Rivers

 Most fellow employees I encountered were pleasant, 4 out of 5 of my store managers were lovely (i worked at 2 stores during the 5 years I was with the company)  but due to the way upper management run the company from behind a computer with no actual in store sales experience made things very challenging. Every time we had a catalogue change, sale or a seasonal flip it was chaotic as they would change their minds several times on the day it was due to be completed as to how to lay out the store for the catalogue that started the next day. Only for us to be doing the final touches on set up ... but then.. we would receive an email telling us they had changed their minds and we now have to set up for a flash sale they decided to spring on us ..just one hour before closing time. So all our hard work was a complete waste of time and we would have to run around like crazy trying to now set up for the new sale, whilst trying to also close the store and be out of there on time as we were never allowed extra hours to be able to relay the entire store again for their new sale.  
We would then get into trouble for not completing other tasks we had to do, like unpacking new stock and doing a store tidy, filing from excess ect all of  which was physically impossible with only 1 maybe 2 (for a couple of hours) employees on running around like crazy firstly making sure customers were attended to promptly, then trying to get the store set up.. TWICE. 
We had no time to tidy the store so it was presented well, we barely touched the 100 cartons of stock we get in everyday.. due to things like this happening all the time.
To then be told we weren’t doing a good enough job,  that sales wise we were under our target so they would be cutting hours back again.. it was a never ending merry-go-round  they would cut hours again which made it impossible to get anything done and we would then be criticised by shoppers for the store being so messy. It was a horrible place to work, not at all healthy for your mental health and too many times I saw fellow staff members as well as myself burst into tears because of the unrealistic and unattainable KPI’s that were expected of us. I’d recommend only working in a larger store that was in a busy area and more than 2 staff were on at a time or as a Christmas casual.. but nothing else. You are only a number to them. They do not care about their staff what so ever which is disappointing. Loyalty only happens if you know the managers outside of work. And even then there is a  certain manager on the north side of Brisbane that takes the “power” to her head and is constantly hurting people with her attitude and actions. Unless you bow down to her, working at her store is a nightmare and she will delegate you with horrible jobs and you will be lucky to get 1x 3hr shift a week. I’m grateful I didn’t have to deal with her much but still I don’t wish anyone to have to work under someone so horrible. 
The staff discount was great !! But I’m sure glad I got out of this company. 

I've worked at Rivers for 3 years and am so excited to leave in 3 weeks.

Your entire work day will consist of someone from middle management sending out a memo asking team members to perform a menial visual merchandising change that barely changes the layout of the store at all, but takes hours to do. Or you will be asked to change the promo prices of every department in the store which can take literally all day sometimes, only to have those promos switched back again the next day. I am not kidding when I say this will happen week after week after week. No other retail brand I know of changes their promo prices this often. And every arm of clothing has its own promo price sign that needs to be manually changed every time. If you're unlucky enough to be working in a big store, this can mean manually changing hundreds of signs by yourself only to have them revert back the next day.

Management seem to think that the entire fate of the company is in the hands of the retail assistants. If the stores don't make their sales targets, it's because we aren't trying and not due to the fact that people aren't buying in-person as much anymore, or the fact that the Rivers marketing division is functionally nonexistent. No one seems ready to admit that how much money a retail store makes on a given day is mostly down to luck, and not how well a sales assistant can spruik your genius "3-for-60 manager's special" to someone who only came in to buy a pair of socks.

You will be forced into becoming a part-time employee so that they don't have to pay you casual rates and you take home less pay for the same work. But you will still be treated like a casual employee, expected to take any and every shift they throw at you. Meanwhile, you will only have one 3-hour shift per week guaranteed to you on your contract (as is the legal minimum). This is so that they can reduce your store's total hours on a whim if they need to save money. So you can get used to working a certain number of hours per week, then have 5 of those hours ripped out from under you at a moment's notice.

Management is absolutely categorically NEVER open to any form of constructive feedback from lowly sales staff. These are people in charge of your day-to-day operations who have NEVER worked in a Rivers store in their entire lives, and they DO NOT want to hear about your experience of what it's actually like to work there and how that experience may be applied to better the company. They just want to flex their bachelor's degree and will literally yell at people on a state-wide conference call for daring to question a decision or a policy.

There are a lot of different things i could say about the way they choose to do business, about the cold conditions and about the run down warehouses that they run and refuse to fix due to not wanting to spend the money.

The owner chooses to get the employees of the warehouse to do odd jobs for him that go beyond what anyone at the warehouse was employed for;  e.g. Cleaning out a moldy shipping container with personal effects completely unrelated to Rivers business, maintenance at his house or on his car etc, he gets people from the warehouses to go and build the shops around the country so that he doesn't have to hire any tradesman to do anything. Basically he is just a cheapskate using the staff to do jobs he would have to pay much more for if he got someone from outside of the company to do it. 

At the end of the day biggest gripe at the end of the day though after leaving is that they don't give references and basically offer you no help in finding another job once you leave. You could have worked for them for a number of years and been the most devoted employee but they will not say a word for you to any future employers.

