★
Marks & Spencer Employee Reviews about "people"
Updated 5 Dec 2023
Clear All
Full-time, Part-time
English
Verify your email to use filters. Having problems? Resend email
Found 8,242 of over 9K reviews
68% Recommend to a Friend
76% Approve of CEO
Found 1,168 of over 9K reviews
Popular
- Popular
- Most Recent
- Highest Rating
- Lowest Rating
Recommend to a Friend
Approve of CEO
Stuart Machin
681 Ratings
What are your colleagues talking about?
Find your exclusive Company Bowl™ on Community. Join the hottest conversation with your colleagues anonymously.
Top Review Highlights by Sentiment
Excerpts from user reviews, not authored by Glassdoor
Pros
- "The pay is good and the company treats you well which is one of the best things about working with M&S." (in 863 reviews)
- "Most colleagues are friendly and personable; more of a 'we're all in this mess together' kind of friendship." (in 403 reviews)
Cons
- "Poor management at time because too many managers on departments that they are not fit to run and just 'wig it'." (in 588 reviews)
- "We were not allowed an extra short break to warm up even working with no heating." (in 108 reviews)
Reviews about "people"
Return to all Reviews- 2.03 May 2016Customer AssistantCurrent Employee, more than 3 yearsFulham, England
Pros
It is good for young people who have never had a job before and want to gain customer service experience. I started at m&s when I was 18 years old. I have now been here for 3 years. It was my first job. It helped to build up a bit of my confidence and was a good little bit of extra money while I was studying on the side. I was very happy to see the money coming in and so the first year was decent. I got given a staff discount card and was able to give one to my mum as well which she has found very useful while shopping at marks and spencer.
Cons
- when I first started marks and spencer I wasn't given a new uniform. I got given a jacket and trousers that they found in a box in the shop. I was told that they would order me a new uniform and some tops as I wasn't given any but they didn't. I had to keep reminding them and it took a year for them to finally order me uniform. (the managers that is) - booking holidays off work can be a nightmare as the managers sometimes cannot be trusted. Twice I have booked holiday, it has been accepted and then they've rejected it without even telling me. I made plans outside of work to go abroad during one of them weeks which has been booked and paid for but when i recently checked my holiday I come to find that the week I am going on holiday they have now rejected, even though it got accepted the first time which was the whole point of me booking a holiday abroad during that week. Otherwise I wouldn't have done it. They shouldn't be allowed to do this. It is completely out of order. - me and my colleagues have struggled some days. Being put under pressure and told to hurry up with certain tasks because of low staffing which isn't fair. Customers become very frustrated when there isn't enough staff to deal with long ques and when there isn't enough staff to assist them. I can understand why and I think there needs to be more staff to reduce frustration and complaints. When there isn't any staff me and my colleagues are just left to get on with it. - my colleague kept being put down for hours that she didn't know about and was just expected to turn up for work which isn't OK. I think that managers should always ask staff if they are available and confirm it with them first. A manager even told one of the section-co workers to send my colleague back home at 6am in the morning because they wanted her to work evenings instead. Which is terrible. - for marks and spencer this is appalling! I thought that they would care about their staff a little bit more than that. Something needs to be done because my colleagues are very unhappy including myself. I am planning to leave soon. - i would only recommend marks and spencer to people who need work experience and to not stay there for more than a year to two years. It might just be my shop that is like this so i don't want to put people off but its the truth and i'm not the only one to moan about holidays being booked. People i know from other stores have said the same thing.
1 - 4.03 Jan 2023Customer AssistantFormer Employee, more than 3 yearsCongleton, England
Pros
Great team, easy work, poor management at the time however I believe this has since changed
Cons
The store manager at the time was very rude and was unable to manage people properly
Marks & Spencer Response12moHi there, thanks for leaving us a review. We're disappointed to hear the concerns you’ve raised and would like to take this opportunity to apologise for how you felt during your time with us. This doesn’t sound like the way we do things at Marks and Spencer and completely goes against the values we've worked so hard to uphold. Marks and Spencer
- 3.014 Mar 2019Anonymous EmployeeFormer Employee
Pros
Usually the people who you work alongside are really friendly and easy to get along with. Good hourly rate
Cons
Holiday booking system is not great. The management do not really care about you, and take you for granted quite a lot of the time... Many of the staff do not care about their role which leaves other staff with the workload.
1 - 5.026 Jan 2023Sales AssistantFormer Employee, less than 1 yearPlymouth, England
Pros
The people I worked with were all lovely Relatively relaxed atmosphere Most customers friendly and polite Well organised
Cons
Sometimes had to deal with rude customers but this is the same everywhere
Marks & Spencer Response11moHi there, thanks for your review! It's great to hear that our Colleagues continue to support one another. We appreciate your feedback. Marks and Spencer
- 1.016 Oct 2021Customer AssistantCurrent EmployeeNewcastle upon Tyne, England
Pros
You get paid, the job is fairly consistent. It's easy work.
Cons
No work/life balance. You're expected to work every Saturday and unsociable hours. The atmosphere at work is dull & gloomy. The Great British public are miserable and the pandemic has made people just that more grumpy. Management aren't great and pressures from the top quash any kind of enjoyment working here.
Marks & Spencer Response3yHi there, thanks for taking the time to leave your review and thank you for all the great work that you're doing! We hope all our Colleagues can enjoy some positive work-life balance. If you have have any concerns about your hours and working days, please talk to your Line Manager to find a solution together. Marks and Spencer
- 5.029 Sept 2017Customer AssistantCurrent Employee, more than 5 yearsShepherds Bush, England
Pros
(In my store, Westfield White City) there are opportunities to grow in the business and managers will push you towards that if you show the correct attitude and want to grow. Throughout the years of people coming and going you find you make great relationships with your colleagues.
Cons
Like every job some managers can be difficult. Organisation can be lacking. Communication isn't always great between departments and between managers > section co to customer assistants. Maybe this is due to my store being very large and model store.
- 4.030 Oct 2023Finance ManagerFormer Employee, more than 5 yearsLondon, England
Pros
People are all very nice and get exposure to a number of different types of business - food, C&H, retail, data & digital, supply chain, property. When company performance is good it is a nice place to work.
Cons
Progress can be difficult and slow. Team structures can be a bit of an annoyance, a lot of layers.
Marks & Spencer Response2moHi there, thanks for leaving your review. We're happy to hear about your exposure to a number of different aspects of the business. Thank you for your feedback around progression. We're always looking for ways to improve so we appreciate your feedback. Marks and Spencer
- 2.05 Sept 2014Product OwnerCurrent Employee, more than 3 yearsLondon, England
Pros
There are a lot of good people and they do allow employees to assume real ownership of their areas. The staff discount is very good.
Cons
A lot of clueless people in positions of power winging it. No investment in talent, they reward people who put the time in rather than genuine talent. As a result, there is a LOT of mediocrity in mid-management. Senior management are invisible- never around. Lots of buzzwords instead of a real understanding of what is required to make the business better.
1 - 3.09 Oct 2019Sales AssistantFormer Employee, more than 1 yearDerby, England
Pros
Most of the people are absolutely lovely to work with and you get a decent staff discount.
Cons
Certain people within the store get treated differently due to favouritism, quite often. Opportunities to progress are rare unless management really like you.
- 4.08 Nov 2016Anonymous EmployeeFormer Employee
Pros
The people there are very friendly and you get to deal with a mostly friendly clientele. Salary is above the market rate as well
Cons
Can involve getting up very early most mornings and you may be expected to complete shifts in other parts of the business (avoid cafe!)
Join the Marks & Spencer team
