[This guest post comes from a Costco employee and a frequent commenter here, Brittney in Aloha, OR. Brittney's been a Costco employee and member since 2003, but Costco runs in her blood. Her family had a Costco membership and were employees back in the very early Costco years, way back in the late 1980s. It is really nice to get a bit of the inside scoop on what it is like to work at Costco.]
Costco: An employee perspective
I come from a Costco family. I mean that in a general and literal sense as my mother worked for Costco for 18 years. I can still remember riding on the flatbeds and watching the cashiers type in each item number with lightning fast fingers. My parents actually forgot me at Costco once, on my birthday no less, so it was my home for a few short hours. Now I work for Costco and have become one of their “low turnover” numbers. And Costco is still family; the people I work with today are some of the same people my mom worked with. My history with Costco is not special, as there are numerous workers there that grew up with Costco, work for Costco, and have family members working for the company as well, and so its easy to see where the family feeling comes from. Most employees do not share that experience, however, and yet still consider Costco as a part of their family.
I wanted to write this post because I know there is a growing awareness of where we, as American consumers, are putting our money. The company scandals, failures, bailouts, and investigations of recent times has turned a big spotlight on the integrity and ethics of the companies still in operation. I wanted to answer that question from my own perspective as a Costco employee.
“Costco is a good company.” This is always the next statement I make when someone finds out I work for Costco, and I believe it. Costco is a good company, both to its members, and its employees. A lot of companies have mission statements and standards, but fall short of actually following them. Costco is not one of those companies. Costco’s mission is lived in the employees that work there, and the standards are at the forefront of every managers thoughts. We are treated well by the company, and treat each other and our members well as a result.
And, yes, we get paid well for our industry. We have benefits – good benefits – even for part-time employees. We have 401k plans that Costco contributes to, stock options, life insurance, and a short-term disability program. We have a program called CARE that we can call anytime for assistance with life issues such as divorce, death, or even just stress. CARE team members help us find people to talk to, lawyers, funeral coordinators, whatever we need all at no cost to us. Our employee handbook makes company policies clear to each of us, and they are generously in favor of the employee. We even have a physical therapist that personally visits our store twice a week to observe working ergonomics and give helpful advice to employees experiencing pain or discomfort. Costco is incredibly supportive, just like a family ought to be.
Costco’s standards are high, not only in benefits, but also in employee expectation. We work hard for our money, as the song goes. Almost every employee is on their feet all day running from one job to the next. Although its not in the handbook, it is part of Costco culture to work hard, do a job well, and put in an honest day’s work. When we’re on the clock it’s “showtime” and we get the job done. Not to say that there haven’t been bad apples in the mix, but as soon as their rotten spots are exposed they are quick to be cut off the branch. Costco does not tolerate a lack of integrity in employees or management. Luckily it is pretty rare to see this kind of action need to be taken. In my seven years at the company I have seen it a couple times. The type of people that are attracted and succeed at Costco are good, honest, and ethical people because the company itself rewards and reflects that standard.
Obviously, I love my company. But I also recognize that Costco certainly has room to grow. I am nervous about what will happen to our integrity when Jim Sinegal, our founder, decides its time to leave. I don’t agree with the relatively large male manager population in our stores. I think we should have signs. I think we should train people and listen to our members more. I tell you all this because being realistic is important. Costco is not perfect and I know that (no one gets a “5″ as they tell us in our reviews). But they are doing an above average job and should be applauded as such. With the standards and integrity that Costco cherishes and fosters, they are worthy of your membership. It is my hope for those who read this that you will be satisfied that your money is going to a good place, to good people, and a good cause. Thanks for being Addicted to Costco!
1
adam //
2010.06.09 at 11:06 am
Nice write-up, but surprised you identified her!
2
Kimberly //
2010.06.09 at 11:28 am
Why? Because of all the bad talk about how nice it is to work at Costco? LOL
I think it is a real credit to Costco to have employees that feel so passionate about their jobs, and actually enjoy working for the company. It speaks really highly of the great company culture that they have created. Any manager or company owner should strive to have employees that speak so well of them. As an avid Costco shopper and shareholder, I am thrilled that people such as Brittney work there and certainly believe that such a good workforce is what sets Costco apart from other retailers.
3
Clue //
2010.06.09 at 11:30 am
I’m delighted by this! Costco’s and Jim Sinegal’s reputations for treating employees well is the single biggest reason why I hold Costco stock. In fact, it is the only individual stock I own. I would never want to get higher returns on the stock because they cut employee bennies, etc.! I am more than happy to accept modest returns on my investment in exchange for supporting the kind of workplace culture that Costco has.
