sales assistant

team leader

store manager

barista

engineering team leader

WHSmith

Even though I was only Christmas temporary my career at WH Smiths last nearly two years. In this type of employment my main job role was to be till assistant. While on till we would serve customers, answers any queries they had and order any stock for them we didn’t have in store e.g. books or promotional magazines. This job improved on my technological skills because they had touch screen tills and we had to use the intranet to order the customers products.

It also built my confidence and dealing with difficult customers, as I had to sell cigarettes, lottery and scratch cards because these items have aged restrictions you have to ask the customer for ID many times a customer would get aggravated if they did not have ID with them as I would refuse to serve them. I would always be polite and professional and if the customer was shouting and getting angry I would stay calm and relaxed and ask if they would like to see the manager instead.

Also throughout this job role we would help with deliveries which would include scanning the items, moving them into the stockroom which including lifting and using trolleys etc. and then taking them onto the shop floor and replenishing stock.

While in this job role I volunteered to be in charge of confectionary this included ensuring the dates on the sweets, crisps and drinks were in date and if they were short dated reduce them and put them in the ‘reduced bin’. This included the shop floor and stock room. Every time I had a delivery I would put the dates on the confectionary stock this made it easier for me and allowed me to improve on my organizational skills and allowed me to fill the shop floor in a quick routine as I was aware of where everything was.

Every week I had to make a delivery order for the company Walkers to retrieve the stock we needed for the shop floor. This gave me a responsibility and allowed me to work on skills such as organization and responsibility of stock. It also showed potential of being able to take control of situations and getting the job done with responsibility.

I also did things that were not in my job role for example I would often sweep the shop floor and clean the staff room including the toilets and empty the bins. I did this because I like to be kept busy and like things to be in order. Many times I would shut down the lottery lock the cigarettes and scratch cards on the evening. I enjoyed this as it gave me a sense of responsibility within the work place. I would always ensure that the till area was looking clean and tidy for the staff and the customers.

I would often volunteer for overtime and would cover the ‘news’ shift many times when the staff for the news was on holiday. This included putting out the newspapers, scanning the customer’s magazines and putting them in the correct file and putting the magazines up on to the shelves for customers in the shop. In order to do this job role I had to be a trustworthy employee as I was in charge of a set of keys for the shop as I had to be in work at 7 am, this also proves that I am a reliable, punctual and flexible member of staff.

This employment was cut short due to my husbands RnR for Afghanistan. I could not get the time off so I decided to end my employment with WHSmiths. I improved on skills while working at WHSmiths such as team work, communication skills and organizational skills. I also indulged in different job roles which I enjoyed.

This company does not care about it's employees. It will not care about your commitments. They will expect you to put them above all else. Got kids? To heck with them, they expect you to come in. Nothing short of being on your death bed is good enough for them. Exams? Your future means nothing to WHSmith! 

I was taken advantage of by management. Made to work two consecutive 13 and a half hour shifts in a single weekend because everybody else refused to work those days which goes against company policy at the time. When I struggled with mental health problems, the area manager told me to get over it. No support was ever given.

Have you ever wondered why we try to get you to buy £1 chocolate and why we give you those useless vouchers? We don't know either! We were told to get a certain percentage of all our sales (usually around 10%), to include those £1 chocolates or Haribo every single day. If we reached our target, we'd get nothing. Maybe a well done if you're really lucky. But if we didn't reach it, we would face potential disciplinary action. There is zero incentive for us to sell these chocolates. 

The managers don't get much going for them. All this negative stuff comes directly from head office who are ignorant to the real needs of the stores they have. They were unwilling to make changes that benefit staff if it meant losing any profit. However small the change might be. Managers and how they work vary from store to store but the head office is the same everywhere. Sociopathic, uncaring and heartless.

During my time with the company, they installed a self service machine, obsessively praising it's benefits for the customers and staff. We were told we wouldn't have to be at the tills and we could focus on other things while the customers could leave the store faster. What really happened was we got a tremendous amount of complaints, the queues were longer than before as the machine broke down on a daily basis and a lot more stress. 

They also refurbished the store. The powers that be thought it would be a good idea to keep the store open during the refurbishment. The work would be done during closing hours and the store would open as normal, regardless of the condition of the store which usually was a mess. Many complaints were made to me, including from the managing director for the travel section of the company. My point is, head office isn't full of intelligent people.

This is only a company you should consider if nothing else works out for you. If this is the last option, I beg you to work part time and refuse any overtime unless it is a financial necessity. Give them an inch and they'll take many, many miles. If you do work for them, do the bare minimum and nothing that isn't in your job description. Do not allow them to take control of you. It's been three years since I left and I still feel some anxiety and fear working in retail. All thanks to the people at WHSmith.

