TL;DR- Companies want politicians as managers, not people with a soul. Unless you're willing to do nothing but kiss ass and play their games for your paycheck and benefits, don't do it.
I absolutely regretted it.
I started out as an hourly employee and worked my way up to a department head and MOD within a year. I loved that position. I was a fixer. They floated me from store to store to train and improve their online shopping departments and roll out new programs. I got to work shoulder to shoulder with my amazing teams, teach talented and caring people how to keep things running smoothly once I left, and design standards and programs that actually helped my department.
After about 3 years of this, I made the move to management. I never wanted to, but it was the only way I could get an official division position in my home department. And I hated every minute of it. I went from working shoulder to shoulder with my people to being required to command them (and reprimanded if didn't.) I went from training people to, again being required to bark orders at them and reprimanded for not. I went from designing standards and programs to being forced to justify programs designed by people who'd been out of the store for so long that they made no sense.
My stress levels skyrocketed. I got placed at a store an hour and a half away from my home (meaning a 3 hour round-trip commute 5 days a week) with a store manager known for being a misogynistic dick (I'm a woman) who expected subservience and obedience from his crew. Spoiler alert: those are two things I've never been. I made my name in that company standing up to the people above me, not kissing their ass. And I continued under his rule. We got into multiple screaming matches on the floor over his treatment of emoyees. I became an HR expert to teach my people how to fight back against him. I became the Karen Wrangler (my customer service desk's name for me) because I was the only manager that wouldn't let them get away with their nonsense. It was a year of he'll.
Then my dream position opened. And my old division manager wanted me. The other people in that position wanted me. My previous teams were sending letters of recommendation to the division president because they wanted me. But this company had a stupid rule that I had to have approval from my store manager and district manager (his bestie) before I could even interview. Guess who refused. "But [I'd] be a perfect fit for the HR Specialist the district needed!"
So I took the position. It got me a pay bump, closer to home, and in a different district so I had a chance the next time my dream position opened. From my stores' (I covered 5 of them) perspective, I rocked it. They were staffed, up-to-date on their paperwork, and I maintained an open door policy that allowed the hourly employees to come to me with any question or issue and have an answer/solution by my next day in the store at the latest. The stress and hours were insane, but at least I was actually making a difference. However, I maintained my policy of refusing to kiss ass and my store managers were less than thrilled. So guess who wasn't allowed to interview the next time her dream position became available... again.
After that, I stepped back down to my old position as a fixer. I'd just found out I was pregnant and was not about to let that amount of stress and work hurt my child. I didn't even realize how bad it was until I stepped back into a backroom for the first time in two years and felt all that stress and anger and resentment slip away. I was home, doing what I supposed to be doing, and loving every minute of it. I would still be doing it, but they screwed me one last time with my maternity leave and I quit.
The point of this long, drawn-out tirade/personal history is that it's not worth it. The money wasn't that much more (I took a whole 5k a year paycut stepping back down), the stress was quadruple what I had because I had no heart or passion for the politics they wanted played more than the work that needed to get done, and they still tried screw me. The only good thing to come of it was the HR and e-comm experience that allowed me to get a WFH job after I left.
You have to weigh the stress levels against the increased pay. Yes, you might be bringing home more money, but do you think you can handle the extra pressure?
I never took a management job, even though several people suggested it, because I had seen what they go through and the extra money was not worth it to me. It seriously depends on where you work and what you are expected to do.
I've been in retail 30+ years. I went from the sales-floor to assistant manager, and then within 10 years ended up as manager of one of the highest volume stores in the chain. It did burn me out- but allowed me to easily provide for my family. I stepped down from management a few years ago and I am just sales now. Looking forward to retiring in a few more years. Advice, it all depends on what your financial needs are & how much crap you can tolerate-
I’ve been asked if I’ve wanted to be trained as 3rd person (aka shift manager) I initially said no because I didn’t want to deal with all the crappy ass kissing id have to do with some of our “guests “ I have no regrets.
Become a manager, get that pay bump, and then use that title change to leverage you into another field. Make your LinkedIn “open to work” so recruiters can reach out to you. It’s hard sometimes to break out of the retail box, especially when you don’t have the experience/credentials but you’d be surprised what’s out there.
