Holland & Barrett
Holland & Barrett Employee Reviews
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Staff wellbeing ignored for targets.
Store Manager (Current Employee) – Ireland – 13 June 2019
No Positive reinforcement used, targets driven on fear.
Head office down micromanage everything.
Extreme lack of staff means lots of lone trading.
New pay structure means no bonus incentive for anyone under regional manager.
Work/life balance is not catered for, expected to be at the company call at all times.
Good staff discount at 25%.
Head office down micromanage everything.
Extreme lack of staff means lots of lone trading.
New pay structure means no bonus incentive for anyone under regional manager.
Work/life balance is not catered for, expected to be at the company call at all times.
Good staff discount at 25%.
Pros
Staff discount 25%
Cons
Hours, targets and threats of disciplinary action for missing targets.
Ok, in it for the long haul
Store Assistant (Former Employee) – Ireland – 28 April 2019
This job is very varied. You'll never be bored because theres always something to do ie stock shelves organising date checking approaching customers and setting up for promotions. If you like to be kept busy and get organised its fine but can get frustrating at the start when you don't know where to begin
Theres alot of training like no exaggeration here. Like a lot. All online in your own time. And frequent product updates. There's a lot to learn so if you're not interested in healthy lifestyle don't bother.
At the beginning can be frustrating because you literally have no clue, but there are books available and if all else fails google. But you will learn as you go.
A lot of targets, some of which are out of your control, like rfls and conversion etc.. It's very American system of link buying that imo doesn't suit irish culture, we're very careful with our money and we don't like stuff being pushed on us. If you treat the customers fairly they will come back but if you ask them the amount of stuff the company want you to ask customers you will Only annoy them and yourself. You have to approach everyone, its hard to get used, and some people will get annoyed at you.
If you get lucky and your manager is nice great. If not again don't bother
There's always extra hours going for covering other stores if you have a car it can be worth while
It doesn't get overly busy in some stores. You're only working with a small team and a lot of the time on your own. Theres small pay increases the longer you stay and possibly the biggest positive is the staff discount. The quality more... of products is good you can get behind it.
If you like helping people and can deal with the odd rude customer and like a job which you can learn as you go then well here you are
I left due to low hours and i didn't have access to a car, bad assistant manager who was good at their sales role but terrible in their management role and just lack of progression really. less
Theres alot of training like no exaggeration here. Like a lot. All online in your own time. And frequent product updates. There's a lot to learn so if you're not interested in healthy lifestyle don't bother.
At the beginning can be frustrating because you literally have no clue, but there are books available and if all else fails google. But you will learn as you go.
A lot of targets, some of which are out of your control, like rfls and conversion etc.. It's very American system of link buying that imo doesn't suit irish culture, we're very careful with our money and we don't like stuff being pushed on us. If you treat the customers fairly they will come back but if you ask them the amount of stuff the company want you to ask customers you will Only annoy them and yourself. You have to approach everyone, its hard to get used, and some people will get annoyed at you.
If you get lucky and your manager is nice great. If not again don't bother
There's always extra hours going for covering other stores if you have a car it can be worth while
It doesn't get overly busy in some stores. You're only working with a small team and a lot of the time on your own. Theres small pay increases the longer you stay and possibly the biggest positive is the staff discount. The quality more... of products is good you can get behind it.
If you like helping people and can deal with the odd rude customer and like a job which you can learn as you go then well here you are
I left due to low hours and i didn't have access to a car, bad assistant manager who was good at their sales role but terrible in their management role and just lack of progression really. less
Pros
Staff discount, learning how to improve your health and the health of others, varied work load, lot of independent working
Cons
Poor contract, poor targets, poor pay at the start, customers can get rude, tils can freeze often
ok place to work in
CO.LAOIS (Former Employee) – CO.LAOIS – 17 April 2019
In general a nice place to be if you have an interest in the health section. Plenty of learning, and knowledge. Often you have to study at home and be able to recommend and sell their product. Not great for a family person.
Management depends on where you are, I came across a really nice lady, but then along the way also met the lazy and careless people. I guess like anywhere really.
Management depends on where you are, I came across a really nice lady, but then along the way also met the lazy and careless people. I guess like anywhere really.
Pros
discount
Cons
high labor turnover / work at home and preparing for tests (unpaid)
Interesting products
Assistant Manager/Acting manager (Current Employee) – Dublin – 25 January 2019
If your interested in the products sold you'll find it very interesting and will gain a lot of knowledge. The turn over of staff is a lot higher in the last few years than it used to be.
