Toxic Corporate Culture and No support for passionate staff
The Brick was honestly one of the worst employers I have ever worked for, and this is a tragedy as it had some of the best staff I've ever encountered.
There are three major flaws for how the company is run that makes it difficult for staff.
1. How they handle management
2. Bleak work life and growth potential
3. the company's priorities in general.
How They Handle Management
The company doesn't train it's management.Their training program teaches managers how to avoid HR issues and which metrics are most important for a store. But their MIT (manager-in-training) Program doesn't teach managers how to manage staff, how to make good schedules, how to leverage the skills and aptitudes of their staff, how to handle conflict and descalate scenarios.This lack of training combined with the company's insistence on hiring new management from outside sources leads to very motivated and well-intentioned professionals coming in with no knowledge of how to do their job, no network to lean on as they learn, and no proper training to help them develop the skills and knowledge required to effectively manage staff and their stores. I've seen this in more than half a dozen of the stores I worked in and the employees I worked with during those times. It leads to incredibly stressed management which leads to stressed staff and fostered a very unhealthy work environment for everyone.
Bleak Work Life and Growth Potential
Relating to the previous paragraph, the stressful work environm
Working at the Brick is kind of surreal. If you're passable as an employee, don't messing things up too badly too often, and show up for your scheduled shifts, you're basically employed for life (at least in Ontario's Bricks anyways). But at the same time, so many employees are simply "passable" that if you show even a hint of intelligence or aptitude you get shoved into the management training programme and promises about your future get shoveled onto your lap. It feels pretty good for a while, but it rubs off quickly when you realize that management has no intention of doing better than yearly twenty cent raises and slashing hours when they screw the budget.
The people are usually nice enough, or at least fun enough that work isn't so bad. Nothing is exceptionally difficult, except some customers who either were promised something impossible or randomly decided the Brick would move heaven and earth to make their wildest fantasies come true. You'll never be punished for not being able to literally change the fabric of reality to make some of their wishes materialize, but neither will you get a pat on the back or a raise for making minor miracles happen. You'll get good stories to laugh about at least.
Management ranges from well-trained and thoughtful to bumbling and impossibly irrational. You'll get requests from one manager like "go help put that couch by that door," then three hours later when they leave another manager will come up and say "put that couch back, man
Points positifsIf you're trainable you're untouchable, good community
Points négatifsStressful, customer expectations way too high (who's promising all this?), getting shouted at, low wage, low raise, advancement slow, unclear policies, unclear advancement structure, some difficult coworkers or regional higher up employees
There are tons of opportunities for advancement if you're quick to catch on, and know how to follow policy and proceedures. This company is much more new-hire friendly than it ever was before and the onboarding process has massively improved. Whether you're in sales, customer service or a warehouse position there's room to move up the ladder and opportunities present themselves frequently.
The downside is that 9/10 times it isn't worth it. The managers barely make more than the staff, and their workload is massively larger. It's stressful to the point where I can promise you it is not worth the job long-term. If you're a managers, don't expect anyone to like you. You're treated less like a human than the part timers.
The salary is horrible. You can be among the most skilled people in the region and be a several year veteran of the company and still make less than your average fast-food job. For the responsibility, it's abysmal and there's huge turnover rates for this reason. As a company it's financially more feasible for them to credit and compensate customers due to employee error than it is for them to pay a wage that reflects experience, knowledge and dedication.
It's also "rumored" that a certain senior regional manager was terminated for failing to adequately block the delivery drivers from unionizing. Take of that what you will.
These are just a handful of personal gripes but really it boils to this. If you expect to make a career out of The Brick be prepared to:
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Points positifsCommission can be good
Points négatifsEverything else is a con, but there isn't one in particular that is severe enough to notice.
2,0
Customer Service Representative | Red Deer, AB | 6 janv. 2019
Staff are great people employees treated poorly at times by some management
I worked here for almost 3 months never had a complaint from a customer on me was never brought into the office regarding poor performance had a meeting with management to see where we were at at about the two and a half months mark and at that time all that was mentioned to me was that I needed to take initiative to find out more of what hasn't been done in the office that day when I come in because I didn't start at the beginning of the day and that I needed to make sure that my notes were up to date after that meeting I did exactly what was asked of me then two weeks after that I was fired when I asked for a reason I was told that I just wasn't a good fit the supervisor directly involved in my training was terrible she didn't train me for more than 2 days and the rest of the time she relied on the other staff working in customer service to train me and that was difficult because these other people have their own job to do it wasn't their responsibility to train it was the supervisors and in my opinion how well an employee is trained is directly a reflection of the quality of the supervisors ability to train they require you to take notes on all the different processes which I can understand it's a lot to remember make sense unfortunately they don't provide you with any notes or help you very much in creating these notes so how am I supposed to make notes on processes if I don't know what processes we do working at this location you weren't allowed to take a sick day unles
Points positifsStaff discount
Points négatifsPoor training practices, listening to unhappy customers daily and not being allowed to take a day off when you're sick
Mon taux de satisfaction de mon emploi auprès de Brick aura été de 85% durant les 10 dernières années
Voir à ce que ma liste (demandes de service faites pas les clients) soit le plus à date possible afin de ne pas faire attendre la résolution (rapport des techniciens) aux clients trop longtemps.
