PSI

I was a PSI for 5 years. I came in early for clients, stayed late, ended vacations early & started them late to accommodate clients' needs. I didn't play golf on "Company Time", completed my own estimates, worked very closely with a PT Co-ordinator and had very few/none client complaints. My SM, ASM & store Associates truly loved working with me & as a result, I wrote in excess of $1.2 million.

What the PSI program lacked was a MSM that acted throughly/responsably in his role. In the 3 years I had the last MSM, he visited me a total of 3 times...to give me my review. After requesting he visit me for 1 hour/Qtr for a one on one coaching at every one of my (excellent) reviews, I gave up! He never once visited me in an one on one. This MSM never sought to ask at any Market PSI Meeting held: "what was /or working","what needs to change", "how can the process be improved" or "how can I help the PSIs". He in fact, told us that the group PSI meeting was not the venue to discuss issues.

The FSM was cut from the same cloth. Never visited me to see how the GC was following the process,etc. In fact ,this FSM placed a single GC in multiple buildings, resulting in 44 projects being assigned to a GC that had 1 install team & no back-up....a complete failure.This poor management decision has cost millions, spoiled Lowes' reputation & mine.

In the 5 years I was a PSI, I reported to SM, ASM, MSM and DSM the over-assigning of GC issue 4 times because the FSM made the decision to duplicate the bad business model 4 times,with 4 different GCs over 4 years! The same response was given every time by each of the SM, ASM, MSM and DSM...that "the FSM does not report to me'. (Let me repeat that each of the SM,ASM,MSM,DSM understood that overextending a GC to that degree would cost $$$. I know they knew...I told them.)

This attitude of Supervisors unwilling to push the boundary was consistent from the day I started. As evidence: during my 1st month at my last store, I told the ASM, MSM & FSM, that the then GC was not obtaining/posting permits. Nothing was done and that GC was move to cover additional different stores, repeating the no-permit situation at multiple locations. As a direct result of installs from that same GC, Lowes' has over 50 lawsuits/failed inspections/pending pay-outs. All because that FSM did not perform his due diligence.

There was no effective oversight of FSM & MSM in my market.

The FSM, MSM failed at their job responsibilities. They continue being employed.

I exceeded my job responsabilities. I am now unemployed.

Comment! It's anonymous!

19 replies (most recent on top)

Its is such a shame, this program had such potential to do wonderful things. But repeatedly had the wrong people in the wrong positions. I was a PSI for 4.5 years and I quit just this past September. I was hired with the first roll out. The first year was just a trial run to see if they could make this program work large scale. The paperwork was minimal and it was much easier to sell. Then the cascading required paperwork and the bureaucracy of it all. I loved that job and I loved my clients and I had a wonderful contractor. But I went through 7 cabinet specialists, 3 DMISs, 2 AMS, 2 MSMs, and 2 Store Managers. No one knew what they were doing, no one wanted to learn their role with the PSI program, no one wanted to be a team, everyone wanted to challenge everything I did. I had to do a lot of things myself and just expect that everyone was going to mess up their portion of the program. I went on maternity leave for 3 months and the program, my customers, and everything went down the toilet, and they staged a coup to fire my GC, who was the only one who knew anything. Then the "laws changed" and we go a base pay paycut from like almost $19 an hour to $14.50. And they changed how we were being evaluated to sales based only. Well that year after I had a baby, I wasn't able to work 50-60 hours a week, I had a baby at home. my sales suffered only a little, got put on probation. That's when I decided that I needed to make my exit. I talked to my GC and he hired me in September. I am a whole lot happier now. I just feel bad for my friends that were still in the position. But I felt that the program was going down a deep hole that I didn't want to go in, so I got out.

This is spot on. If the fsm msm and market director positions were completely full of incompetent mo--ns this program would have been stellar.

I was an ASM with Lowes and attended a PSI meeting in 2016 when I just got promoted. The PSI program was awful and no one knew what process to follow. The MSM was a sales person, but couldnt run a progran to save his life. They flat out said they wouldnt advertise the program because if they did they would be over run. That right there means you have a poorly run program!

