employer cover photo
employer logo
employer logo

Brown Thomas Arnotts

Engaged Employer

Brown Thomas Arnotts reviews

3.8

78% would recommend to a friend

(793 total reviews)
avatar

Donald McDonald

78% approve of CEO

70% positive business outlook

Brown Thomas Arnotts has an employee rating of 3.8 out of 5 stars, based on 793 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Brown Thomas Arnotts employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Retail and wholesale industry (3.5 stars).

Reviews by job title

793 reviews
1.0
Feb 5, 2021

Behind the curve

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Laudable that the parent company continued to pay retail staff throughout the pandemic despite store closures. Staff discount for both Arnotts and Brown Thomas. Relatively good work life balance is available in most cases, though there are some departments that suffer more than others.

Cons

The company is driven by a culture of personal appeasement rather than hard figures or data. Decisions are taken based on what will rock the boat least or what leadership feels rather than real expertise or methods that will show results, be it direct sales or traffic on the site. Two digital directors have left the business in one year with no replacement or strategy on the horizon resulting in a leadership vacuum. Brick and mortar retail as an industry is either already being seriously disrupted or at least the next in line to be, but none of the initiatives or projects talked about for the coming years are part of any overarching strategy. Rather they are scattergun attempts tick a 'digital' box. Bundle this together with slow-moving processes, a chronic lack of skills in key areas plus a civil service-esque 'not my job' atmosphere and you have a direction-less organisation spinning it’s wheels. Prior to covid there wasn't enough office space in the building, and now one year on from the start of enforced WFH, many workers are still using personal equipment. Below-market salary and poor career development opportunities. WFH makes it difficult to gauge, but going by the number of departures in the past six months, morale across the department is circling the drain. Some managers appear to be aware of this but many are adopting a head-in-the-sand approach.

avatar
Brown Thomas Arnotts Response
5y
Thanks for taking the time to submit your thoughts on working here at Brown Thomas If you’d be open to it, I’d welcome a conversation to talk about specifics- feel free to reach out, glassdoor@brownthomas.ie
1.0
Feb 25, 2021

Toxic culture and totally disregard for staff

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Staff discount, city centre location

Cons

Came into role promised progression, salary reviews, engagement further training, a great dynamic and encouraging work environment....all lies! Unfortunately the excitement quickly dwindled when reality set in. Staff morale is at an all time low with mass staff exodus and nothing done to address the issues, a leader who doesnt care and feeds that attitude down to his management staff. No desire to encourage or develop staff, no incentive to do well as told no progression. Salaries underpaid, toxic culture very isolating. Although COVID resulted in lower salary and over worked was a great relief to not be in the office.

avatar
Brown Thomas Arnotts Response
5y
Thanks for taking the time to submit your thoughts on working here at Brown Thomas. If you’d be open to it, I’d welcome a conversation to talk about specifics- feel free to reach out, glassdoor@brownthomas.ie
Viewing 1 - 3 of 793 Reviews

Glassdoor has 865 Brown Thomas Arnotts reviews submitted anonymously by Brown Thomas Arnotts employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Brown Thomas Arnotts is right for you.