Bunnings, what have you done!?
Pros
The majority of staff are wonderful people to work with, and the customers are some of the best I've ever experienced in retail. Wide range of personalities with different backgrounds and knowledge leads to every day being a learning experience. Better hourly rate than most, if you can get the hours that is.
Cons
I've been with the company for some years, and in that time I've seen Homebase turn from a struggling business that survived off of it's loyal customer base, to one of being kicked around and abused by their new parents, Bunnings. When the stores were owned by Home Retail, contracts were all kept minimal, and were topped up with over time, commonly with more over time being worked by staff than contacted hours. Since Bunnings have taken over, all contacts have been frozen, and overtime has been cut completely, leaving most staff, and the store on the whole, struggling to get by. The store in Milton Keynes has had four separate managers (not including interim managers) in the past year alone, during which the entire staff hierarchy has been transitioned into the Bunnings model, with Bunnings bringing in new high level staff members who are worse than clueless, and demoting the experienced staff who have subsequently fled on mass to rival stores and companies. The new management are yet to open a dialogue with the existing staff members, which has lead to a distinct separations between the staff and the management, with multiple opposing ideas constantly working against each other. It's become impossible for the staff to communicate even simple things to the management, from simple concepts such as how to work incoming stock in a manner that's efficient and effective, and how to dress the store in a manner that's safe for staff and the general public (as well as keeping to regulations. We're currently inundated with complaints from disabled customers who can't safely move down isles); to requests such as booking holiday (which has to be four weeks in advance for most staff, but evidently not the management), simple discussions over serious staff underpayments (which are becoming increasingly regular) and any sort of insight into our personal futures within the company. From my positions and from what I've heard from management they want to remove as much of the staff base as possible and replace them with people on minimal part time contacts. They've already started hiring new staff without ever offering current staff members more hours, and have been moving staff members from long term positions to inappropriate roles and unsociable hours. Most are hoping these will improve with the oncoming transition of the store into wholly Bunnings, but that will not be completed until mid June at the earliest.
