lead associate

seasonal associate

assistant manager

service technician

sales associate

Leslies Poolmart

So, I got laid off with only 2 days notice. When I originally applied for this job I asked for 30-35 hours/week and we ended up agreeing to 20-30 hours/week. I was also, most likely, to be kept after the summer. The first few weeks were actually 20-30, until corporate made her hire on a new assistant manager. My hours were cut in half, with the other half going to this new assistant. When asked about my job security, I was told that I probably was not in the budget for winter. About a week later I get told I am getting laid off in 2 days. You have to understand that this was mostly corporates doing and that my manager seemed somewhat upset and even offered to re-hire me when their budget increases come March.

A day at work would involve helping any customers that were in the store when I clocked in. This could be anything from answering questions about anything in the store to questions about general pool things and chemicals. You will learn and do water-testing, where the chlorine, pH, and several other things are determined. It is then your job (with the help of a computer) to explain to the customer which chemicals are needed to balance the water. I also had to cashier, move/re-organize merchandise, print and put up labels and signage, clean the floor/warehouse and bring out the garbage.

The manager there is absolutely brilliant. She's a tiny progressive-thinking Canadian with a giant mouth. She loves to talk and laugh and is honestly a realist. She does as much work, if not more, than all of her other employees combined. She INSISTS you do not work on your birthday and most holidays. She only asks that you are able to work most of November/December since that is the only time she will take a vacation. This woman worked at the store after becoming the new manager for 6-7 days a week sometimes pulling 70 hours because all the previous employees and manager were fired. She is patient and polite and I would definitely recommend working with her.

I only had 2 other coworkers (aside from the manager). Both of them were friendly and are good at what they do. The manager knows how to pick employees.

The hardest part on the job is either answering questions about pool parts, such as replacement parts for vacuums, sweeps, and pumps. Some of the lifting and water test results can be difficult as well. It seems that many employees struggle with learning and understanding all the chemicals at the store and what they do, but it seemed to come fairly easy to me.

The most enjoyable part of the job was the down-time when everything is taken care of and there are no customers (I worked at the Fremont location which doesn't see THAT many customers) and talking to the manager. She always has a funny story or comment to make and the environment is overall friendly and relaxed.

While working in the pool industry, and working for the world's largest pool retailer may sound "fun" and "exciting", it's far from that in the role of District Manager at Leslie's Pool Supplies. You won't hear a lot about it outside of the 4 walls in Phoenix, AZ, but,  Leslie's is struggling(high turnover in District Manager, Store Manager, Assistant Manager, and even Corporate Leadership Roles).  It's easy to point a finger and say it's a result of this person or that person.  Fact is it's a result of poor partnerships, at many levels, which is leading to a very "execute or be executed" culture in the stores and out in the field.  There is very little recognition, the environment is very toxic, the Retail side(Operational Leadership) is not what it needs to be, and as a result.........good people are leaving and the brick and mortar results are continuing to decline.  Don't be swayed by the 50+ years of growth.......if it wasn't for E Commerce and Acquisition, the statement would be very false.    

Honestly, it's not a District Manager/Leader Role whatsoever.   It's more of a "Super Store Manager" position.......as there is an enormous amount of micromanagement(with many non-critical items), and the trust and empowerment with the "store managers" has not been given nor taught from the corporate office team.  The District Manager is always talked about as being the "expert"...with EVERYTHING.  This isn't the model of any winning company.  The District Manger/Leader role depends on experts at many levels(store, field, and home office).  The micromanaging is beyond anything you can imagine.  It's an in your face, phone call after phone call after phone call, minute by minute, never any good only bad seen, toxic culture........and it will eventually be the reason that the company fails in the long run.  

Don't get me wrong, I think there are some very good people included in the mix.  But, when the Corporate Office Team and Regional Leadership Teams are very unappreciative, negative, and honestly........don't care about people in the least, it's going to catch up with you at some point.  The Store Teams are among the hardest working individuals in the retail field.  The problem is that most are never valued.   They are seen as simply a "number".  Contests, Trips, and a Plaque doesn't make up for a sincere Thank You, a hand shake, a nice job, a smile, and an appreciation of what someone does....daily.  

If I had my decision to do over from years ago, knowing what I know now, I would have never left my position, never have relocated, and never have taken a District Manager role with Leslie's...because it's not a multi-unit role...it's a micromanaged super store manager position....which has had nearly 80% turnover in my 3 years with the business.


**Introduction:
Reflecting on my time at Leslie's Poolmart, I feel compelled to share some aspects that have made my employment experience less than favorable.

**Management Communication:**
One significant challenge has been the lack of clear and consistent communication from management. Important updates and expectations often seem unclear or change abruptly, making it difficult for employees to navigate their roles effectively.

