retail assistant manager

shift leader

store manager

sales representative

retail sales associate

Work Authority

This was one of the most frustrating and disappointing work environments I’ve experienced. It often felt like management prioritized difficult customers over supporting their own team. There were times when staff were left to deal with rude behavior without backup, just to avoid losing a sale.

Communication was lacking—important changes were made without any notice, and as a part-time employee, I often found myself taking notes and trying to keep the team updated, which didn’t feel like my responsibility. The systems used were outdated and made simple tasks unnecessarily complicated.

Store conditions didn’t feel like a priority. Supplies we needed weren’t always available, and some equipment felt unsafe for the tasks we had to perform. In other retail jobs, I’ve seen a much stronger focus on health and safety, which made the contrast here frustrating.

Morale was low. Staff who showed up, worked hard, and cared were often overlooked, while others were defended despite contributing less. There was very little recognition or appreciation—even during the holidays, our efforts weren’t acknowledged in any meaningful way.

On a positive note, I really valued the bond I had with my coworkers, and the employee discount was a great perk. But overall, the lack of leadership, communication, and support made it a difficult place to stay motivated. I would recommend looking elsewhere if you’re seeking a respectful and uplifting workplace.

The majority of the role is suggesting footwear to the general public or account customers. There is a severe focus on account customers . 9 out of 10 customers work for a Food Warehouse and/or a Consumer shipping warehouse. 

Upper management & HR is often replaced and is not in direct within communication with the sales floor. When emailing the inventory fulfillment team, there was little desire on their end to complete their tasks. 

My direct management appeared friendly and understanding however one level above was not as such. If you did not belong to management, you did not exist. This was apparent with their visits to the retail locations. Expect constant surprises with account customers; The environment is everchanging and unpredictable with zero notice from the accounts. You may work a shift with over 2 dozen customers in the store, alone without coworkers and management would not mind. 

The employee areas are not kept in a cleanly state.

There is little room for advancement outside of favoritism and decade long commitment.  The direct manager is micromanaged by the upper levels and cannot make choices or recommendations.

Great place to work, somedays we’re super busy while others you would only get a couple people in the store. Worked there for almost a year and never saw our District Manager once, and Manager wasn’t present often but was more like another coworker than a manager. Assistant Manager was more like the manager as they did a lot of the admin work and had a lot of manager duties when our actual manager wasn’t there (which was quite often). Coworkers were all great people and always had time to help you out when you needed it, and were always super helpful and friendly. Most of my coworkers were 30 and over and they still were always so kind and friendly to me as I was much younger than all of them. Such a fun and entertaining place to work and I learned a lot. Going to work was fun and I didn’t dread it every time.

What is the best part of working at the company?
The management do their best to work with your schedule and any appointments that come up. Everyone is friendly and helpful. The job is pretty easy and decently paid.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
There are accounts that have required safety equpment that the employees/customers must get and when they come in trying to get something else explaining the rules gets them rather upset.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Everyone tries to help each other out and maintain a friendly, co-operative atmosphere. It has become a little more corporate lately though.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
It's a relatively small store and they don't get a ton of customers so, most of the time is spent cleaning/maintaining the store.

Work Authority has a very relaxed work environment, I gained a lot of useful knowledge about safety from working here. Typically - depending on location - you get a mixture of 60% account sales and 40% general public sales. Majority of the customers only stay for about 15 to 20 minutes, depending on how organized they are. Management is great, they are very flexible and give you plenty of notice of your schedule. The hardest part of the job was learning what the different safety symbols meant, the differences in classes and basic account information. The most enjoyable part of the job is working in a small circle of your best friends, every shift is a lot of fun and the job itself is not pressuring or stressful at all!

Work Authority has amplified my ability to work with a team of coworkers in order to keep the store functioning at its best while providing a high level of knowledge and helpfulness toward all customers. At this job my ability to provide for the needs of any patron made me achieve the highest amounts of sales while still working as a team to raise the store’s overall sales. Because Work Authority deals in the sales of work wear (steel toed boots, hard hats etc.), I was able to learn a lot about the many professions that can be involved in architecture and the construction industry. I met with every type of labor position from the cribbers who tore through their boots the fastest, to the inspectors who chose good-looks over lasting boots.

Management is selfish. They never work weekends and that is the only time some of these men have the chance to come in and a manager is sometimes needed but are NEVER available to help so I have to give them a business card and smile and pretend like everything is ok when it isn't. They would rather take their weekends for themselves then give anyone else a weekend off to live their lives which yes, I do have a life outside of work and this job has caused my mental health to deteriorate rapidly due to working each and every single weekend imaginable. I had to quit. Not a good work/life balance. Find somewhere else to work retail this isn't ideal or healthy. 

The people were great to work. The supervisor was super friendly and the coworkers. But since it was safety shoes distribution centre the work could get pretty heavy. From picking heavy boxes to packing the shoes and then putting them on the skid. But a plus point is that the co workers were always willing to help. Also, arriving 10 mins early was kind of required. The work also consisted replenishing tye shelves, keeping the area clean. But I would recommend to have a positive attitude and everything else with be great 

A typical day at work authority largely involved greeting and helping customers. We were also required to learn how to operate a cash register with their  software solution. Management was quite friendly, so were the co-workers. the job was not very difficult and did not challenge me at all, however it was excellent during high school (thats when I worked there) as it allowed me to do my homework during work-hours (wasn't very busy).

The hardest part of the job is dealing difficult customers, and difficult customers with return issues.  However, I feel it's these customers that will improve your communications skills the most.  The work also emphasizes product knowledge since it's better to recommend certain products for a particular work environment.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Retail assistant manager 13 salaries reported	$17.27 per hour
Shift leader 41 salaries reported	$17.74 per hour
Store manager 2 salaries reported	$62,500 per year
Sales representative 3 salaries reported	$60,000 per year
Retail sales associate 11 salaries reported	$17.13 per hour

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