Williams-Sonoma, Inc. Employer Reviews

Great company, great products. Corporate culture is good. will take some time to get promoted.

I have been a retail manager for years and had only worked for Canadian companies until I joined WS and had the worst experience of my life. My first experience was at the conference in Arizona and I left there feeling like I had joined some crazy cult. The employees at my store were for the most part horrible people who believed they were of the same – more... economic status of the customers, where my opinion is that it doesn't matter what kind of retail environment you work in you are still just a retail employee. They reminded me of the two women in Pretty woman who ended up getting schooled by Julia Roberts. The company likes to say that they have a people first culture which is a total lie. Staff members had won prizes for corporate contests and yet had not received them six months later. Work life balance is terrible and my DM had no clue what she was doing. My training was about 4 days of being a greeter at a store and getting a bunch of information crammed in my head and then told....go, cut staff hours but still make these ludicrous budgets. also if you don't work in the States don't expect to make any sense of the visual set up packages or actually get any of your benefits.Enjoy conference calls?, well you had better because you will be on them for hours every day. Hands down the worst experience of my life. – less

As part of the management team at the Brinton Lakes' store I was in charge of implementing the visual standards for the sales floor. I worked closely with the general and assistant managers to make sure that both the sales and stock room areas were up to the corporate issued standards for merchandising, and easy of finding products. I managed approximately – more... ten people as part of my position, which included writing & presenting performance reviews. My favorite part of working for Pottery Barn was working with the customers in the Design Studio area, which allowed me to exercise my interior design skills. – less

I mainly worked the register and not the floor, so I was able to ensure the customer had a good experience. I learned how an aroma can draw customers into a store, as we frequently sauteed onions, garlic, and butter. I really enjoyed getting to know my co-workers and learning about the various utensils and food stuffs we sold. The worst part about the – more... job was having to re-stock at the end of the night after a long day of being on your feet. – less

It's competive but fun and interesting
variety of people including employee's and customer's
opens up your articulate skills
oppurtunity to learn about home appliances

Almost all of the people were great. There was very little favoritism played. You received weekly reviews.

During my temporary service, I acquired some permanent friends. I came in as a newbie with a little difficulty operating some of the equipment. A lot of my coworkers helped me and encouraged me to keep trying!

Every day brings something new. A wide variety of customers from someone who is just setting up their first home to the experienced cook looking to upgrade their kitchens.
Ensure staff is aware of any new promotions and policy changes. That staff trained in new product.
Sales floor coverage in place. Co-workers are enjoyable to work with. shares product – more... knowledge and delivers great customer service.
One of the hardest things in the job for me is moving large furniture and moving heavy products.
My most enjoyable part of the job is helping customers become excited about cooking and excited about the purchase they have made. Educating them in the products they are interested in. – less

A typical day at Williams-Sonama was answering phones and taking orders from the customers. I also did trouble-shooting on some of the company products. If we couldn't figure it out, we would just schedule a pick-up and replace the item at no cost to the customer.
I learned to have more confidence in my decision making, when it came to telling the customer – more... what the end results, instead of going to my supervisor for help.
The people I worked with were very nice and helpful. I made a lot of friends there.
The hardest part of that job was learning all the reason codes for product pick-up or replacements. But, I got it....finally!!!!
The most enjoyable part of the job was meeting new people and learning a new job skill. And having such an awesome supervisor.
He was very knowledgeable about the job and could explain things in a way that the books couldn't......he made it all make scense. – less

Would begin with the a brief meditation period and recital of my personal inspirational testimony for success to prepare myself mentally for customers who are unsatisfied or have issues that demand
patience and listening skills. I learned that empathy and placing myself in the customer's shoes provides a clearer picture of the overall success and path – more... of a particularly difficult call or situation and effort will always give me a chance at winning the customer's trust. Management was decent, my supervisor was new and learning her position as was i so that closed the gap to a small degree and allowed me the confidence to take a more aggressive approach and have faith in my decisions instead of seeking verification that would confirm right or wrong from a more seasoned supervisor. My co workers seemed to all have a similar focus and natural worry about transitioning from training to the floor and that provided an increased confidence to succeed because i no longer possessed that worry. As with most call center positions i found the hardest art to be learning how to navigate the system and retrieve information in a timely manner. I enjoyed the sense of relief and happiness customers displayed after the completion of their order given the fact the position was seasonal during the Christmas holiday. – less

I loaded and unloaded trucks using a riding lift. I picked/packed orders using a RF scanner

While I like the company's high standards and committment to excellence, I think that much work needs to be done regarding diversity. As the only regular (opposed to seasonal) staff member of color, I was bullied, undermined, and there was a flat-out plot to physically hurt me when I began to excel and began receiving favor from the district manager. – more... it didn't help that my baking and cooking skills suprassed all other cooks and bakers by miles. They couldn't handle that a woman of color is as gifted as I am...from nursing to cooking...to baking. They flat-out couldn't handle that a woman, from a race of people they have always deemed as inferior, made them look bad and feel like dog poo. I did everything non-managerial including planning and teaching cooking/technique classes but I was paid less than everyone else on staff...even PT casual people who only performed customer service on the selling floor. Like I said in the summary line...excellent products but VERY racist culture. – less

Overall this is a good company to work for. It needs better communication between the management and employees. Also there are very strict rules they say are for safety such as no music or cell phones because you cant hear the forklifts but they provide us with noise cancelling headphones to drown out machinery noise, so they can be contradictory. Also – more... since the headquarters are in San Francisco you can feel out of touch with the upper management and your immediate supervisor can get away with not treating employees right – less

Good company, just no room for advancement in my market. The people were nice and the culture is good

I was really excited to come work for Williams-Sonoma @ Washington Square Mall in Portland. When I meet the Management team I thought they were friendly people and I could learn a lot from them. I was hoping they were going to give me trainning and show me the ropes. However I was wrong, I was hired to be a culinary specilist and as soon as they hired – more... me they put me on the floor as a sales rep. I wanted to learn more about the culinary side of Williiams-Sonoma instead I felt push to cell their products. Also Management was too busy GOSSIPING about their staff rather then being professional managers. The staff were nice ladies and I got along fine with them. But the Mangement people need to reread the manual on being professional and understand how to run there store! – less

WS call center is a terrible place to work. They put you through two weeks of training, but don't cover everything you need to know. Supervisors and managers were the worst part of working there because they want nothing to do with the employees. If you have a question or an angry customer DEMANDING to speak with a supervisor or manager they are no – more... where to be found. If you do find them they talk to you as if you're an idiot even if you have a reasonable question and they will REFUSE to talk to the customer. Supervisors and managers at the call center think that they are above you and that regardless of what the customer wants, it's your problem and not theirs. If not for the attitude I received from supervisors and managers I probably would've rated this job a 3/5 because it wasn't bad except for that MAJOR issue. Supervisors and managers are meant to boost morale, not treat their employees like trash.

This was the worst job I have ever had and I would rather live in a box than go back there. I was RELIEVED when I left. – less

Productive and fast paced workplace. Processed catalog orders in Call center, resolved 98 percent customer service issues within 24 hours, processed credit card applications, up sold company sale products. The most enjoyable part of the job was talking to customers and making their order process go smoothly.

If you're not a buyer or on the store side in corporate IT your treated like dirt.

PICKER

PICKED ORDERS FROM START TIME TO FINISH
MOSTLY WORKED ALONE

Applied for a seasonal position, and although my time was short I fully enjoyed working with this company.