**Employee Support:**
While Leslie's Poolmart promotes a supportive atmosphere, the reality has been different in my experience. Limited support from management in resolving workplace issues and addressing concerns has left employees feeling overlooked and undervalued.

**Workload and Stress:**
The workload at Leslie's Poolmart can be overwhelming, often exceeding reasonable expectations. This high-pressure environment contributes to stress among employees, impacting both job satisfaction and overall well-being.

**Career Growth Stagnation:**
Despite promises of career advancement opportunities, the reality for many employees is stagnation. Limited chances for career growth or upward mobility have left employees feeling stuck in their roles without a clear path forward.

**Employee Morale:**
Low morale is prevalent among the workforce. A lack of morale-boosting initiatives and an absence of efforts to improve workplace culture contribute to a generally disheartened atmosphere among employees.

**Inconsistent Policies:**
Inconsistent enforcement of company policies has led to confusion and frustration among employees. The lack of uniformity in applying rules creates an environment of uncertainty and undermines a sense of fairness.

**Conclusion:**
In conclusion, my experience at Leslie's Poolmart has been marked by challenges in communication, support, workload, career growth, and morale. For those considering employment, it's crucial to be aware of these issues to make an informed decision about joining the company.

Typical workdays put me in control of task management, coaching, scheduling, and handling work orders. 

Management did its best to work together but tensions were high as the store was given to a manager who had worked in a lower volume store into a much higher volume store.

I was able to apply previous experience to a transitioning leadership team to make things run smoother but was only able to accomplish a few things before having to leave for family reasons.

My take-away from this experience is; how corporate culture gets in the way of sales and customer service from time to time.

From the moment I started, it felt like upper-middle management was breathing down the team's to achieve impossible goals that were set by the previous store manager who voluntarily sacrificed his time in amounts that no person should be expected to after working a 50 hour week. We were pushed to make hard-sells which turned away new customers and felt like we were asking too much of regular customers we had not yet established relationships with.

Merchandising plans, scripted sales, and customer service doesn't achieve the sales or relationships needed to maintain a healthy operation. There is a balance that is achievable where customers receive what they need, sales increase steadily over time with repeat business, and the team members running the store don't have to sacrifice nearly as much of their time or energy to achieve growth.

The most enjoyable parts of the job was working with my team members. Despite the challenges, we were able to work together to make the job more organizers and easier to handle. They worked and sacrificed in incredible amounts to make sure that everyone had their fair share of time and training. I will always remember that part of the job fondly.

Leslie's cares about one thing, and one thing only: profit. The suffering and hard work of its employees is not important. When I worked at Leslie's, I had witnessed numerous occasions where the general manager of our district would discipline managers and assistant managers over the smallest things, take the side of the customer no matter how stupid the customer was, and completely change personalities in the presence of his bosses. Leslie's does not value honesty, intelligence, and hard work; only people that are willing to lie to customers and sell products with over inflated prices.

They will hire anyone that they think will make them money, regardless of personality or intelligence. I have had to deal with some of the worst people I have ever met, because of this. There was even a point when I was teaching a manager in training how to do his job because they decided to hire someone with zero pool experience, but (supposedly) good sales skills. This turned out to be completely false too, since the guy also had zero people skills and was totally unlikeable. So here I am, making less than half of what this guy makes and basically running the store when I had the unfortunate luck of working alone with him. This went on for about 3 months. Did I ever receive any praise for this? A raise? Promotion? Yeah right.

There's a ton to learn that is industry, management, and company specific. It's great if you like learning new things. They're really long hours, with almost no flexibility and no one wants to help cover. Management is "Hourly Salary" so you have to work 40 hours a week, and your overtime is half pay. Its a awful contract. The bonus system is great-ish, and they've made improvements to the way you earn them, but the whole contract just overworks managers. That's why this company is bleeding management and the path to move up is so open. The hardest part of this job is dealing with the Service department and it's lack of professionalism and ease of access. This whole company needs to update the way they do things. They try some things that are just way out of left field, not needed, and a waste of time and money. This job will frustrate and stress you. I enjoyed some of my coworkers and relative freedom with managing my team. Work life balance isn't a thing here. There's managers getting promoted that aren't helpful and are rude within the district so it's a little backwards. A lot of the managers act like dragons sitting on gold, and will with hold inventory because "it'll affect their budget." It will be something that's not even $80 bucks and they're having a hissy fit over it. These people are rarely written up or given basic corrective action, and it opens up a line for petty and toxic relations between stores, which I experienced within 2 weeks of being with this company, and it was never resolved properly. 

Corporate is a little clueless. (Except the Internal I.T. people. They're dope.)

I do not recommend this job to most people. 