Management non existent, before all the managers were removed they did nothing anyway, they would sit in the office and not lift a finger all day, then pretend it was a hard day's work when you both knew it was you who did everything that day. No training what so ever and now that the company is lone working I never have a clue what I should or shouldn't be doing. Other staff are also not trained so lone working safety devices are often dead because the battery wasn't put on charge overnight. Meaning you're lone working with no safety if your life is at risk.

I was made redundant at the start of lockdown (told on the day it was my last day) as they couldn't afford to keep staff on meaning I couldn't get any other work because no one was hiring. When I returned to work there (no one was taking me up on my applications) they have now removed the managers and we have a 'cluster leader' who is supposed to manage 5 different stores in the area. Rotas are never done, we're never told what days we're doing or what's going on, we have no idea what's happening about shops shutting on Thursday. The only training I was given to open up the shop was a piece of paper inside the shop with the instructions written down on them. I then had to teach myself how to open up, put the newspapers and magazines out all while trying to serve the public as they came through the door as there wasn't enough time to do it all before they opened. 

The company is in demise, they've been going under for years and each year they try to find new ways to save any money they can, meaning they've gotten rid of their managers and expect the staff to take on all the managerial roles while staying on their minimum wage pay. Its disgraceful. They now put us in 5 hour shift slots meaning they only pay for 1 persons worth of minimum wages per day (and the hour cross over is she. We're expected to restock the shop which isn't enough time) in terms of protecting staff from covid there is a tiny plastic screen about 40 cm tall and 30 cm wide with gaps all around it which will not stop aerosols, moisture droplets or virus reaching you at all. No one comes in to check we have enough hand sanitiser and no risk assessments have been done as of yet with cluster leader

And on top of all of that stress we still have to take abuse from air headed customers who think complaining to a lone working minimum wage sales assistant is going to change the prices in the shop or whatever it is they're unhappy about. 

I've had  worst experience working here and really hope I find new employment quickly! DON'T WORK HERE!!! 

I've worked for WH Smiths for the past eight years and what can I say, it is a very good experience where learning to deal with the public is concerned. A typical day will consist of putting out the morning delivery so for this we have to know what is needed to be put on the shelves , some items sold are confectionary therefore we have to rotate them in order to sell off the older stock first so we don't get anything going out of date, because I work in the news department my main role is to serve customers , I aim to do this as quickly and efficiently as possible I need to mange there expectations and I always aim not to keep people waiting, if I find that I am unfortunately holding customers up I will get some support from my other colleagues and therefore try and minimise the waiting time because I feel I should be offering an efficient service.
 During my years of working for WH Smith I've learnt many things even more than I ever thought I would, I've learnt that a clean working environment attracts customers to purchase things and that the best way to sell anything is infect body language. Acting as an open person draws people towards you and makes them want to ask you for help and assistance its a great way to build a relationship between you and the customer and in the years I've work there I have had a lot of repeated customers which leads to job satisfaction this is what I really enjoy about my job. 
The management team consists of the store manager the assistant manager and two supervisors one for the upstairs department and one for downstairs, in some ways this works well but at the same time it creates more work than is needed. The store has three departments an upstairs news department and down stairs you have the books and the stationary departments. I always find the management team  works in unity which in my opinion is the sign of a strong work force. 
On a whole are work team gets on very well if were ever unsure we always look too the more senior members of staff for guidance and then management. The hardest part of my job has always been handling difficult customers I have always found the best thing to do is stay calm and listen to what they are asking/explaining/informing me off and then I decide where to go from but I find it does take a certain amount of calmness to handle and deal with difficult situations. 
One of the main parts of my job is selling everyday we have a daily target of around 12% till point conversations we have to meet. This consists of selling different products at the till. These could be pens or books or chocolates when we meet these targets we feel satisfied .