Pros
Overtime always available
Cons
Alot of loan trading due to staff shortages
Terrible place to work
Sale Assistant (Former Employee) – Dublin – 6 January 2019
Turn over rate speaks for itself. Nearly always alone in the shop. Don't get paid for the extra time before or after the shop opens/closes. Head office are bullies. Don't get paid properly most months. And never get the pay rises they promise for the copious amount of work you have to do and tests you have to sit. Only good thing is employee discount.
Pros
Employee discount
Cons
Everything else
Boring
Sales Assistant (Former Employee) – Dublin West, County Dublin – 19 November 2018
It was not my favourite place to work, but it was still great experience for me. i learned lots about health and nutriotion while working which was crucial of doing well while working here, as customers always have questons about what they puchase.
What they won't tell you in the interview...
Manager (Former Employee) – Dublin – 18 November 2018
I read these reviews before I started and thought "it can't be that bad" but seriously, it is.
PLEASE don't get a job here, at least not a managerial one. It is salaried and you will feel under paid within a month because of the endless tasks involved.
The bureaucracy involved is incredible, lots of authorization needed to do simple things and tonnes of paperwork. Potential disciplinary proceedings for leaving doors unlocked. Have to pass a test to open and close the store etc
The tills are extremely SLOW and you will often apologize to the customer for the receipt being frustratingly slow to print or the system going offline.
Learning the knowledge is overwhelming at first and you won't get paid for it as a manager and you will definitely have to put in the hours at home. They have brought in a new thing were they pay people for study but as far as I know it only applies to Sales assistants up to Assistant Manager's as they are paid hourly. Potentially, and most often, Assistant Manager's have it good, they have less stress and can out earn store manager's which isn't fair.
I suspect Area Manager's bonuses are linked to store expenditure so they don't care about lone trading which happens all the time! You will be by yourself, giving advice to one customer who needs time and attention and there's a queue at the till or vice versa and it will be you that has to deal with irritated customers not anyone else.
There's other tasks too that you need to concentrate on like date checking and click and collects but if you have only 2 people rostered due to budget more... restrictions you run the risk of feeling overwhelmed, letting tasks build up and ultimately you are playing catch up throughout the week.
With the high turnover of staff I suspect HR in England are completely overwhelmed by paper work and I would place a bet that they, and other branches, are as stressed and under staffed as store level.
You will also justify why the store needs more hours but you won't get them. The company is super tight on money and Area manager has to seek approval from Regional and on and on. You will more than likely have staff quit on you with very little notice and you won't blame them, unfortunately it will be up to you to pick up the pieces, do extra hours - of course, being salaried - you won't get any extra pay or thanks for that matter. In fact, you will just have increased the GM for the store by doing extra hours, being understaffed and the Area manager will probably get the bonuses.
If you are still considering a job then you need to know that the 1% commission they promise is always wrong! In fact, no one seems to know the exact way to calculate it. Also, basic pay seems to always be incorrect and even not paid on time too. I have witnessed people crying because rent is due and they don't know how long it will take to get their money sorted. In fact, I'm pretty sure they will promise you that it will be in your next pay check - next month, but sure you will then be taxed on a higher rate - so you'll actually lose money. Believe me, I've seen it happen!
The only way I'd join again would be as a sales assistant or assistant manager because they are paid hourly and get a pay rise for passing the knowledge tests but don't be surprised if you are chasing back pay from this pay rise. That being said they too aren't exempt from the above and pressure is applied down the pyramid.
The company has a high turnover of staff for a reason, but if you don't believe me, go for it, accept the job for a few days and you'll see for yourself.
Hope this helps.
P.S the 25% off employee discount is totaled up and if it's high at the end of the month, manager's will be questioned about it being high so basically they are saying why are staff using their discount? less
PLEASE don't get a job here, at least not a managerial one. It is salaried and you will feel under paid within a month because of the endless tasks involved.
The bureaucracy involved is incredible, lots of authorization needed to do simple things and tonnes of paperwork. Potential disciplinary proceedings for leaving doors unlocked. Have to pass a test to open and close the store etc
The tills are extremely SLOW and you will often apologize to the customer for the receipt being frustratingly slow to print or the system going offline.
Learning the knowledge is overwhelming at first and you won't get paid for it as a manager and you will definitely have to put in the hours at home. They have brought in a new thing were they pay people for study but as far as I know it only applies to Sales assistants up to Assistant Manager's as they are paid hourly. Potentially, and most often, Assistant Manager's have it good, they have less stress and can out earn store manager's which isn't fair.