A typical day that I had was after school, I would show up for work and clock in. I would then ask my supervisor what needed to be done. I would then begin working on the list of to-do's unless there were customers in the store. I regularly tested customers' swimming pool water for different chemical levels, loaded and unloaded dollies full of chemicals to customer's vehicles, and rotated and restocked product for the following morning. I learned how to operate a pallet jack, take inventory of product, test for chemicals in swimming pools, and what different chemicals did to pool water. The management was fantastic. The ladies were down to earth, hard working, friendly, and willing to teach and help whenever I had questions. Very easy to work with. The workplace was cool and comfortable, especially since it was a highly demanded store during the summer months. It was always clean and easy to work in. The hardest part of the job was diagnosing customers' swimming pool water. This was hard because we needed to be able to calculate how many gallons of water the customers had, how much product to add to get the proper chemical balance, and answer any questions about alternate methods of cleaning and maintaining their pools. The most enjoyable part of the job was probably getting to work with such a great group of people. Although it was for a very short time, I enjoyed it very much so. Unfortunately, I was unable to return to this job because the minimum wage was not enough for me to continue there the next summer, even though management of the store called me first to offer me the position the following summer again.

Leslie's is a "Great Place to Work" according to the company's 5 core values, of course it is number 5.  Culture of Thrift is number 4.  What this means is that you will not have the items you need to function properly.  That could be proper staffing, supplies, PRODUCT, even toilet paper.  It is impossible to get anything you need in the First or Fourth Quarter due to "We need to cut back to maximize profit" or "We have not made enough profit yet."  Florida RVP loves to tell you to run the store like it is your own business, but as soon as someone sees something they aren't a 100% believer in they make you change it. Managers are required to work 40 hours in the off season/ Winter and 48 hours in season.  This never happens due to being extremely short staffed in the winter due to RVP firing managers and assistant managers at the start of the off season just before annual bonuses are paid out.  Being short staffed means you have to allow you only other employee to cover another store.  You may get lucky and still get two days off a week during that time.  Of course the store is open 9 hours a day in the off season and 10-11 hours in season.  The only way to succeed and move up the ranks past store manager is to have less than ethical sales tactics. DM's and RVP love to remind you that they can "Make Changes" if you give any type of push back as to anything they say. There are people with over 30 years in the industry that give specific examples as to why something won't work yet they are still threatened with termination if they don't do somethings.

I have worked here for about 4 years and have only been promoted to assistant manager. I know this company at this point like the back of my hand, but yet have not been promoted past assistant. Unless you want to wait for someone to quit or be fired there is a very thick glass ceiling working for this company. Also the management level is very rudimentary as far as a company as a whole. The management team is very young throughout the company and it seems like there is constant confusion and there is no room to really stand out because of how micro managed the stores are by the district manager. I overall had great success working for the company being an outgoing genuine person, I made many friends with the customers and was able to save people loads of money and educate them so that they wont have to waste a fortune, and only when necessary. Many of the employees do not have pools which is mind boggling to me, I have helped run my family's pool since I was little. Their is much opportunity with this company, however it does not pay well, you will work many hours and may have to wait most of your career to get to a chance for your desired position. I would rate the employee experience a 2.5 out of 5 overall. There needs to be more training, talent recognition, incentives, and less stores so close to each other to make things easier to hit store sales budgets, also the marketing team needs to be better at planning promotions for certain weekends and events.

I enjoyed most of my time working at Leslie's, the only down side I can remember was not getting along with one of the staff members but it didn't effect things too greatly. 

My day consisted majorly of testing water samples, helping customer find products that would help solve any problems that were detected, and going over the proper procedure for the products and what to avoid to prevent the problem from reoccuring. On occation I was allowed to help work on the pool cleaners that customers brought in for repair, it was a very fun addition once I finished my other duties and had time to kill. 

  The only thing I wish I could have changed was their willingness to teach, or rather their lack thereof. I felt as if they weren't all that interested in telling me how to sell a pool cleaner simply because they got credit themselves for selling one. I always had to get someone else to answer the customer's questions about the cleaners because I was never taught about them on the job, nor in training. It was so busy that I was never able to just stand by and listen and learn first hand either.

  The hardest part of the job was when customers would refuse to listen to our reccomendations and get upset that something didn't work when, in reality they just didn't follow the instructions given to them. Luckily there weren't many like that to deal with.

  The most enjoyable part was fixing the pool cleaners.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Lead associate 1793 salaries reported	$15.70 per hour
Seasonal associate 75 salaries reported	$14.98 per hour
Assistant manager 414 salaries reported	$17.21 per hour
Service technician 156 salaries reported	$20.11 per hour
Sales associate 688 salaries reported	$14.28 per hour

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