Je dois voir chaque demande et en faire la résolution selon le rapport et ce que la garantie accorde comme protection.
Je dois prendre la décision si je dois en faire la réparation ou bien offrir d'autres alternatives; comme un crédit en magasin pour conserver le meuble tel quel ou bien en faire l'échange.
Par contre, il y a plusieurs cas qui ne nécessite pas de réparation ou bien que les dommages ne sont pas garantie donc il faut que je contacte les clients pour les aviser et leurs expliquer les raisons.
J'ai acquise beaucoup de confiance en moi même avec le temps en prenant des décisions régulièrement et en contactant les clients.
J'ai apprise également avec le temps que je devais déléguer certaines taches à mes coéquipiers afin de mieux progresser dans mes responsabilités premières, qui est la prise de décision ainsi que de contacter les clients avec des réponses négatives.
Ce qui est le plus difficile pour moi actuellement, c'est une certaine routine qui s'installe dans ce type d'emploi car avec le temps, je connais tout les modèles ainsi que leurs particularités donc sauf indications contraires, en général les résultats sont à peu près tous les mêmes et facilement prévisibles.
Ce qui me plaît davantage, c'est de faire partie d'une équipe qui est agréable et d'en fair
Points positifsassurance collective, rabais sur achat de marchandise, bonne équipe
Points négatifsadministration depuis achat par compétiteur, changement régulier de système informatique
A typical day at the job is fun and competitive. You get to learn a lot from the experience as you talk to many people everyday and constantly improve your communication skills. You get to learn a lot about the products which can be helpful when you want to get something for yourself. The benefits and pay are also decent if you work hard and know how to sell. Work can be very fast paced and stressful on busy days especially during big sale periods but switches to very slow and boring during other times when only a few customers show up the whole day. A good thing is that you can sit on sofas or beds when you take a break.
The pros however end there as everything else about the place is toxic. The management is not supportive and pushes you to meet crazy sales targets which provide no benefit to you as the work is commission based. They expect you to do many tasks around the store everyday such as cleaning the store which would at times include picking up dozens of vases and cleaning under them, moving furniture, changing dozens of price tags which can be tedious and repetitive. What makes it worse is that you do this for hours everyday but you aren't getting paid for any of it since the only way you get paid is by making sales to customers.
The workplace culture is fun but the managers try to control everything you do. You need to depend a lot on the merchandisers and Customer service so if you don't have a good relationship with them or they are having a bad day it can make
Points positifsFree Lunches during event days, lots to learn, fun environment, decent pay benefits
Points négatifstoxic management, does not appreciate time or effort, unrealistic sales targets, tedious tasks
Typical day: customer complaints, ordering furniture for store and ensuring floor was decorated according to CORE, inventory management, training of staff, reviewing daily, weekly and monthly operations reports, budget management and P&L variance accountability, payroll, recruiting/job posting/interviews/training, disciplinary action and performance management.
Learned: I learned a lot about furniture (fabrics, materials, quality), store decoration, P&L variance explanations, inventory management.
Management: High turnover of management and staff. Succession planning almost non existent, not always the best people for the job were promoted (sometimes seniority was the key factor, not necessarily the skill set, several bad fits for the stores that resulted in higher turnover).
Co-workers: A mix of teenagers to middle age in various positions and several ethnic backgrounds. Communication was sometimes difficult due to language barriers, age and culture differences. I had to step in often to resolve conflicts with employees and customers.
Hardest part of job: high turnover due for the most part to low wages and hard physical work and customer complaints. It was sometimes difficult to keep my cool with screaming customers who were abusive and completely unreasonable in their demands.
Most enjoyable: Variety of responsibilities, from HR to inventory to store decoration, customer service, payroll, budget management. Every day was different. Also worked at
Points positifsWorked at all locations, I was sent to stores with staff problems to help bring them back to par.
