I have worked in corporate for many years. I’m based in the A building at Hoffman and have built a very wide and trusted network in my time here. Yes, I have even been to a few B6 Eddie meetings having to listen to the ‘yes’ men applaud cost cutting measures despite the unethics of their decisions. Every single person in my network 30+ In size is either leaving the company or interviewing to get out (and those are the ones who are open to me!) I don’t understand how a transformation can occur with no people, productivity levels of such people are rock bottom, yet another reason things cannot turn around.
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Sears Tower - top of the world - to zilch.
@1crm- Nobody but Eddie and a few close executives will know if and when BK is coming. It would be unwise to put that information out before it actually happens. Just think how many people would leave, or quit doing their job. Most people at corporate are in the dark about most things and they just do their job (no matter how ridiculous the higher ups make it) and collect a pay check. Just like everyone at store level.
the only difference is that they probably dont believe that SHC is transforming and is actually trying to survive
@icrm Most of us in corporate don't know what the future is. We have been given no indication that there is any sort of bankruptcy on the horizon. We are still in planning meetings for the future.
Can we be lucky enough to get some more brutal honesty? Will there be a chapter 11 filing or will it just go straight to 7? Will Sears be here after Christmas?
When you get to be this negative, it probably is best for you to move on as it isn't healthy. I don't know. I am still grateful for my job. There are times that are tough, but I still work with some good people who I enjoy working with. Not everyone in corporate is lying or looking to leave. Most of us are honest about the current situation, so it saddens me to see when there are associates who feel everyone is just lying to one another as that isn't how it is in our department.
It’s a shame, but let’s all be honest..... The company has probably held on much longer than anyone ever imagined it would.
drain the swamp
@1fst, if you pursue the hostile work environment, make certain to expose how you were pressured to commit credit card fraud to keep your job. Your ability to feed yourself hinged on tricking people into applying for credit. The customer is supposed to have a social security number, read the disclosure for the terms and only have an application put in for the card for which they are applying. Not 2 cards if they agree to one. They are receiving a statement credit, not a discount, all of the illegal things that the employees are forced to do.
Yep. Always figured corporate was just as bad as the stores. But the DM's are the worst. IF my DM threatens me one or anyone else with termination because we dont get credit card sign ups or we dont do a shopping trip I will go to the labor board and a lawyer for hostile work environment. Anyone else have to deal with this type of bulling and stress?
What I find funny at corporate is that we are all liars. We lie about the future success of a project to people who know we are lying, we nod our heads and smile when leaders are pitching their new strategy or transformation to us that we know is a lie (and they know it’s a lie). We lie to ourselves about how long the company will last and how long we might survive. At Hoffman it is just one big pool of deception we swim in day in and day out, just as long as we save ourselves
@SZcoi4x-zzk amazing post and spot on, thanks
I figured corporate was a nightmare. Had to be. Maybe even worse because you are "right there" so there's no getting away from the propaganda, the hard core yes people and Leena. I can't even imagine a meeting there. It's bad enough when we have one in the store.
Corporate runs much like the stores had, fear. Many people are stuck in a weird spot between being at Sears for 20+ years and still 10+ years away from retirement.
It used to be that you learned Sears systems and you were set for life. Why go anywhere else, its not like Sears was going to run into any trouble.... until it did.
So you have people later in their career with all of their experience working with Sears or Kmart proprietary systems and process that often don't feel like they transfer to the outside world.
Quite a few are honestly out of touch in terms of pay vs work. Why would a company pay 6 figures for a 53 year old who honestly might not actually do much when there are hungry 24 year olds itching to pay off student loans, and will work for peanuts. (I'm closer to the 24 year old working for peanuts compared to the 53 BTW)
The idiot yes men at the top don't matter, what they really have is a stranglehold on middle and below, everyone wants to leave but honestly for many that means possibly having to pick up and move their whole family. For others thats not even possible in a dual income family. Sure some people will be able to find positions further into Schaumburg and the like, but for many they were already driving an hour into Hoffman and another 30 mins sounds horrible. I can't tell you how many people lived in or near Rockford and drove into work everyday, or how many people who got bussed in because they worked at the old Sears Tower.
There were many ethics violations I saw during my time there, but I have no doubt they will find people to throw to the grinder. They may not be the best employees but they can keep you afloat for a bit longer. Especially when the worst that happens is vendors don't get paid or inventory doesn't get ordered. Those are cost saving measures.
The ones that aren't Eddies or Leenas are in the same boat as those of us in the stores. Stressful work conditions, threats, intimidation, a sense of impending doom. They even have roof leaks, malfunctioning HVAC and have to borrow basic items like desk chairs because there's no money in the budget to provide enough.
Many Hoffman employees have talked about their experiences here before, unfortunately, some shortsighted people dismissed their talking points because they worked at corporate. If it's because of the situations that SHC is in, the fact is that most corporate employees have little to no influence pertaining to the bad situation SHC is in. They aren't making as much money as you think and it's not a cushy desk job like you think.
Those same people have dismissed Kmart employees (or Sears employees), SHC India employees, logistics employees, and so on, for various reasons. There's more to the picture than Sears and Kmart stores. Truth is, we are all in the same boat.
thank you, refreshing to see some honesty from Hoffman
Finally, some truth from corporate.