I suspect Area Manager's bonuses are linked to store expenditure so they don't care about lone trading which happens all the time! You will be by yourself, giving advice to one customer who needs time and attention and there's a queue at the till or vice versa and it will be you that has to deal with irritated customers not anyone else.
There's other tasks too that you need to concentrate on like date checking and click and collects but if you have only 2 people rostered due to budget more... restrictions you run the risk of feeling overwhelmed, letting tasks build up and ultimately you are playing catch up throughout the week.
With the high turnover of staff I suspect HR in England are completely overwhelmed by paper work and I would place a bet that they, and other branches, are as stressed and under staffed as store level.
You will also justify why the store needs more hours but you won't get them. The company is super tight on money and Area manager has to seek approval from Regional and on and on. You will more than likely have staff quit on you with very little notice and you won't blame them, unfortunately it will be up to you to pick up the pieces, do extra hours - of course, being salaried - you won't get any extra pay or thanks for that matter. In fact, you will just have increased the GM for the store by doing extra hours, being understaffed and the Area manager will probably get the bonuses.
If you are still considering a job then you need to know that the 1% commission they promise is always wrong! In fact, no one seems to know the exact way to calculate it. Also, basic pay seems to always be incorrect and even not paid on time too. I have witnessed people crying because rent is due and they don't know how long it will take to get their money sorted. In fact, I'm pretty sure they will promise you that it will be in your next pay check - next month, but sure you will then be taxed on a higher rate - so you'll actually lose money. Believe me, I've seen it happen!
The only way I'd join again would be as a sales assistant or assistant manager because they are paid hourly and get a pay rise for passing the knowledge tests but don't be surprised if you are chasing back pay from this pay rise. That being said they too aren't exempt from the above and pressure is applied down the pyramid.
The company has a high turnover of staff for a reason, but if you don't believe me, go for it, accept the job for a few days and you'll see for yourself.
Hope this helps.
P.S the 25% off employee discount is totaled up and if it's high at the end of the month, manager's will be questioned about it being high so basically they are saying why are staff using their discount? less
Pros
25% off
Cons
Lone trading, incorrect pay, untimely pay, overwhelming workload, bureaucracy, stress
Good because I didn't have children at the time
Store associate (Former Employee) – Dublin – 27 October 2018
I liked very much the products so it was interesting to learn about it.
I didn't like what would be my shift the week after.
Nice people to work and had good bosses.
I didn't like what would be my shift the week after.
Nice people to work and had good bosses.
Pros
Discount on products
Cons
Sometimes I was alone in a big shop
Have a think before you start...
Small Business Sales Manager (Current Employee) – Dublin – 5 October 2018
A typical day at work - Lots of tasks to do during the day plus customers to serve also. Often working alone. Serving customers, managing KPI's, stock management- date checking-reductions-rotation, stock counts, promo implementations, merchandising, stocking out.
What I learned - better understanding of health and nutrition.
Management - upper management can be described as "manipulative".
Workplace culture - There is none from my experience.
Hardest part of the job - Lots of KPI's to focus on and very difficult to achieve a good KPI result. Lots of tasks to also focus on.
Most enjoyable part of the job - Engaging with customers and offering advice that may help them.
What I learned - better understanding of health and nutrition.
Management - upper management can be described as "manipulative".
Workplace culture - There is none from my experience.
Hardest part of the job - Lots of KPI's to focus on and very difficult to achieve a good KPI result. Lots of tasks to also focus on.
Most enjoyable part of the job - Engaging with customers and offering advice that may help them.
Pros
25% off products
Cons
Lone working, lots of tasks
dont
Sales Advisor (Former Employee) – Limerick – 21 September 2018
It's interesting to learn about the products but the company is a mess. You're asked for so much and are pressured to go out of your way. Too much stress for minimum wage. Any other straightforward job would be better.
Pros
discount
Cons
the company as a whole
Don't put yourself through it!
Dublin (Former Employee) – Dublin – 2 August 2018
Left on your own all day on the till, expected to work miracles.
Management don't care and wont listen which is why the staff are constantly changing.
Long hours plenty of duties, whilst you try and deal with a que of irate customers who are fed up waiting.
The work itself not having enough support, and getting through the written journals for the tests you need to pass, no time in the workplace for this so you end up bringing the job home with you.
Management don't care and wont listen which is why the staff are constantly changing.
Long hours plenty of duties, whilst you try and deal with a que of irate customers who are fed up waiting.
