Former STL from Austin.
Pros
Good pay and benefits (and yes, while I ended my career as an STL, I started as a part-time team member). Good career advancement opportunities Good vision and values Good work environment While corporate, it is still a highly decentralized company and there is still opportunity to make a mark on the job you're doing
Cons
Inconsistent execution and dedication to the core values by middle and upper leadership Sometimes focus too much on fluff (iPads in shopping carts, most aspects of the HSH program, fancy tech and certain aspects of new store décor) and not enough on basics (training, service, pricing) Favoritism (which could be true of any company this size) John Mackey, while brilliant, is too checked out of day to day operations and there's a lot of stuff that happens that is 180 degrees opposed to his "conscious leadership" views that he's likely completely unaware of. The decentralized nature of the company also sometimes means a lot of reinventing of the wheel and tends to promote a "sink or swim" mentality to getting trained
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Advice to Management
You've taken a beating recently in the press (which then led to a financial one). Service and high standards have long been what kept WFM in the lead. Don't forget that while trying to climb out of the whole. Cutting service, eliminating thousands of jobs (many of which were knowledgeable, long term, hard-working TMs) isn't the answer, at least not for the long term. Go back to the core values, strip away all that doesn't support that and just focus on the basics. If John and Walter are just going to focus on the big picture and have very little contact or knowledge of operations, I think they need stronger leaders below them to ensure the company upholds its standards of "conscious leadership"; there's too much "do as I say, not as I do" going on and too many leaders who motivate by fear and control rather than inspiring others.