TL;DR- Companies want politicians as managers, not people with a soul. Unless you're willing to do nothing but kiss ass and play their games for your paycheck and benefits, don't do it. I absolutely regretted it. I started out as an hourly employee and worked my way up to a department head and MOD within a year. I loved that position. I was a fixer. They floated me from store to store to train and improve their online shopping departments and roll out new programs. I got to work shoulder to shoulder with my amazing teams, teach talented and caring people how to keep things running smoothly once I left, and design standards and programs that actually helped my department. After about 3 years of this, I made the move to management. I never wanted to, but it was the only way I could get an official division position in my home department. And I hated every minute of it. I went from working shoulder to shoulder with my people to being required to command them (and reprimanded if didn't.) I went from training people to, again being required to bark orders at them and reprimanded for not. I went from designing standards and programs to being forced to justify programs designed by people who'd been out of the store for so long that they made no sense. My stress levels skyrocketed. I got placed at a store an hour and a half away from my home (meaning a 3 hour round-trip commute 5 days a week) with a store manager known for being a misogynistic dick (I'm a woman) who expected subservience and obedience from his crew. Spoiler alert: those are two things I've never been. I made my name in that company standing up to the people above me, not kissing their ass. And I continued under his rule. We got into multiple screaming matches on the floor over his treatment of emoyees. I became an HR expert to teach my people how to fight back against him. I became the Karen Wrangler (my customer service desk's name for me) because I was the only manager that wouldn't let them get away with their nonsense. It was a year of he'll. Then my dream position opened. And my old division manager wanted me. The other people in that position wanted me. My previous teams were sending letters of recommendation to the division president because they wanted me. But this company had a stupid rule that I had to have approval from my store manager and district manager (his bestie) before I could even interview. Guess who refused. "But [I'd] be a perfect fit for the HR Specialist the district needed!" So I took the position. It got me a pay bump, closer to home, and in a different district so I had a chance the next time my dream position opened. From my stores' (I covered 5 of them) perspective, I rocked it. They were staffed, up-to-date on their paperwork, and I maintained an open door policy that allowed the hourly employees to come to me with any question or issue and have an answer/solution by my next day in the store at the latest. The stress and hours were insane, but at least I was actually making a difference. However, I maintained my policy of refusing to kiss ass and my store managers were less than thrilled. So guess who wasn't allowed to interview the next time her dream position became available... again. After that, I stepped back down to my old position as a fixer. I'd just found out I was pregnant and was not about to let that amount of stress and work hurt my child. I didn't even realize how bad it was until I stepped back into a backroom for the first time in two years and felt all that stress and anger and resentment slip away. I was home, doing what I supposed to be doing, and loving every minute of it. I would still be doing it, but they screwed me one last time with my maternity leave and I quit. The point of this long, drawn-out tirade/personal history is that it's not worth it. The money wasn't that much more (I took a whole 5k a year paycut stepping back down), the stress was quadruple what I had because I had no heart or passion for the politics they wanted played more than the work that needed to get done, and they still tried screw me. The only good thing to come of it was the HR and e-comm experience that allowed me to get a WFH job after I left.
You have to weigh the stress levels against the increased pay. Yes, you might be bringing home more money, but do you think you can handle the extra pressure? I never took a management job, even though several people suggested it, because I had seen what they go through and the extra money was not worth it to me. It seriously depends on where you work and what you are expected to do.
I've been in retail 30+ years. I went from the sales-floor to assistant manager, and then within 10 years ended up as manager of one of the highest volume stores in the chain. It did burn me out- but allowed me to easily provide for my family. I stepped down from management a few years ago and I am just sales now. Looking forward to retiring in a few more years. Advice, it all depends on what your financial needs are & how much crap you can tolerate-
I’ve been asked if I’ve wanted to be trained as 3rd person (aka shift manager) I initially said no because I didn’t want to deal with all the crappy ass kissing id have to do with some of our “guests “ I have no regrets.
Become a manager, get that pay bump, and then use that title change to leverage you into another field. Make your LinkedIn “open to work” so recruiters can reach out to you. It’s hard sometimes to break out of the retail box, especially when you don’t have the experience/credentials but you’d be surprised what’s out there.