HDSupply Whitecap: Where it all depends on your manager in a company split into 5 separate operating pieces and little cohesion.
Working at HDSupply Whitecap has provided many with the insight that a manager or managers truly can make or break the culture. We have witnessed teams physically parallel to our own go through layoffs and cultural crackdowns (extremely long work hours, get home and do more work, work on weekends, short breaks, reprimanding on the floor) that have reduced morale further and further, all the while other teams flourished with good work culture due to good managers. Much like it’s regions (more on that below) Whitecap is divided in the branches, in the corporate offices and in the field where bad personalities or lack of technological skill sets prevail as long as they’ve been there long enough and/or have the sales or know people. Even with the good, things change. HDSupply Whitecap is falling wildly behind the competition (though it must be admitted that the industry as a whole is slow to adjust) by not putting its money where its mouth is: Giving the customer the best experience.
You can’t give the customer the best experience if your entire backend corporate process is a mess and has no control and is constantly stunned into inaction by management who “aim, aim aim, aim” and never fire. You can’t give the customer the best experience, on the whole, everyday, if you prefer to fill out positions with cheaper externals than seasoned internals who should be valued (and when said internals leave, a vacuum of tribal knowledge is forever gone). You can’t give the customer the b
Depends on your location. I have work at 3 different branches and have met other drivers / workers from other branches in my area or state. I got my start at Water Works under ground utilities as a flatbed driver. In Nashville, Tn. Great branch, great Managment and I can say the same for the other Branches in my area of Tn and southern Ky. Summer time is the busy time of year, from November to March things are kinda slow due to weather and business just slowing down due to end of year. Which was a good thing. You still work 40 hr week. Customers getting ready for the holidays so everyone was in a good mood. Our regular customers was always buying lunch. Rainy days things was slow so we take it easy on those days. Constructions sites wet and muddy crews cant get in to work. Those days was house keeping days in the warehouse or cycle counts( inventory).
Speed ahead. I transferred to South Florida to HD Water works Irrigation. Same company different product. Im the new guy. First day on the job I was told to watch my back, you have no friends here, only person you can trust is yourself. Im thinking OMG!!!!!! There was an unofficial meeting that took place every morining with the employees to talk about how bad the Branch Mgr was and how bad things was at the branch. Every single morning... As the new guy you don't know what to believe. Maybe someone just mad at Management this week. Im not the type of person to follow the crowd. Because you have a problem with someone
ProsWater Works bonus, customers, lunches, rainy days, work schedule, lots of holidays off.
● Work-life balance
You have the ability to select your shift. Because I don't have children, I selected the 7:30 - 5:30 with an hour lunch. Most prefer a 30-minute lunch, but I needed more time away from "the headset".
● Pay & benefits
N/A since I was a Temp-to-Hire
● Job security and advancement
HD Supply offers great In House training for their many departments. While training for the Inbound Credit Rep position, it would have been more helpful to have taken "live" calls before going out on our own. For me, the most difficult part of retaining my position was the metrics you must meet. Each Inbound Credit Rep is scored on several key items: (1) # of calls per day; (2) brevity of call; (3) wrapping up notes timely & move on to next call; (4) speed in transferring call to core rep; (5) accuracy of transaction (don't call around for help- just transfer to core!). I had difficulty transferring so quickly. If it was a process we were taught in class, why not utilize the training? You can only improve by practicing. My managers didn't want me to assist the customer too much, but preferred I transferred them to their core rep. Even when processing a simple task for a customer, when completed, if they mentioned they had another account with which they needed assistance, you ARE expected to transfer because you've exceeded your allotted time. If your metrics score was good while speed and accuracy were also, the chances of moving up to Core Rep were good. Core Reps whose colle
