Not the Luck of the Draw - General Manager CycleBar Employee Review

Poorly managed in every way. From sales, to staffing, to technology - even charity events. I was recruited for an Assistant Manager posting on Indeed, full time with salary and benefits. When the offer letter was delivered the offer was for a General Manager position, part time to full time, hourly, and no benefits. The owner attributed the discrepancy to a miscommunication between the recruiter and himself. This wasn’t entirely accurate, however, because I interviewed with the owner and we discussed the particulars, then and during several follow-up conversations. This was reason enough to walk away - but I gave him the benefit of the doubt and accepted, meanwhile reducing my hours and keeping my current job as insurance. That insurance policy would pay out nicely in the end. Staffing: Staff are underpaid - close to state minimum wage which doesn’t go far in Northern Virginia, while other franchises in the area are paying considerably more. There is no annual review process, so yearly raises are not standard. Also, there is a legacy of many unfulfilled promises of commissions and bonuses. To make a living, staff have other work/school/life commitments which limit availability. Management cannot effectively set hour expectations since many are working out of a sense charity or personal obligation. As a result, scheduling each month is a challenge. The only consistent coverage is from very junior staff who have other work, school, and family commitments. There is no onboarding standard, again my attempts to improve were met with little cooperation from management. There is little to no staff coaching/development while on the job due to no regular/consistent manager schedule/coverage. Again, my attempts were resisted. This provides uncertainty for staff, riders, and paralyzes operations at times. Sales: Inconsistent sales practices, meaning customer A charged X and customer B charged Y for same product. Sales process lacks transparency and integrity. My efforts to standardize were met by open and quiet resistance, i.e., not sticking the script. In addition to “dynamic” pricing, no comprehensive training or standard tools (i.e. full price lists) to equip desk staff and standardize customer service experience. A prime example of the customer experience here is a membership promotion for the month of January 2019. As advertised, riders received a complimentary pair of cycling shoes with 6-month commitment. By the month of April, some riders still had not received shoes. That’s 4 months of this business taking their money and not honoring their agreement and providing no additional accommodation, just a standard apology. Technology: This isn’t entirely the studio’s miss but their mismanagement doesn’t help. There are numerous and recurring system errors complicating the most simple but critical business functions. From auto-payment, to reservations, to bike assignment, to stats. Company support is so slow to respond that I found more success dealing with vendors directly. The brand markets itself as a premium brand but has average to below average systems and support. I would give franchise systems a 4 out of 10 for reliability. Although things worked slightly more than half of the time, when they were working they seldom worked optimally. I would rate management’s performance in anticipating and mitigating the impact to riders as poor. As a studio, senior management’s grasp of issues and advocacy on behalf of riders was even less premium. Charity Rides: I’m uncertain if this is intentional or just poor management. In my short time at the studio I saw several requests from businesses who had partnered with the studio on rides for charity that had not yet received event donations. Things happen, but to have a pattern of behavior of not delivering donations until months after events and multiple email requests is glaringly poor business ethic. Last, but not least, senior management is not friendly to feedback. Senior management does not invite feedback and does not do well with resolving conflict among team members. The culture here is one of background conversations and alliances, a tone set by senior management. Even simple coaching on issues like tardiness, customer transactions, and missed emails/deadlines does not happen because management does not have the tools. Instead frustrations are voiced in closed door meetings with unrelated parties and no real staff development and team progress is made. Furthermore, the amount of profane language and character attacks directed at the staff from the owner, himself, is remarkable and exceeds anything I’ve ever experienced from any manager, yet alone senior officer.