Grim - Customer Assistant Marks & Spencer Employee Review

1.0
Aug 23, 2014
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

1. In current economic climate glad to have a job 2. Staff discount of 20% is good

Cons

1. Management very good at delegating their failures downwards 2. Poorly trained and not very educated management teams 3. Senior staff bully and cajole junior staff into constantly improving productivity with fewer resources 4. No flexibility of working days / hours when family events dictate a need for a short term change 5. Barely any staff on shop floor so when customers do find you they are pressured and fed up 6. Reducing food to customers at a set time of day irritates regular customers as it attracts a certain type of client which the regulars don't feel comfortable with 7. Few staff available to give customers proper M&S levels of service 8. Too many family and friends are employed. Many many managers children work in our store despite their unsuitability. They will be the ones who are rude to customers, talk too much too loudly to each other and are not reprimanded for it 9. Above point leads to demonstrable favouritism amongst managers and section coordinators towards these people 10. Only permitted to have one person on annual leave at a time and holiday has to be booked ... wait for it ... almost two years in advance! 11. Staff not permitted to swap working days if not in the working week (Sunday to Saturday) 12. Try to break employment law by saying that you're not permitted to have time off to deal with family emergency and that this will be counted against personal sickness absence 13. Do not recognise union membership readily and are very reluctant to deal with them 14. Force changes on staff with a 'like it or lump it!' attitude constantly loosing experienced staff and knowledge 15. Diluting brand with cheaper ingredients and materials

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5.0
Aug 5, 2025
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CEO approval
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Pros

I love how positive the working environment

Cons

I dont like some of the names of the bread

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Marks & Spencer Response
11mo
Hi there, thanks so much for leaving such a great review – it’s lovely to hear that you enjoyed working for us! We're so grateful for your kind words, so thanks for sharing your review with us and the Glassdoor community. Our success relies on the dedication of employees like yourself, so we thank you for all your hard work! Wishing you all the best, Marks and Spencer
1.0
Jul 27, 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

-20% discount -I must enter 5 words

Cons

Never before have I worked for a company where the threat of gross misconduct is thrown around constantly by management. Senior members of staff have been given wrriten warnings over sudden changes in policy. Instead of carrot and stick you're just given the stick. A sudden change in policy comes in and immediately a TM or TSM will tell you "if you can't do this you will recieve a written warning or disciplinary." That is a best case scenario, the alternative is nobody tells you and you continue to do everything as normal and you get punished for an absolute absence of communication. Regional managers pressure Store Managers to hand out punishments like quotas. Worst of all, the company promotes immature and lazy managers for the most part, who will happily stand around doing absolutely nothing, but drive workers aged 60+ like a cart horse. Sorting basic worker's rights like annual leave is a chore to them, and they act as though they are doing you a favour when you do the bare minimum. Favouritism in my store is endemic. Not all managers are like this, my store manager just happens to like a handful of staff and puts down everyone else.

2
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Marks & Spencer Response
11mo
Thanks for raising your concerns. We're really sorry to hear you’re unhappy and we want you to know that at M&S, we care deeply about doing the right thing and acting with integrity, building trust, supporting one another and taking the time to listen. You have already addressed the first step of voicing your views on here, and now we encourage you to talk to your Line Manager. If you feel you cannot approach your Line Manager, then tell a more senior person or someone who you feel most at ease with, for example your BIG rep or your HR Business Partner. Thanks again for sharing, - Marks and Spencer
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