I’m just going to be honest here, this is bascailly a”in-between” place of employment for all warehouse associates. Meaning, if you are looking for immediate work to handled business at home, then apply for a chance to be employed here. If you’re looking for a long term place of employment to grow within, steer clear of here. The only real hours you will get are from the months of May until October,then after that from October til May, you will probably get 30 hours a week. You don’t get paid much for what you really do for real and there is no opportunity to grow in this company. The only reason I got all my hours was because I got promoted to a warehouse associate 2, but the raises weren’t even that much. Even with my new position as a warehouse associate 2 with all the experience I had accumulated (which was 5 going on 6 years worth) I only accumulated $2.65 cents. Summing up that I got hired on in April, 2013 making $11.25 an hour and when I left in January, 2019 because I was offered a better employment opportunity my hourly pay was $13.90. That’s sad and a sign that this is a “in-between” job as I stayed in the beginning of my review. They only give you one raise throughout the year and it’s an annual raise, and as you can tell by the $2.65 that was awarded over a 5 year spand, it ain’t much. You can be the best employee, never calling off, never getting points, always meeting your employment goals for the entire year and they will still give you like a 30¢ raise. Then
ProsPto time and the fact that you are employed to handle your business
ConsEverything else besides pto time and being able to handle your business at home, especially barely getting any hours after October leading all the way up to May
Mind Numbing Job with Arrogant and Incompetent Management
I worked at HDS for three years as an Area Manager spending my days making sure I was "on the road" 10-12 hours a day trying to essentially sell dumpy apartment communities such exciting things as new toilet seats. Management is nothing but a bunch of people who used to work at Home Depot, but because now they carry an iPad and a laptop and have had a few "corporate sales training" classes that they walk on water as sales gurus. They ride you daily about how many "calls" you made that day and why XYZ Apartments isn't buying more toilet supply hoses lately, while all of your training materials tell you that you are there to "support" your customer and that your not a salesman.
Expect 6:30am conference calls and then a "just checking in to see if you needed anything" from management at 5:30 pm and watch out if the call actually goes to voice mail. They expect emails and proposals be done on the weekends and late into the evenings as well. Definitely expect to be on your own if anything goes south too. Say if an order arrives damaged or incorrect , the alphabet soup of departments and managers that are supposedly there to "support the field" will act as if they don't know you. Also be sure to keep ALL email and put EVERYTHING in email to CYA because trust me, you will need it!
The "incentive plan" as they call it or as most sales people know as commission is paid only once a year, so don't expect to live on anything but your meager salary despite the lofty promises they
ProsTechnology toys provided
ConsManagement, Comp Plan, Expectations, Culture
4.0
Director of Marketing | Atlanta, GA | Apr 28, 2014
Productive, Growth Focused and Employee Loyal Environment
HD Supply's success vision includes a consistent and committed approach to supporting employees/associates to continue demonstrating Competitive Greatness, a Winning Attitude and Hard Work. "Taking Care of Each Other" is the primary and most important internal priority. It promotes deep collaboration and ensuring that we take care of ourselves and each other to enrich our lives at work and at home. The culture is truly about the people. They do an excellent job and making continuous efforts to ensure that employees feel supported and are informed and educated on all facets of our business. They have great pride and focus on ensuring that customers achieve success through the high quality of products, services, solutions and innovation that the businesses provide daily by leveraging the utmost in expertise and knowledge of the HDS associates.
The environment can be very intense at times and workload can shift depending on projects and plans to build the business, drive growth, increase share of wallet and marketing share and enter new geographies. There is a strong and effective balance between authentically demonstrating centricity for both associates and customers.