The business is honestly run quite shadily and i would advise avoiding working for the company if you can.

This review only applies to there distribution warehouses in Ballarat. I cannot speak for the retail stores or there other warehouse in Melbourne.

The head office and management are terrible. It's not a good place to work at all. The pressure they place on staff is ridiculous. I would suggest finding a job with another company. If you dont meet KPI standards, you have to go on the phone 3-4 times a day and explain why, they never give you actual productive advice to upsell.  Upper management arent encouraging and they berate people for not hitting the  KPI mark. I would go home and still feel the anxiety and pressure from my work and dread having to go into work the next day knowing how stressed and anxious I would be for the whole day. I felt like there was no one I could talk to and I didnt feel supported during my time there. It's a retail environment that is so stressful it's not worth risking your mental health over, they dont appreciate you and they are extremely toxic. Not to mention, during my time there my manager would regularly talk to me with little to no respect and belittle me if I did the smallest thing wrong,  and threaten to performance review me and my other team if we did the smallest thing wrong in the store.  I got threatened with performance reviews if I kept putting the wrong side of a shoe in a box. When I would get threatened with performance reviews, it was made abundantly clear to me that if I got performance reviewed more than 3 times, I would lose my job. 

My usual day consisted of unpacking boxes, cleaning the store, and serving customers. Our branch was quite quiet, so cleaning became the main task; I often found creative ways to continue work towards the end of the working day.

Mostly, I learned to develop my communication skills, confidence, and how to manage an irritable customer.

Management was fairly good; I mostly got regular shifts, although, due to the quiet nature of our branch, there were periods of time where I got as little as one 3hour shift over the course of three weeks.

The hardest part of the job was problem-solving for unreasonable customers. It challenged me to come up with appropriate and creative solutions to unreasonable demands.

The most enjoyable part of the job was working the cash register and making small-talk with the customers; I learned a great deal about the world around me because of the customers own interests.

The day-to-day job and responsibilities are easy to learn and complete, learnt a lot about the retail industry and how to motivate others, and majority of the co-workers were great to work with. The best part of the job for me was running weekend shifts and supervising others. The 'hardest' part of the job was putting up with the store manager who was constantly moody and unpredictable. I put up with comments that were sexist and offensive, and felt anxious to send the daily figures knowing that the inability to over achieve would result in a lack of shifts. Hours were often taken off staff to give to other staff that 'need them more', text messages were rarely responded to, if anyone were to approach this manager with a concern it would result in a defensive attack from them. The most enjoyable part of the job was quitting and handing my key back to this manager.

A typical day at Rivers was pretty slow aside from Saturdays. I was serving customers whilst putting new stock out, keeping the shop clean, helping other customers and sometimes doing the mannequins+ putting promotional signs out (sometimes you'd do this all on your own). That was basically every day and honestly the best part of the job was getting to take the rubbish out and helping certain customers pick items out.
I learnt a little bit whilst working here which was opening and closing the store and how it's done which id never specifically learnt before so that was good.
The workplace culture was good but still reasonably average.
This job was not challenging, and the pay is not worth it for the work i was expected to do.
Learning the way this shop worked, and the order of things was slightly challenging at the beginning but after a few hours it was like second nature.

A typical day would involve serving customers and helping out where we were able. As well as unpacking stock and keeping the store clean. I learnt a lot about interactions with people and how to deal with upset customers and resolve situations leaving everyone happy. Our management staff were always helpful and there for us. If we were having difficulties with customers they were always there to give advice and to help out. 

My co-workers were the best anyone could ask for I have life long friends from working at rivers and am truly grateful for all the memories I have from working there.

The hardest part of the job would have to be around christmas time when it would be so busy and flat out that we could barely keep the store in order let alone tidy. On the flip side the most enjoyable part would have been the people I was working with and the awesome customers that i would get to know.

My co-workers and managers are fantastic people and I really enjoy working with them. Unfortunately, Rivers itself is terrible. The upper management is incompetent, telling us to do store changes via emails riddled with spelling errors. These store changes are expected to be finished within an hour of receiving them even though they cut hours and usually you have to work on your own. They also forced every casual including myself to become part-time with 3 days' notice and never pay overtime despite working over my rostered hours every single week. I am treated as a casual with part-time pay. They've also refused maternity leave to a co-worker of mine despite her working with the company for a total of 3 years. I am hoping to leave very soon and wouldn't be surprised if this company goes under in the not too distant future.

There is problem bullying. Staff members could only deal with it by leaving.

The toxic cultural attitudes heads up the chain of command. Instead of leadership that inspires workers and makes them feel excited to perform, there is a lot of pressure to comply and execute, creating ugly competitiveness.

Many of the customers were a pleasure. There is job satisfaction when you have helped customers and they thank you for it. It makes you feel good that you have helped make someone's day a little better. In spite of the above, there are still some staff members who are good to work with.

The pay is normal for retail. The uniform is wear what you like from the brand which means you can be comfortable in your choice of clothes.

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