The work itself not having enough support, and getting through the written journals for the tests you need to pass, no time in the workplace for this so you end up bringing the job home with you.
Pros
Learning about nutrition
Cons
Too many too mention, dont put yourself through it.
Work Experience at Holland and Barrett's
Sales Advisor (Former Employee) – Clondalkin, County Dublin – 19 March 2018
Was a cool relaxed and enjoyable environment to work in. As I was only there for a week I didn't get a full work experience bu the little time I was there for showed me a glimpse into the world of work;this was my first time working.
Great place to work
Assistant Manager (Current Employee) – Dublin – 7 March 2018
Currently an assistant manager in a Dublin store. Loving every day of work. Never thought I'd say that. Upper management offer lots of support to people in stores. Good package and great teams. Would absolutely recommend. Get to learn some very valuable information aswell.
Pros
Work life balance great team learning
Cons
Low wages, poor payroll department that often don't pay you correctly
Fun environment and feel I make a difference
Sales Advisor (Current Employee) – Dublin – 15 September 2017
I enjoy interacting with the customers and I am given the opportunity to share my knowledge while fulfilling my role as a sales associate. There is plenty of variety in the job and an opportunity to gain new skills. However it can be difficult to have time to learn new skills as often I work on my own or it is too busy to get on the job training. The most enjoyable part of my job is building strong relations with regular customers who come to see me for my expertise and advice and my colleagues are very nice too.
Pros
Discount on products
Good place to work if you don't have any other choice
Warehouse Operative (Former Employee) – Santry, County Dublin – 10 July 2017
If you can't find another job this is a good job for start, but as soon as you find something else move from this place. I was there long enough, they've promised to give contract from day 1 but never happened especially if you are hard working person. Just lies, more lies and so on. If you are lazy and + Irish your chance to do nothing + get contract for just few months is very high. No any benefits, colleagues are mostly low minded and jealous, kissing managers a.. and s.....g balls, snitching people for nothing. No any chance of progression if you are not Irish and if you are not ready for a.. kissing 5 days per week. My advice is to stay away if there is another option. All supervisors are two faced people. The worst human relations experience ever, the worst company in Ireland.
Pros
Nothing
Cons
Everything else
Nice Workplace
Sales associate (Former Employee) – Tipperary – 26 June 2017
Great Workplace if you enjoy a busy target driven atmosphere...learn about all kinds of health an well being, its not for everyone but if your happy in a shop environment and have a decent interest in health ..could be good
You will be only a number
Manager (Former Employee) – Ireland – 21 February 2017
Company which will suck all your energy and joy of life out of you just to get by penny richer (CEO and office not you in the shop who is doing work).
If you like healthy lifestyle you will like it if you don't plan to go for managment.
If you like healthy lifestyle you will like it if you don't plan to go for managment.
Pros
They paid in money
Cons
Long list
place where you can learn, but u have to work hard to hang around and get the opportunity
Forklift driver, Team leader (Former Employee) – Dublin – 12 December 2016
fun place to work, I dont know how it is since I have left i think things have changed but definetely the place where hard work was appreciated and u get the opportunity to do many things and gain experience that will u can really use anywhere
Working alone a lot, expected to do so much
Associate (Current Employee) – Dublin – 24 September 2016
Awful place to work! Often working by yourself and expected to complete a magnitude of tasks whilst serving customers. They want you to focus on customers and drive sales but have a go at you if certain tasks are not completed. Its never enough for the management. you have to pretty much force people to sign up to loyalty cards they print off how many people you've signed up and tell you its not good enough. Thankless, terribly paid! We are all on minimum wage. Cv is into mcdonalds asap wont have this much hassle there
Pros
You get 25 percent discount but on this wage and their high prices whats the point?
Cons
Lone working, high expectations, minimum wage
You are a part of ZERO people team.
Sales Assistant (Former Employee) – Dublin – 4 April 2016
It's just ridiculous work place. You work in shop that brings few thousands euro per day, you deal with many customers but there's nobody to help you. They give you contract in which you may find that "occasionally you will work lone hours" but reality is that OCCASIONALLY you work as part of a team.
Pros
they pay you for work :)
Cons
nearly everything!
I feel very invested in
Area manager (Current Employee) – Ireland – 24 July 2015
I'm not long with the company but so far I feel very welcomed, invested in and engaged. The work is hard and they expect a lot of you but the rewards are there and progression is a big thing. I'd definitely recommend them.
Pros
25% discount, lovely people, career progression
Cons
The work is hard