It's an $8.8B organization with over 15k employees that went public in just the past year. There is plenty of opportunity to continue the growth spectrum so it may appear to be an "upstart" company in some conceptual ways. The DNA of the company consists of eight different business units that have differen
ProsSupportive management, hard working and rewarding environment, priority on employees, competitive compensation packages, potential strong stability and with a very high acumen for delivering profit and ebitda
ConsConservative, no marketing oriented, future potential of business divestitures
Culture of Fear via Poor Management and Human Resources disconnect
The workplace culture at HDS is that of brow-beating and fear for your job daily. Management is supposed to encourage and applaud exemplary performance, not tear you down for it. The Charlotte division is clicky, and if you are not in the club, they make sure to save you a spot in the unemployment line. I was a 12 year veteran with this company and received "King of the Road" distinction for the last 6 years of my employment. I was at work every day, on time, and was incident and accident free for the entire length of my employment. I had a great rapport with my customers, apart from a few folks who were just mad at the world, anyway. For my performance, I received less than 1% raises, NO raises several times, minimal or no bonuses, and not an utter of appreciation. (Fortunately, I never expected it and HDS did not disappoint.) I was bullied constantly by management (and their minions, who pretend to be management), and ultimately forced out after 12 + years by a pint-sized Transportation Manager with Napoleon complex for running a GREEN light. (Yes, you read that right!) See, if management decides they don't like you, you're toast. They find clever ways to "pad" your personnel file until they can get enough cushion to satisfy state labor laws and let you go. They have no regard for their employee's personal lives or financial responsibilities. Rather than being professional, they make it personal.
My advice to HDS job seekers is to keep scrolling, unless you e
First this is a challenging job. Some days are hard and there is a lot to learn. Some of the software is not good and can frustrate you, and the website needs help but it is a great culture with really good people and the problems get addressed over time. If you get to work on time and sign into the computer and take inbound calls right away, that is the majority of what you will do. Your breaks and lunches are scheduled to cover the peak phone times and to distribute the work load between everyone to try to help control call volume and not over stress, but there are days when we all take a lot of calls. It is a matrix organization and departments are divided. Some customers belong to certain departments, so there is a degree of transferring calls. Some departments are better than others, but that is according to personal feelings. If you find yourself in one you do not like apply for another and move to one you do like. The best part of the job is holidays and parties and taking time to just have fun. It diminishes the stress and builds camaraderie. And go back to school!! They are invested in YOUR well being, and will reimburse you for going to school, so take advantage of the perks they offer. Insurance (since the change to require insurance) has not been as good as it used to be, but they are still better than a lot of other places and they look for ways to encourage health in the employees. If you are competitive, like to talk on the phone, and are the kind
Prosparties, team competitions, good people, insurance
ConsThere is stress, you will talk on the phone a lot, and sometimes calls make working tasks hard, changes happen often
Your experience working at HD Supply will be dependent on how much you are willing to commit to your time there.
Tardiness, laziness, and a poor attitude are an easy way out of the door if that's what you're looking for. Otherwise, do your job, put in a modest effort, and you'll find a workplace that can be very considerate of your situation and needs. Floor work demands a good amount of labor, there is no way around that. However, if you keep up a positive attitude and show a good work ethic, you'll find others are more than willing to help you and lessen the burden that you have to take on. If you work hard, try to work with them to deal with any performance issues, follow proper procedures, and are punctual, you'll have no troubles staying at the company for the long haul.
If there is anything that can be a worry at the company, it's upward mobility. At the ground level, getting a job is not too difficult and it's not unusual for temp workers and part time employees to be given the opportunity to go full time. With time, becoming a lead, earning pay increases, and even reaching management level is a possibility. The issue comes in that being a manager is not a desirable position at HD Supply and the turn over rate for management has been an issue. Long hours are common and management have little incentive to want to pursue those hours due to being paid a salary. Being a lead or regular associate and collecting overtime pay can even pay out better than becoming a man
ProsPlenty of overtime, good policies in place to keep order
ConsManagement and lead positions aren't desirable, long hours can wear you out
The company was spun off from the Home Depot and is quickly seizing the market in the industrial supply sector. I worked in the Facilities Maintenance division serving the multi-family housing market.
As with any fast-growing company, there are the inherent growing pains associated with ever increasing sales and the ability of the company to meet the pace of the business while holding the line on SG&A to maximize profitability. Working for HD Supply means as a manager you are constantly adapting to challenge and change, mostly in a positive manner. Middle management, starting with the operations managers to the ASM's work incredibly hard to overcome many of the gaps in leadership caused by the inexperience associated with upper management (starting at the DC manager level here) of new companies experiencing on-the-job learning and professional growth.
