| Topic Name: |
SLP |
| Message Name: |
Consider both sides carefully.... |
| Date Posted: |
02/11/2006 |
| In Reply To: |
Thanks a lot for your detailed note. I feel very confident that the SLP program is right for me. Hope to meet you one day! |
| Message: |
I am a former SLP'er as well.
The only advice I can give is the following: You are going to get out of it what you put into it during your rotations. You network, have the opportunity to work on great projects, etc.
Once you get into the store it is a different story. As mentioned earlier, expect 10+ hours (not including your drive time and lunch hour) a day, on your feet, moving lifting, etc. It is not an office environment. You will find yourself at times grinding out hours. The HD culture is the more hours the better (work hard, not smart). There are many days that I left the house at 4:30AM and did not get home until after 8PM.
If you ever need to call out sick as an ASM or SM...watch out. I believe my former DM said once the only acceptable excuse for missing work is if your dead.
I left after 2 1/2 years. I was promoted to SM after 5 1/2 months of my ASM rotation (middle of the fiscal year). The store I managed did very well to close out the year, we full bonused, etc. life was good. My store even won the Sales Performance Award, I got a truck (had to give it back when I quit), and we got to raffle off disney vacations.
Now start FY 2005. My sales plan was ridiculous. My point is that you have a $56MM P&L you are responsible for, but have no input in putting it together. We worked our tails off to drive sales and GM, and OP. I worked six days consistantly, about 70 hours a week for what?. We also had no HRM for six months, great way for me learn the HR process and systems though. It was a nightmare. In-Stock was high, store was clean, we merchandised according to MAP, implemented the ops. initiatives, etc. We were comping 11%, but missing sales plan by 10%. My point is that the store ran the same the previous year as the current year. No difference. You can go from hero to goat really quick at HD.
The bottom line is that once you get into the store, you are at the mercy of your sales plan. Get a good one, you are golden, get a bad one, you are toast. It's that simple.
You can analyze the situation, put together a great business case, as to why the plan is a bit aggresive, etc. It does not matter. It will not change, and you will have a bunch of people in your business: DM, RVP, DLPM, RLPM, DSM, RSM, and RHRM.
Did I run a perfect store, absolutely not, was there more for me to learn and inprove on, absolutely. My store was by no means perfect.
A SM can influence sales in a store +/- 3% tops. Don't kid yourself.
I had both positive and negative experiences with HD. When I turned in my notice I was even offered the option to look at other opportunities with the company instead of leaving. I left. My wife and I came to the conclusion: Is it going to better in ATL? Maybe, maybe not, but not worth the risk.
To close, I did learn alot about myself, and did learn the retail business. I guess I have mixed feeling over the program. There are some some things I miss, but many more I do not.
Good luck with your decision.
In closing my advice is the following, try to fit in, be humble, you can learn a lot from the long term associates, and when it comes time do your very best to be promoted to new store. That is a 95% shot of having a very achievable plan (i.e. easy).
A buddy of mine was promoted to a new store, beat plan by 25% and is now on the slate for DM after taking his DM assessment.
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