to meet throughout my time there. 

While only a short time at the Preston store I found my time their very enjoyable.
The staff made me feel very welcome as I came from the Coburg store.
Warm and friendly staff.
A team which is great and you could always depend on someone taking care of a problem if you were not there.
Customers sense negativity and lucky this was not the case there.
My proprietor was amazing to work for and very inspiring in the way he addressed the staff in our meetings.


My typical day at work would be to arrange customer orders so their stock would be delivered on time.
Answering the phones.
Merchandising.
Resolving any customer complaints promptly.
Attending to customers and assisting them with their purchases.
Keeping updated with new products and promotions with our suppliers.

The most enjoyable part of retail in general is meeting people.
I am very much a people's person and love the interaction.
I always aim to create a good rapport with my customers and have made a lot of friends.
Receiving awards for great customer service is an achievement that I am proud of.
Also seeing a final result of a kitchen that you have helped the customer design and selection of products is very rewarding.
(when they invite you home you know that you have made a loyal customer come friend).

The commission system does not favour casual workers in any regards, often paid sub-award because you receive incentive payments. These incentives are facades for performance boosts, full timers pawn off bad sales to casuals so you end up remaining under the award so they have to give a monthly top up to ensure they don't violate fair work. When I realised this, the incentive nature of a commission loses all value. The amount of blood, sweat and tears I'd poured into this role just to see that I was being paid the same either way, it opened my eyes. The workplace culture is fake team work and absolute ruthlessness and competition, of course management loves it because it increases GP despite the morale being the most toxic I've ever experienced. I tried my best to get out of sales because I am passionate about the industry and it was a job, but there was no flexibility in the role so I resigned. There's so many more dodgy things that happens within this business, but the bottom line is this isn't worth your effort or energy if you have an ounce of humanity in you, my only exception to this would be if you were friends with the proprietor or offered a full time position and had no other options. 

This job on a daily basis focused on solving customers concerns with the products they had purchased. My job was to rectify the matter asap and have the customer satisfied with how i dealt with the matter. I would be dealing with companies outside the store who would be able to assist me in solving this matter, this information would be passed to the customer to keep them up to date with the procedure. Management would assist in providing feedback to me as well as support in dealing with difficult situations where the issue may require higher management to step in. I was diligent in my role and determined to solve the matters before they escalated to this level. I learned from this role that listening to a customer and hearing what they have to say is the most important part of customer service, not to butt in and to ignore there concerns.

This job was challenging and allowed me to broaden my knowledge of this avenue of work. I enjoyed the variety the job gave to me, but wanted to spread my wings to a new company and develop even more.

I will be looking forward to hearing from you and discussing my previous history even more.

Kind Regards
Brad Dawes

Warehouse managers and most of all higher ups are young people that have zero experience in doing so. Props order too much stock to put away, day in day out I work tirelessly and every single week without failure when I return after my two day break it’s ALWAYS MESSY. People barely lift fingers or push themselves, warehouse management is within a family so no outsiders get any advancement. No opportunity to progress, I was told in my interview almost a year ago that they will “start me on casual then go full time” I’ve been recently told that I’ll be getting SHAFTED and only given two shifts a week. They’ve hired multiple other people in the time I’ve been employed and they’ve been put straight on full time. 

Hiring is sheerly based on who you know so even if you are an absolute lazy slug nobody pulls you up on it. Unless you're the one who pushes yourself and actually show a keenness to do everything to the best of your ability, then you get blamed for things, people slack off more and you’re forced to pick up the slack. 

This has been the worst year of my life

Long and short, nobody cares, everyone is lazy and don’t work here.

I left HN after 4 months as the whole structure and philosophy of commission-based selling did not sit well with me. It was OK under my first boss but not the second. Employees were expected to reach sales targets that were not realistic and the only way to get there was to pressure the customer, be unethical with your explanation/sales pitch or to lower prices. By lowering prices, you may sell more but you get less commission. My boss lowered the price so much on an item that cost nearly $5k that I earned about $7 commission on it. Employees also argue over whose customer it is so they get the commission. The ethical ones will find out if a customer has been with another salesperson on a previous day or earlier that day and will give the sale to that person. However, some see a simple "hello, how are you?" to the customer as making them their customer. You should be working as a team, not competing against each other. Thankfully, the people I worked with were generally good people. The base pay is terrible and it's no wonder some people stoop to unethical stuff to make a bit more.

A typical day at work consists of opening the store, store float is counted and checked, everything is then turned on ready for customers. 
Serving customers, credits, returns, general cleaning as well as moving stock to and from the floor are also parts of a typical work day.

This job taught me how to multi-task efficiently, making the most of my time at work to complete multiple jobs at once or help multiple customers at once.

I have found that co-workers in Harvey Norman are all professional, hard working and extremely driven. Every day is a challenge to better myself and to better each other, an extremely fun and competitive work place.

The most difficult part of the job, for myself, is customer complaints and resolving them will always be difficult but I know that I am more than capable of resolving almost any problem a customer could have to their satisfaction.

Being able to open and tinker with the newest products on a day-to-day basis is by far the most enjoyable part of the work.

You can’t have ethics in this department, you must point the customer to the product that give you the most commission. 
If a staff allowed a customer to return a product, that stuff would have to pay the loss. 
FT - 38 hours any more and you will not be paid extra... that is no time in lieu, no over time, no penalty rates etc.   because you earn high commission it’s expected you’ll make more than penalty rates... (lies). 
However you are working 48hours a week... therefore one day unpaid.. 
for a new person this is an absolute joke as you got minimum wage, worked the most hours and got little commission due to knowledge. 

No training, expect for an imbecile of a man on a video trying to ‘teach you how to sell’. Thrown into the deep and expected to ‘butterfly’ within the hour. 

If resignation notice is handed in within the 6 months of probation, the manager will have a meeting to say you failed probation therefore not having to tell HR why you left...

It is not busy until holidays periods otherwise dead af.

I worked for Harvey Norman and in a few months I saw that most of the staff were over worked and miserable. They didn't get a balance at all. I have managed other busineses for many years and had extensive training in bedding sales , furniture etc. I found it to be very poor on this side as most staff sat on computers cheating or wasting valuable customer service skills not to mention loosing money as they tried to finish modules that they didn't find interesting. The management drove an unrealistic approach to a very different market and due to this approach I saw the old fashioned pride in service and product slide to barstardisation. I think you should with they way online shopping has had an effect on retail, be the ones to stand talk by your product. Choose only quality items and re train your staff properly on the value of correct product knowlege and its availability.

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