I've been working for OandCC over 5 years now, and in that time I've noticed a steady decline in many areas. “Rewards / Benefits” They will tell you it’s a brilliant rewards package to justify the low pay bracket they slump you in but the reality is the “benefits” just are rubbish. Sick pay, holiday and pension are all standard, nothing special, though they like to stick these in rewards/benefits which I really don’t see them as Perkbox - Useless really, they don’t pay enough to enable you to use the discounts available, though all I’ve seen for discounts are animal food and high end phone and watch discounts, which aren’t useful in the slightest. Bonus - kick in the teeth after you work long busy days throughout the year just to find out the pitiful amount they give you. They make it a game, pitting each store to outperform against each other, much like groverling for scraps. Discount - the best out of the bunch, and can’t complain about the percentage off gear. The issue is, They don’t pay enough to be able to use it though so again a useless benefit. The job itself requires an insane amount of learning, it’s not just a retail job it’s a specialist technical outdoor job. Which requires you to know and understand all the factors of every garment, footwear, camping, tents, membranes, brand technologies and how each garment differs from another, the list goes on ( I’m not doing it justice on how much there is to learn). It’s not like other retail jobs but they will pay you like it is. The pay is minimum wage, with a pathetic increase in pay if you jump through all the hoops to go up to band two or three, it’s really not worth the time. The company is a top end technical shop but failing to compensate their employees in likeness. Referring to the employees as ‘experts’ (which I know for a fact every single other employee I have talked to hates with a passion), and would imply extensive training and learning, which would be fine if they compensated the employees correctly which they do not. The company is of a size now that each employee is just a number and from what I’ve experienced over the last few years they just do not care one bit about the people on the ground. Which is a crying shame. Like many retail businesses, hours are being cut and employees are being let go and not hiring more staff after one leaves, but the customer traffic and spending habits are increasing. Overworking employees, making them work two employee’s jobs as one person. A prime example of this is the supervisor role. Once upon a time we were able to have 2 supervisors which worked great in the event of sickness or absence or the GM or ASM, But now it’s just 1 supervisor and keyholder. OandCC can now pay the keyholder less and only have them get a pay increase when needed. This has put increased stress and pressure on the single supervisors. This continues with the increased workload, adding more and more onto the job role as time goes on with no compensation for the extra work being done. Not giving store’s enough hours to be able to cover floors and areas in the store and expecting the employees to run around like headless chickens trying to satisfy customers to the same standard. A prime example of increased workload is OandCC fitting Cotswold Outdoor stores with a runnersneed departments. Which on the face of it sounds fine… If they gave the stores more staff or hours to operate, which they do not. Now there is a whole new department the staff have to learn and understand and manage with no help which just stretches employee numbers even thinner. What are they going to do next, install a coffee shop inside cotswold and have the staff man that too when we only have 1 member of staff on each floor for most of the day as it is. If you do progress into management you will be sorely disappointed, the amount of extra work for the pay increase just doesn’t add up. Supervisor looking to be the worst hit. They expect you to be on par with the manager's job role but without being paid a manager's wage. It truly is disgraceful. In Conclusion. OandCC…. Do Better.