A day in the DC is fast paced with both the Receiving dept as well as Shipping both maintaining a breakneck pace to meet customer needs and sales goals. Typically, the Receiving dept will unload and detail up to 20 full load, LTL and import container trailers daily and the Shipping dept processes anywhere from 2500 to over 4000 outbound orders daily. Because of the lean nature of operating labor (not uncommon in business today), the emphasis is on process and productivity to get the job done daily, efficiently and accurately.
The most rewarding part of the job is seeing the growth and development of your associates and the bu
Prosgrowing entity
Consinexperience in growth, especially in upper management
HD Supply has undergone many changes through the coarse of my time there, and sadly it was not good changes. Leadership blatantly picks favorites, leaving skilled and well qualified associates pigeon-holed with no hope of advancement. This stems from a culture of jealousy by these leaders who can never accept lower-level associates possessing more knowledge and experience than they do. When faced with such associates, rather than rejoice at the fact they have people who can bring success to the company, they instead make a concerted effort to keep them down both in terms of position and pay.
Personally speaking, this is what I experienced. When I arrived at HD Supply I came with a wealth of industry experience from my time in the construction trade as a Chief Estimator and Project Manager. Sadly, after a change in leadership I was relegated to "muppet" status, where I was expected to train and mentor soon to be managers, yet being told I could not advance. I worked at different branches in that capacity in the hopes of being given the opportunity to advance, but being told an emphatic no. The end came for me after I became ill, on the job no less and as a result of being told to do something no one person should have done alone. Of course, after becoming ill everyone from leadership to HR took the "innocence" approach in that; "no one told you to do that"! So when my doctor sent me back to work on modified duties, it was then the harassment started in which I was no longer
Questions And Answers about HD Supply
How are the working hours at HD Supply?
Asked Jun 15, 2016
8 hours with two breaks and a lunch. OT is not easy to get, and they want you to clock out all all the right times because of call coverage. None of that is bad, because it all makes strategic sense. The company stresses team events, and many fun times on the slow days but be ready to bring your A game to work. Your team depends on it and you will benefit most if you are invested in the team. It is a family overall. I am going on 11 years there and time has flown. You will learn more than you thought your brain could hold, and some days are hard but it is all worth it.
Answered Sep 17, 2020
Depending on your dpt...recieving goes home in less than 8 hours ( no lines=no hours) drivers get their hours plus ot... shipping, well you practically live there. You go home when you are done. Some days you work 8hrs. Others you will be there till 10pm or later.
Answered Aug 11, 2019
What tips or advice would you give to someone interviewing at HD Supply?
Asked Dec 5, 2016
Just go along with the job till you find something better, this certainly isn't a career path anybody would take.
Answered Jul 29, 2020
It's okay for a temporary fix to your financial needs, but you'll only take so much before you quit or get fired
Answered Dec 31, 2019
What is the best part of working at HD Supply?
Asked Nov 30, 2019
The coworkers. (Some)
Answered Nov 5, 2020
Flexability
Answered Oct 20, 2020
What benefits does HD Supply offer?
Asked Jul 7, 2016
They provide all the benefits that any job does but the price for them is totally ridiculously high
Answered Apr 10, 2019
The regular!
Answered Mar 18, 2019
What is the work environment and culture like at HD Supply?
Asked Jun 15, 2016
Team oriented, good people, be prepared for a LOT of potlucks! We work hard and the job can be stressful so we take care of each other and laugh a lot. Humor is rampant in the call center. Been there 10+ years now and it feels like I started yesterday. This is a real working job, you take a lot of calls and you deal with all kinds of customers. We always push each other to be better and it seems that the most competitive people do the best, but it is like sports competitive where we just all try to be better every day. Most of the people I know are in it until retirement if they can do it, but there are things that can get you fired. Take too much time off or arrive late too many times, disrespect the customers or your co-workers and you can get points that will hurt you. Being a call center, we cover phones and each of us pulls our fair share of work so none of of us have to pick up the slack.
Answered Sep 17, 2020
The environment is is just straight up horrible. Culture HAAAAA! They talk a good game but to live up to it. The management is so unstable it's sad. And they treat the employees like trash.