Initially, it was a nice Sunday job with opportunity for overtime if I offered to do it. I was on tills most of the time and began to do other tasks like replenishing the drinks fridge. However, after a few months the benefits began to diminish and I realised the negatives of working here. Other members of staff would talk rubbish about each other including the people with the most responsibility. A particular member of staff would bully the youngest employees when they first arrived, refusing to help when they were stuck with something. I did not have access to see what hours I had worked for 20 months after I worked there and didn't have access to any payslips for 22 months as well, despite asking on multiple occasions. I did not sign a written contract when I first arrived. Management would force us to do a minimum of 8 hours overtime a week and threaten our jobs if we didn't do it (and this is a clause in the contract which I did not receive..) I always felt like I was going to pass out in the summer months due to no air conditioning within the workplace and felt like I was going to freeze or catch something in the winter months; I was always shivering.  Overall, WHSmith is a company which solely focuses on profit. They will happily employ children and give them the responsibilities of a full-time adult as a cost-cutting method. Growth and advancement is possible, but there are limited ways to achieve this. The systems and technology within the company are dated, and recognition within the company does not exist. I had 4 customers within a month commend me for my customer service, and I got NOTHING for it. Not even a thank you from higher management. Finally, during the furlough scheme, I was told my job was no longer available. This naturally made me feel really stressed out as I rely on an income to live. Management changed and I was back in my job within the next week as if nothing had happened. Apparently I could have been back at my job 3 months prior to this. Strange. 
I would recommend WHSmith to somebody who wants a temporary job throughout Christmas as you will not get to see the true culture and colours of everything that goes on within the workplace, however I can honestly say that nobody should choose to work here full-time

- The management is disgusting
 - Worry about staff having phones on them rather than training them properly
 - Poor Communication 
 - Minimum wage
 - Disgusting environment - The shelf's do not get cleaned regularly
 - Expired bags of chips 
  
 - The CEO cares more about uniform than actually the important parts of running a business. (thorough stock rotation and having staff that are authorized for refunds)

 - They are always hiring because staff keep leaving, due to how toxic the working environment is (Not other employees).

Their decisions don't come across managers that have experience, or actual knowledge. (Such as, sending a member of staff to work in another area of the Gatwick airport and they have over an hour left until they finish their shift. And there are other staff that will finish hours later (6))

Their break policy is awful. You cant actually enjoy your break (depends really), you would either.

1) (If you Put your wallet (or purse) in your locker), W|Zhile "ON" your break, you would have to go back to your locker, get your wallet (or purse), go to their store (if wanting a discount), get your meal, walk back to the staff room (choice (place your wallet or purse back in the locker), have your lunch (or dinner) "WHILE IN YOUR BREAK". And, go back to the store that you worked at "BEFORE YOUR BREAK ENDS" (Unable to have a full 30 min break (and... You have to deal with people around the airport asking for directions and wasting your time))

2) Already bring in your meal, place it in your locker, walk to your locker (Same as before, saves a lot of time. But still have to arrive the store before your "BREAK ENDS").

And... The staff room is just... Awful, sure there are chairs... That are old, creaky and uncomfortable.

I never enjoy working there, I have nightmares every night after my shifts. (Its not working for say) The only thing I like, are the other employees (still not working).


The only thing enjoyable are the staff. They are not toxic compared to the managers. But that is the only thing that is positive at WHSmith, and I would rather work somewhere else then WHSmith.


As well as, due to them being desperate finding employees, they would hire people with little to no experience.

I started in my early years and had great opportunities to move up the career ladder. I was very fortunate that I worked under the guidance of some of the best line managers out there. I worked hard, I put the effort in, was willing to learn and it was appreciated. Fast forward a few years, I had my own branch to run and again I worked with some of the best senior managers - who embraced what I could offer and gave me plenty of opportunities to move up the career ladder again. My own career path has been very fruitful and fulfilling. Now comes the bad part. The salary was always below average, and had it not for the genuine desire to learn and grow, I wouldn't have stuck to such an underpaid job. As WHsmith started this culture of cost cutting, over the years, there is the expected redundancy exercise that takes place every year. It's got to a point where it's nothing about the hardworking staff anymore, it's all about what costs they can reduce in order to show a profit on the balance sheets. The amount of stress that anyone, from sales assistants to managers to senior managers have to bear is extraordinary! It got to the point where I had to work 7 days a week, on top of taking admin work home.  The stores and post offices are always understaffed, everyone has to deal with customers always complaining about lack of staff. I have been ambushed a few times by customers demanding more staff when I was of course helpless.Staff call in sick and there's no budget for calling someone else to do overtime. It got to the point where no time could be spent on staff coaching and development as I had to spend time serving customers, while trying to run a branch. Senior management were as helpless as it was all about cost cutting and profit making. It's a vicious circle of you don't invest in your stores and staff welfare, you don't get the sales and service levels; you don't make money, you cut more costs. An old story really, but sadly, this is the state of WHSmith noe. They pay such bad rates that it was a nightmare trying to recruit. Never could get a good bank of decent candidates. Smith supports the charity mind, but the stress their staff have to bear is ironical as mentally this is crushing. There is absolutely no hep and support from the company. I haven't seen a bonus in years. In the mean time, every year, executives directors get their fat bonuses.

