Screwfix

I have worked for screwfix for 3 years now. It started of fun for me, doing the picking of the items ,delivery and serving customers but once the newness wears off it becomes the same stuff different day. Screwfix is part of a company called KingFisher which B & Q are part of, so get used to hearing of customers 'oh your the same company as b & q' no, we are not. It's like saying topshop,dorothy perkins ,burton ect. are the same because they are part of Arcadia! Screwfix are like a DIY argos , even though the warehouse looks massive ,the store front isn't its a very small shop floor and the rest being warehouse space for products. So you have customers come in look in the catologues like you do in argos , write down their numbers and come to the till. But 50% off the time customers will come straight to the counter without even looking in the book and say 'im after this' or 'do you know what this is' meaning you have to find it for them. If you have reasonable product knowledge it makes the job easier but if your a woman like me who didn't have a clue about DIY when I first started you will find yourself asking you male colleges . Luckily my product knowledge has grew overtime and I know a lot more then some of the men who come in. Your find some days it can be so quiet that's theres nothing to do , especially if the shop floor has been restocked and the delivery put away , so your just be standing there twiddling your thumbs. But if you have good colleges at least you can stand around and chat to them which most people do , even managers!  The pay is good, more than minimum wage  and you get your 20% discount there and at B&Q ! but if your expecting to progress in the business ,good luck because it isn't like your normal retail progression where you can work your way up by gaining the experience and then just applying if anything becomes available, oh no. You have to go on something called First steps which is a programme they do to help you progress ,which involves a lot of paper work and another interview just to get on it ! and if you are successful and you want to a apply for a assistant manager or manager you have to go work at another store, your not allowed to work at the same store! that is something I find bizzare and doesn't make sense. If a supervisor job becomes available and you haven't been on your first steps you won't be allowed to apply for it! but other people who haven't worked a day in the life of screwfix can! makes sense... NOT! so job progression is very slow and sometimes no existent. Which a lot of people who have been there for more than a year will start to find out. If your happy not progressing and not working in a fast paced environment  then screwfix is the place for you! Also you will have a mystery shopper once a month, where someone comes in and takes down a score if your asked the correct questions your been told to do so by the company, the script seems to get longer as I have worked there and I find it robotic and time consuming . If your unlucky enough to serve a mystery shopper and don't get the 100% don't worry thought because they don't tell you who served the mystery shopper like they used to , to name and shame. Buy find the manager will not be happy and can still find out who it was.

A typical day would be serving customers, collating orders, and putting away delivery.  This would mainly be the service assistants whilst higher management tended to stand around the managers desk having a chat and a laugh, but god forbid you actually had a brief chat with a colleague yourself, that would result in a telling off or a sarcastic comment i.e. "how are you getting on with that delivery".  Among the service assistants I worked with I found that there were those that were hard working and friendly, and those that were just lazy and gossipy and just liked to stand around the tills chatting rather than helping with the more physical stuff.  But I found they were never "told off" as they had a good relationship with certain members of management.  Rotas were changed frequently and at very very short notice, sometimes failing to actually tell the relevant staff their shift had changed.  Overall I found it a difficult place to work.  I do think they need to look at why they have such a massively high staff turnover of good people, and why the "lazy" "gossipy" ones are still there. They advertise as a team playing company but this is not the experience I had, I found it a more "do as I say and not as I do" and "one rule for one and one rule for another" type of experience and one I never want to repeat.

Working at Screwfix was a desirable experience. A typical day at work would be to ensure customers receive a high level of customer service. Screwfix operates along the lines of Argos. meaning they have front desks to place orders while the customers waits for there order to be processed and bought out for them. I was able to learn a great deal of IT skills. I was also part of the management team as a supervisor which allowed me to manage a small team. I was able to gain a great deal of experience and work the difference between the 2 different roles. The people i worked with were all great people to work with which made my work experience a lot easier and enjoyable. Having a functional team meant things were done more effectively. I did not find anything hard in Screwfix as i was able to learn tasks fairly easily and quickly. The most enjoyable part of the job was having relationships with the customers on a very friendly basis.

