Pros
Met great people and developed amazing co-worker relationships and friendships. Good employee discount (but make sure you like it because you surely won't be able to return or exchange!)
Cons
Where to start...I invested my time, energy and ultimately sacrificed my soul and my personal life for this company. -Before the company went public, there was a great culture, strong employee morale and room for growth and development within. Year after year, morale declined, expectations and hours increased and turnover began. -The retail development program introduced the District "Manager" title as a "promotion" from District Coordinator. The DM title was presented as something that was achieved based on territory volume, number of Shop Managers and tenure with the company. At least, that's the way it was explained to me...no one on the team seemed to receive a consistent explanation of the position. And better yet, two of the least tenured Coordinators were awarded the title, after we were advised that no one would be receiving the "promotion" prior to the IDP (mid-year reviews). And no fault or discount to them-- they were and are both AMAZING at their jobs! This "promoting" has continued and there are still only a handful (you can count them on one hand) of Coordinators who have not been awarded the DM title. Thus creating a huge salary gap (minimum of $15K and as much as $40K discrepancy) between employees who are doing the same job with the same expectations. To make things better, if a District "Coordinator" resigns, the replacement they hire automatically receives the District "Manager" title (and of course a much heftier paycheck). The most respected and valued colleagues I have ever had the opportunity to work with were de-valued and denied the District "Manager" title and salary increase. And, why? I wish I knew... Absolute appalling. -Now on to the Shop Manager program...as a manager, I'm sorry, I mean "Coordinator" of Shop Managers, it was my responsibility to recruit, hire, train and develop a remote field team. We were encouraged to recruit at the Assistant Store Manager level and require a college education and minimum 2 years experience in retail. Did I mention the salary cap was $40,000? Well, that's the way it used to be...Now, Shop Managers are hired in at anywhere from $30,000 to $55,000 annually. You're probably thinking, ok, that makes sense-- in a bigger metropolitan, higher cost of living city, the salary is more and vice versa. WRONG. I was asked to offer a Shop Manager only $34K in one of the top 5 highest cost of living cities in the country at one of the flagship locations. Meanwhile, two weeks later, another Shop Manager in a different territory was hired in at over $50K (also in a higher cost of living area, but in a Shop with a volume less than half the volume of my Shop Manager). In summation, Shop Managers are now being hired at rates comparable or higher than some District "Coordinators" for managing a single shop at a fraction of the volume, while not actually "managing" any other personnel. Furthermore, the career growth for Shop Managers is non-existent in the retail development program (unless of course you consider the 6 Visual Coordinator positions in the country vs the 200+ Shop Manager population an opportunity). Of course, Shop Managers are completely inexperienced and unqualified to graduate into the District "Manager" role, so any open positions are hired externally. Oh, I almost forgot! Did I mention that one of the requirements when hiring is that the candidate is "attractive" ?! I wish I were kidding when I say that, but it was written in black and white for all to see as a "NON-NEGOTIABLE." I could go on and on, but ultimately, as you may guess, I would not recommend anyone (a friend or enemy) choose to begin a career path with Michael Kors until they take a serious look at their culture & values and start showing some consistency and respect to their employees. While it may seem contrary, I am a positive person who views situations and circumstances as learning experiences and I try to take the negative and learn from it and how I can do things differently and improve myself and my management skills in the future. Needless to say, I learned a lot from my position and tenure with Michael Kors and I sure know the difference between a company that values their employees and one that thinks they can continue to rely on some endless conveyor belt of robots lined up to work for today's "It brand." Believe me when I say, that will soon come to an end as word of the company's reputation spreads in this small retail world.