I have had mostly positive experiences working for WHSmith but as with most companies, this depends on your immediate manager or supervisor.
First employed in the 1990's (while studying as a mature student) as a seasonal night shift assistant at Manchester Airport. The person appointed (permanent employee) as supervisor did a great job, pulling a team together in a limited time & ensuring staff stayed motivated & company targets etc were met.
Returned to the company (2020's) following retirement from NHS. Lucky to find a 12 hour weekend position at Stockport Rail Station thanks to the manager & the company equal ops stance. Said manager exemplified great personnel skills & modelled company expectations in an approachable and fair way. During this time I was required to work in an hospital store due to recent rail strike action; I also found this a positive experience.
I moved on, due to personal circumstances to a high street store & the difference was palpable. Very poor management, company communication, training & leadership. The flexibility - working extra hours etc- expected (without any discussion) was bordering on ridiculous. Luckily, I felt able to dispute these issues but feel that others may not have the confidence to do so. Management appeared to have little grasp of their own role and function, relying on their cluster manager and fantastic long serving staff members (brilliant but apparently on earlier employment terms and conditions) to action everyday issues and developments.
If all has been completed correctly, I am moving again within the company, to an hospital store & am looking forward to the change and learning opportunities this may offer.
WHSmith has generally given me a positive work experience but I would not be returning to a high street store any time soon (travel and hospital stores seem to have a more enlightened, supportive and communicative culture from both immediate management and corporate avenues).
I need to say that the vast majority of colleagues (sales assistants) I have worked with have been supportive, competent, friendly and a pleasure to work with.

A typical day at work would be arriving, sorting out the newspapers, putting inserts into the correct newspaper and stocking them in the newspaper stands. If there's time before we open I would tidy around the shop, if not then I would usually go straight on tills as the morning is very busy. This would usually continue until my break.

After my break I would either go back on tills if it's busy, but if not I would have to tidy the shopfloor or put stockout from the delivery or get stock from the basement to put out on the shopfloor. Whenever the till bell rings I would have to go and help out on tills because it's too busy for one person to be manning. 

The day continues like this until it's home time. About half an hour before we close, myself and a co-worker would collect all the newspapers in, count them, mark it down on a sheet and bundle them, ready for them to be collected the next day.

I learned a lot at this job, including newspapers, magazines, how to handle the general public but also this job helped me to develop my skills as a person. 

The management were nice enough and always there if you needed help or had a question. Although sometimes it felt like you couldn't approach them if you didn't know something because they would get mad. 

My co-workers were absolutely lovely and made my shifts very enjoyable. Due to the co-workers being slightly close to my age made it very easy to get on with them and form friendships. 

The hardest part of my job was handling certain customers who were rude to myself or my co-workers and knowing we had to be polite and handle the situation in a mature manner, even if they were being out of line or disrespectful. Although if that ever happened, our manager or supervisor's clearly said to call them over and they would be more than happy to sort the issue out, which was nice. 

For me the most enjoyable part of the job was re-filling the fridge and cleaning the pic and mix. It added a bit of variety to the job rather than just standing on tills all day or putting stock out.

A typical day as a customer assistant at WhSmith LondonLuton Airport consisted of a 7pm start  , where you had to check the rota to see which shop you ment to be in and until what time (4shops) , after signing on to a till my job was to  check and remove any out of date food from the fridge this included smoothies and juices .Using a SMD scanner I would log how many of each product had been taken off the shelf's and disposed and how many were remaining on sale , by 8pm the new sandwich delivery would arrive and you would need the food to be unpacked and put into the fridge within 20 minutes, whilst putting the sandwiches out u would also have to make sure no item's where missing , once this was done you have to check and log the fridge temperature on the due dilgence sheet every4 hours .

Newpaper's are a big part of y people come into WhSmith's travel stores and the papers would have to be counted , logged , strapped up and put into cages  and be put outside the terminal bulding at the designated collection point . In the morning the same would have to be done for the new papers counting them and ticking of the quantity's on the delivery sheet's cages would den be put back into the stock room, morning new paper delivery's would consist of 2 delivery's.


Being on the night shift would mean pulling stock forward aswell as stock replenishment , cleaning and tidying the store would take place throughout the night  , as a 24hour store our aim was to keep standards to a high level.

Due to airport regulations all stock delivery's had to be put through security scanners before being taken to the stock room. 

7am would be my time to go home , but would only leave once there was enuff staff on the tills and that all relevant paperwork and tasks had been completed.

The Job as a whole was very enjoyable as you get to meet people from all backgrounds through-out the night  aswell as the physical side of the job which kept you nice and fit , unfortunately the management at the luton airport branch is not upto standard's.

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