I was in the company for over 3 years, and fair enough the job has its perks, but there’s more cons than anything. Firstly, unfair treatment of staff. You’re expected to do all the work whilst other colleagues and management stand around on their phones. Secondly, you don’t have a social life anymore. Don’t get me wrong, the staff can be lovely to work with, but you never get chance to spend time out of work with family and friends.  One of my biggest pet peeves though is the sickness policy! Management have no understanding of mental health issues, and when asking for some time off to just get yourself back on track, they deny your request because ‘other staff are on holiday so they can’t let me have the time’. The sickness policy for Screwfix is that if you are ill 6 times over the course of 6 months, then you are gone! The salary at Screwfix is great, but apart from that... AVOID AT ALL COSTS!!

No one knows what you do on a daily basis better than you, so companies want to hear it straight from you. Since it’s considered in tandem with your manager’s review (and sometimes even peer reviews), it helps HR see whether you’re keeping up with your responsibilities and if any red flags need to be addressed. And, it brings in an element of fairness by letting you tell your story (and not just taking your manager’s word for it).

“We’re looking to see consistency between the manager and employee. If the manager says one thing and the employee says another thing then there’s a disconnect that we need to intervene,” says Fitzgerald.

HR might also look for trends. Has the employee mentioned a certain type of feedback several times? Or hinted at getting a promotion for the past couple cycles? These signs are worth looking into.

I gave a reasonable number of stars for ratings only when compared to Toolstation. In comparison, Screwfix pay a very slighly better wage, but also pay a MASSIVELY better sick pay, and INSANELY better pension (I think when I worked there it was employee contribution 8%, company contribution 13%!!!). They also have more staff employed, so that work-life balance can be maintained.
Staff in the store tend to be great, management were also all great when I worked there, including supervisors, assistant manager, and branch manager. However the area manager, who is still there, is horrible, and not particularly professional.

A typical day at work starts with a maintenance check to include greasing of parts of machines and setting up of the production lines.

The learning of new work ideas and job enrichment responsibilities have been a big part of my work life and the need to improve on all work aspects.

I am a fast learner with little or no supervision, team player and easily molded to work setting and objectives.

Very apt in cost saving operations and profit maximization outputs.

Challenges at work or put off are mainly associated with poor work structure and ethics, while the most rewarding aspect of my job is when I achieve my personal and corporate goals.

I worked at lincoln oc. The management are complete bullies and pass things off as banter all the time they stand around and hardly work and make you do everything while they stand there laughing and chatting and having a cuppa. The wage is just above minimum wage but there’s always hours to pick up. They put you on ridiculous shifts when you can’t work them and then moan that you can’t then work it. Switching the shift is impossible. 
I wrote a complaint to Screwfix head office for the way I had been treated and never received anything back.

Customers are lovely and really helped pass the day! Lots of heavy lifting but that’s not an issue. 

As a manager at Screwfix, i find that all my staff respect me and i give them respect back. It works both ways and the customer benefits from knowledgable staff, politeness and very efficient service. 

Learning the way of how to pick and place orders is easy and there is plenty of staff around to help. 

Screwfix is a very helpful and progress based company. If you want to progress, there is always an opportunity to do so. 

You always get your breaks and lunches. There is always someone to offer you a brew everyday!

An excellent company to work for, i have no regrets when i got the job and i still love it now!

A company run with an atmosphere of distrust with cliques favoured by middle managers, vying for attention as the company rapidly grows. Little to no support.
No feeling of 'team' unless you are part of the favoured clique.
Staff on the whole great although lowly paid and due to low levels of staffing hard worked, working with the store crew the only enjoyable part of the business.
Customer service is seen as a script at the till, and as actively jumping on customers as they walk through the door and trying to upsell to the point of customer irritation.
Audits designed not to highlight area's of improvement but as a stick.

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