warehouse associate

shipping and receiving clerk

store manager

tax analyst

sales lead

Ascena Retail Group

Hired as a 1st Assistant Manager for Maurice's I was appalled at the treatment of associates, customer profiling, lack of implementation of policies and procedures and training and the deviousness of management as well as the overall the backbiting behavior of other Assistant managers towards each other. I had previously worked for another big box retailer in the same mall for over 6 years with expert knowledge of customer service, sales and credit skill. I had achieved a well known reputation for my accomplishments and skills.
I was approached during a shopping visit and recruited by a Maurices management team member and I was promised the moon and the stars. Unfortunately I was misled into believing that I would be making a positive career change. 
The Maurices Store in St. Johnsbury, Vt. was sinking in stats and needed to find someone with expertise and dedication to help restore their position. In my first three months after hire, management had decided to just "throw me out on the floor" to see what I could do. It wasn't long before I was considered "rock star" status and was hailed for my exceptional skills. Unfortunately my entrance training was put on hold and suffered greatly. 
I had reached "net producer" status as high as +10 and the store stats had increased to place the store within the top 7 in the district from rock bottom. I'd say that was pretty impressive. My customers asked for me, looked for me and I had brought many of my former customers from my former employment with me to Maurices. I accomplished many individual sales that amounted to anywhere from 500 to over 800 dollars a sale. I excelled in credit carrying the store for credit and was even told my both of my DM's that I brought credit to maurices.
So why was I targeted for discharge?
Religious discrimination is where it started. I asked for a day off to speak at a Baptism and was given permission to go but upon arrival at work the very next Monday morning I was reprimanded for putting my faith first before Maurices and told by my manager that she was disappointed with me for the choices I make. I was told that she needed her 1st Assistant to be just like her. She profiled every customer that entered and exited her store making discriminating comments about them.
Policy and procedures were always skirted around and unfairly used to judge each associate. Even to the point of favoritism and exclusion. I was even told to stop ringing sales and told to retreat to the backroom to give other associates a chance to achieve "net producer" status. Of course their status should have been graded by their own drive and performance. I also tried coaching them to improve their skills. Drive was what was missing and I felt as though the success of the stores stats were left on my shoulders. They consistently stole other associate sales including mine.
After almost a year of just being beaten down and repeated attempts for help with the abuses going on in the store to my DM's and corporate I was discharged on a customer service complaint where neither of the customers contact information could be retrieved for further investigation. A week later my store manager gave her notice. In her eyes I just couldn't do anything right and my 20+ year career as a customer service driven individual has become irreversibly damaged.

They love to boast about how everyone there is a family while simultaneously letting favoritism run rampant, making job advancement basically unattainable as well as almost all of the Tier 2s and a couple T3s literally all living together. When one got promoted, suddenly every one of them turned into a T2. Some that were working there less than a year.

People who were deserving of a promotion were consistently passed up due to the favoritism. If there were opportunities for someone else to advanced, they were always passed up.

If you don't have a outgoing, bubbly and talkative personality here you wont go anywhere. No matter how good your work actually is. They will constantly pass you up while simultaneously giving you a speech about how people who think they deserve something should not get it. 

They want to "Be a family" but its all a charade. During Corona is the most I've even seen any of the actual management there doing their jobs. (Despite them always being clocked in on the web portal).

During Corona the entire IT support department was disbanded. Leaving only, you guess, T2s+. Now most T2s have been cut and its specialty and above now. We went from 90 people to about 5-10 if that. Instead of telling us what was going on flat out, They called a all hands meeting, first not telling us when it was, then told us when it was a hour before it was and then proceeded to during the meeting not actually say what was going on. The way we found out we were all fired was VIA email after the meeting. Some not even knowing they were fired because they sent the email to our work emails. 

The way the situation was handled was very poorly and its obvious they don't actually care about its employees. Corporate greed hits them hard especially when they're failing so bad as a whole already. They don't want to listen to you or your ideas unless you're on the same playing field as them.

The work was remedial and consistent . They did nothing to encourage growth and nothing other than dote on their favorite people in office who would be showered with award after award and promoted. I will never be returning.

In house design is a new initiative for DB and the merchant teams are reluctant to see it succeed. Merchants are still trying to prove they can do it all and don't need design or product development. Designers are hired with the promise of working full time at the NYC office, but actually have to commute to the Mahwah HO several times a month. Merchants do not come to NYC office to work with designers and there is no protocol in place for it. All departments are in the Mahwah home Office except Design... Design is treated as a separate entity and since this company has never had in house design before, so the design leadership can get away with anything: constant overtime, unprofessional behavior, disrespecting/abusing subordinates, and forcing associates to work weekends. There is no time management, no organization, no focus. Merchants are considered more than designers and have control over everything.
         If you are considering a job in the design department with this company, be aware that you will be traveling to Mahwah frequently, working weekends/late, and not able to benefit from the HO perks like the fitness center, organic garden, or company events under current leadership. There is an NYC shuttle to Mahwah but it only benefits people on the east side or coming from the eastern bouroughs. Depending on your product category, you might only be working on trend or very little proprietary design. Maybe in a few years under different leadership, this could be a great company to work at. Overall company outlook is great, and if you are a buyer, this company is a great place to work.