Points négatifsExtremely long hours, no recognition whatsoever, low salary
3,0
Customer Service Representative | Toronto, ON | 20 oct. 2019
Competitive, Clique-y Workplace
Customer service job was a mixed bag. I worked at a very small store downtown so there was no structure within the store nor any concrete "job descriptions" for my or my coworkers. No one -including management- drew a clear line which duties belonged to which person.
A typical day for me was to first open the store, then do the opening cash paperwork, confirm the deposit paperwork from the previous night etc.
What was next was to do inventory of all furniture and accessory items in the store and then usually answer customers' questions in the meantime.
Afterwards it was my responsibility to answer voicemails, phones, schedule deliveries, file all paperwork, and answer any customer inquiries at the front counter in person as well. I also sold furniture for the salespersons when we were too busy (without commision) and unboxed and built all accesories and furniture. I also wrapped furniture that was sold. So although there was a routine for what I was responsible for there was no structure for me in my position on any given day, and the salespersons also required my help for a lot of things day to day.
Busy location overall. One of the positive aspects I can mention is that because our store lacked structure I was able to run to get coffee or take my break when I would like -but most times still get called back to work from my break-
I wouldn't advise to work in a smaller location. But that's because I like a clear definition of what I'm responsible for. That way I can del
1,0
Customer Service Representative | Kirkland, QC | 15 juin 2016
Pretty horrific experience
Worked for a total of just over half-a-yea before my call-center (1 of 2 in the country) SHUT DOWN; absolutely no surprise..
Customers are likely to feel they've been cheated out of service, price and/or general product-quality. Constant reviews, business-reports, media-stories and even anti-Brick Facebook groups bring out the apparent opinion many share.
It took me 2-3 months in to realize it wasn't that well managed.. I would have left, but felt I could attempt to serve my customers fair and treat them with respect, and also contacted head-office/higher authorities on multiple occasions, skipping over my immediate supervisors as to avoid a run-around. Even while being praised for my perspective and striving to save both the business and customers, nothing ever happened (in terms of advancements, recognition, or even thank yous). As somebody who studies EQ of business and branding, I at least had a strong contrast to compare AGAINST what one should do to become successful.
Many complaints and experiences led me eventually advise NOT to buy from The BRICK, which again, highlights the incapability of standing behind a product/company you believe in. A terrible job-experience thankfully gave insight to a company as a whole that lacks essential leadership in today's growing age.
The BRICK runs a sprint, and not a marathon when it comes to their brand and how they treat their customers (as a company across Canada).
Dynamic work environment. Pay depends on how much of your outside life you're willing to dedicate towards succeeding at work.
I worked for the Brick for a while, the people I worked with were mostly all really friendly, and talented. I witnessed extremely skilled sales people, and had the opportunity to learn from various different selling styles throughout the time I worked for the company. This job requires a lot of mental time dedicated towards ensuring all your customers needs are met, and teaches you to problem solve to achieve stats, and ignore moral ramifications.
The managers at the location I worked at were all extremely passionate about their jobs, and worked hard to ensure their employees were mentally ready to address the tasks presented to their team. My coworkers all had independent reasons to succeed in their day to day work, and it motivated us all to work hard. However, various company changes subjected the salespeople to different types of work that may or may not have benefited them, or changed the day to day environment we were required to sell in.
Points positifsUnique, and extremely talented coworkers, and management, Flexible work space, allow a salesperson to organize their own schedule, Constant customer base, Potential for earning is great
Points négatifsOver arching higher ups in company do not care about the salespeople, Requires a lot of investment, customers require attention from salespeople for longer than just the sale, also archaic operating systems slow, and sometimes completely hinder the selling process, Top Up system is broken
Questions et réponses au sujet de l'entreprise The Brick
À quelle fréquence bénéficiiez-vous d'une augmentation de salaire chez The Brick?
Posée le 8 nov. 2022
Annuellement
Réponse du 20 mars 2023
Once a year
Réponse du 15 mars 2023
What should you wear to an interview at The Brick?
Posée le 9 mai 2017
Business formal unless you are applying for a warehouse job
Réponse du 23 août 2021
The brick sales manager will like to see you dress professional.
Réponse du 28 juill. 2020
Comment se déroule le processus de promotion chez The Brick?
Posée le 8 nov. 2022
there was none
Réponse du 26 mars 2023
Refused to make me permanent after the probation period
Réponse du 7 mars 2023
À quelle fréquence les salaires augmentent-ils chez The Brick?
Posée le 22 janv. 2019
it was commission based so no raises
Réponse du 26 mars 2023
Yearly
Réponse du 7 mars 2023
Quelles sont les heures de travail chez The Brick?
Posée le 9 mai 2017
During covid they are very short staffed across the country and if you want hours are there but don't expect to have too much of a social life and during special events they want you in and you sacrifice days off