The more I learned and got involved with operations the more i realized how much money we were losing on PSI. After we paid the GC, the cost on materials, the delivery fees, the commission, and all the issues that popped up we lost money on many jobs. We made nothing on materials because of the discounts and all the money on labor went straight to exception payments. You would think the FSM would be involved with all the exception payments and try to stop them, but nope. They were usually the ones telling me to do them. CPO was even worse, paying money without giving any reason. Sure made financial explanations difficult each month.

The market directors & RVP’s do nothing but shift the blame & repeat excessively. They make sure everyone else is blamed & fired. It’s a complete joke that they are paid so much to do so little. And they slide by year after year unscathed, taking no responsibility for the failed implementation of programs. I’ve been with Lowes many years. It’s just a repeating cycle. Obviously, Ellison is buying into the same mindset.

These stories are the same for all markets. No support, no accountability. And CPO & XP we’re just the nail in the coffin. I’m sure the SM/ASM/SSMs are glad to be rid of us. I hope they’re glad to be rid of the 10 million $ our market brought to the table each year. Say goodbye to your precious bonuses!

This is consistent with Lowes.... Expect the impossible out of employees that have never been trained properly. Never appreciated properly. Management is normally clueless and not helpful.

Then kick them to the curb when not needed.

I see a lot of Narcissistic tendencies with the leadership in this company.

Exaggerates own importance

Has unreasonable expectations of favorable treatment

Takes advantage of others to reach his or her own goals

Disregards the feelings of others, lacks empathy

Anyone looking into legality?

Curious.

My story is the same, PSI 5 years ended up having to do everything myself, only way it would work and now only one losing their job. Even CPO keeps their jobs!

Florida.......same here!

Lowe’s PSI and PSE are cluster..... I went to a neighbors house and was bombarded by complaints because one of the neighbors used PSE.

The PSE coordinator had taken a year to get a couple windows installed. In that time the person had ordered windows. Had an unsatisfactory damaged install, was deployed for almost 9 months and his wife had documentation and videos from the neighbors ring cameras showing the PSE specialist hiding in his car down the street from the install as he sent in other Lowe’s Install coordinators to try to smooth it over.

The neighbor hates Lowe’s and bashes them to everyone he sees. I don’t think the PSI or PSE programs ever had a chance.

Great ideas often die due to poor management in the archaic Olde Boy Retail Mentality.

I expect Corperate will just think of Lowes as a large hardware store.

Agree with the last reply 1000%.

All the same for me as a PSI for 5 years. One opinion difference, Lowe's management did not know enough to know how little they knew. They thought price it, sell it, build it. They had no idea who to hire to do what. As I PSI I was only successful after I took everything into my own hands, developed my own contractors, scheduled, delivered, timed, ran production and service and really did it all. I was fortunate to have a coordinator working with me as a team. The original hiring for PSIs was almost all designers and Lowe's employees with absolutely no construction management experience. The only stores that were successful where the ones who figured out how to get the right contractor, get the right price, and run the job.

I was very fortunate to put it all together, but many were not.

I could have written virtually the same post. Without going into detail, the demise of our program was set up to fail primary due to msm's & fsm's. It could have worked and been great for many stores had upper management taken the time for a more complete and thorough review.

Is the GC America’s Best?

I could never figure where mine was!

Why doesn't CEO see this as lack of accountability?

Whenever I asked Store Management what the MSM did...............they said I don't know.

Similar experience here as well. I kept telling them and telling them the problems. Same GC in 4 stores here after I went through 5 of them that had to “google” how to install things. My clients always gave me a great survey and I worked 24/7 for this job as well. They told us when they were letting us go that we did nothing wrong, that we didn’t have the support needed to make the program successful. But those ‘support’ positions did not loose their jobs.

You must have been posted in Northern Virginia.

Thread regarding Lowe's Cos. layoffs

PSI

19 replies (most recent on top)

Post a reply