I was placed into Replenishment and was told that I would have to unpack and sort out 23 boxes of clothes per hour to maintain rate. Unfortunately, the two trainers who worked with me  failed to do their job as trainers and did not show me the proper procedure for not just scanning the clothes and boxes, but emphasizing the proper procedure which would've enabled me to maintain rate.  The sad part is that Replenishment is a relatively easy job to do.  This also reflects poorly on Ascena; it appears that Ascena doesn't really care about their associates and their success. I would only consider Order Processing at Ascena as a seasonal job, never as a full-time career position.  

I also think that the SLA's need to be adjusted so that if the associate shows a greater level of performance in one department over another, that employee should be allowed to work in that department.  I had much better performance in Packing than I did in replenishment.  Allowing the associate to work in that department they're best in will benefit not just Ascena, but especially the customers! 

I think probably the two most enjoyable aspects of the job are the feeling of accomplishment when you've finished working for the day, and the casual dress code.  Ascena was the first company I've actually worn shorts to, and it was a great perk to have - especially considering Replen is upstairs and gets quite warm up there!

What is the best part of working at the company?
Worst company I have ever worked for. DO NOT WORK HERE IF YOU VALUE YOUR FAMILY OR YOUR SANITY. They treat you as a number, and that is all. Nothing is ever appreciated and nothing is given back to the employees for working extreme hours with small breaks. Very dirty, have me breathing issues because of lack of sanitary measures.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The whole experience. Everything from the moment you clock in to the moment you climb in your car to drive home is absolutely horrible. The level of dehumanization is horrendous. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Hard cement floors to stand and walk on all day, small breaks, dirty (work stations, bathrooms, cafeteria, break areas). They treat you like you are nothing more than a number. Nothing is ever good enough for them. No give back or appreciation whatsoever.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
You arrive and go through security (you are mandated to carry a clear bag with nothing in bags inside that bag) they go through your personal belongings. You put your things in your locker, no cell phones allowed in work spaces. Go to work station, and stand for hours on hard cement floors and have small or no breaks. You go home feeling drained and defeated. Repeat.

64,000 souls serve in this woman centered retail organization. The majority of middle, upper middle, and senior management are all middle aged men with zero clue on what their customers and employee customers want and are tone deaf about it to the point of absurdity. 
Ascena outsources every single role they can because offshore jobs cost 80% less than American resources. The worst part of it is that Ascena has an amazing talent pool of genuinely nice and knowledgeable people who are just trying to do their jobs. Alas, Sr Management is so disconnected from the people performing the work that they are ill-equipped to deal with human resources issues and have a track record of turning a blind eye to openly hostile and toxic management styles. Siloing is rampant and Good Old Boys culture flourishes (an odd place to find this since Ascena is such a progressive organization). For every 3 good leaders you find there, the 4th is usually a snake. Working there is like treading water in the open ocean. You're basically just waiting to drown.Hope the new CIO is able to turn the culture around, otherwise that place is not worth the time it takes to drive out there.

Although the concept of working 3 days a week and still being able to obtain full time hours sounds nice, I would rather work 5 days of 8 hours than 3 days of 12 hours. 5am-5pm consumes most of the day, starting at a very early time for someone who lives 45 minutes away. I also have a young child who is up until midnight most nights, so I end up only getting 3 hours of sleep. The people I have worked with are great, the overall culture and work-flow is great, and could not be an easier job. I feel comfortable speaking with HR and Management as they are very welcoming and open to whatever it is I have to say. Ascena is also really great for offering extra hours nearly every day of each week, so those who want to work closer to 80-100 hours per week can do so based on weekly demand.

Overall a very good place to work for, who definately take care of their employees. Always have room to move around and learn different aspects of the company. A company that allows growth. Very fast paced facility.
 Before or after a hard day working They have their own big gym with numerous work out equipment, on site. Showers. 
Big cafeteria for those who dont like to pack a lunch. Home cooked foods onsite.Free coffee hot chocolate, popcorn and fruit daily. Several giant TV"s throughout the facility.
 Has a game room withas ping pong, fooze ball, and pool table. 
Have family fun days with carnivals and outings throughout the year.
Have caters meals for all holiday and special reasons. 
Very High End place to work, definately shows appreciation of employees.

There were some red flags prior to me joining this company but I went ahead and decided to join them. I was in training with them for few days. I knew immediately this was not the job for me. It was only me and one other individual being trained by someone. So of course the training was boring especially if it’s just mostly power point slides. They have to many applications you have to log into just to get your day started. During training the laptop they gave me old dell computer crash out on me giving me blue screen. This prevented me from completing my training assignment. Their method of remoting into another computer is absolutely one of the worst remoting tools I’ve seen in my experience. Once that happened I got call later on they decided to terminate the contract. Stay far away from this company.

The employees here really make this place a great environment, everyone is extremely friendly. The workplace offers many employee perks such as free fresh fruit, popcorn, coffee, and tea to all employees, a fully loaded gym with private yoga room and on-site workout specialists, free weekly workout classes, ping-pong and pool table, on-site cafe, multiple break rooms around the building complete with balconies in case you want some fresh air on your break, credit-card enabled vending machines, and multiple full-size refrigerators and microwaves for employee use. The company also hosts many employee-driven activities year-round such as the company bowling party, Christmas party, pelotonia rally, multiple food-truck days, and the yearly Ascena carnival. This truly is an amazing place to work!

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Warehouse associate 3 salaries reported	$17.58 per hour
Shipping and receiving clerk 21 salaries reported	$17.63 per hour
Store manager 3 salaries reported	$110,833 per year
Tax analyst 3 salaries reported	$70,833 per year
Sales lead 3 salaries reported	$15.83 per hour

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