I too worry about Mr. Sinegal’s retirement. He has remained steadfast in and his principles and has not allowed himself to be bullied by shareholders seeking short-term gain at the expense of Costco’s long-term quality and viability. In my book, Jim Sinegal has been a role model CEO. If the leadership of all American companies would follow his lead, this country…and all of us in it… would be far better off!
4
Nabeela //
2010.06.09 at 1:08 pm
That was a wonderful writeup. Thank you Brittney!
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Emily (Bentobloggy) //
2010.06.09 at 8:18 pm
Great post, thank you so much for your insight, Brittney!
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RickieM //
2010.06.09 at 9:48 pm
Thank you for the writeup! What you wrote is pretty much what I see when I go to Costco (and I make it a point to visit as many as I can whenever I go out of town, also) and that is why it is my favorite store. Jim Sinegal seems to be to the retail industry what John Wooden was to basketball and sports. There is no substitute for integrity.
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Nancy //
2010.06.10 at 9:06 am
I have a funny Costco story. When my daughter was younger we left Costco one day and she said, “Wow, I want to work at Costco, look at how much money they make.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Well, look at all the money the lady got when you paid. Doesn’t she get to keep everything she takes in?”
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Johnny //
2010.06.10 at 11:25 am
It’s good to know Jim’s principles are adhered to in some places. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of appalling leadership demonstrated at the management level in others. The vision of top management is broken at the warehouse level. Most managers are grossly undertrained, under qualified, undereducated and as a consequence they manage with a dictatorial, contemptuous style that destroys the morale and confidence of the employees. Most employees feel the tenant, “take care of the employee” is entirely disregarded by the management at the warehouse level. There is understandably a low level of autonomy at the hourly level, but this coupled with disrespect and disregard of employee input by the managers weakens the company.
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Dave //
2010.06.10 at 6:39 pm
Costco employee, I agree.
Johnny, Unfortunately their are appalling leadership in all aspec of life, not just Costco. I have worked with some bad managers and some great ones. Its part of life when you work in retail.
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Danita //
2010.06.14 at 10:51 pm
My son has been a Costco employee for 1.5 years and he also loves it. He is also a part time college student and the company has been very supportive of his continuing school and scheduling around his school hours. I agree the benefits and pay are very good even for part time employees. It make me proud to spend my money where the employees are cared for vs. other large retailers who have the exact opposite business practices. As with any company you have bad and good management, but overall Costco is way above average.
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iris shapiro //
2010.08.19 at 12:19 pm
Your story reminded me of a funny incident at Costco. Please read my blog at http://www.pushthewheel.com and go to the archives of the Funniest thing that happened to me at Costco.
Let me know what you think
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Kimberly //
2010.08.19 at 12:28 pm
Here’s the link to the story that Iris is talking about: http://pushthewheel.blogspot.com/2009/10/funny-story-about-my-experience.html
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Jesse //
2011.03.24 at 1:42 pm
I’ve worked for Costco for over 3 years now. And let me tell you, it all depends on where you work. I started out in a brand new store in Middleton, WI. I really liked the people I worked with, and the store was managed very well. I almost always had a pretty good time when I went to work. Talking to my friends that are still working there, they say it’s still the same. Then I moved to Los Angeles and transferred to the Los Feliz store. Talk about a difference. I don’t know if it’s just a California thing, or just this store, but the whole “take care of your employees” idea just goes down the drain. I can only speak from my experience at my current location, but this store is mismanaged, unorganized, breaks all the rules, and doesn’t give anyone a bit of respect. I always believe that at work you need to go above and beyond what you’re required to do so management takes notice of you and you make them look good, too. Unfortunately, at Los Feliz, when you do more than you’re asked, you get brushed over and it all goes unnoticed. I’ve found that most of the people there are doing just enough work not to get fired, and that’s it. No extra help from anyone for any reason. It’s sad to see, coming from a store that was so positive and upbeat on everything. I even tried to apply for a supervisor position in my department, and my manager flat out told me “not to bother trying” because he wasn’t going to hire me, even though I was the most knowledgeable person of that department that was going to apply. Really?? Shouldn’t you be encouraging people to advance in the company that you’re supposed to support so much? And besides that, there are so many safety and health department concerns that get over looked or flat out ignored. I work in the meat department, and our fat tests for the ground beef don’t pass and are still put out in the case for sale. Our seafood roadshow guy doesn’t take the temperatures on the product like he’s supposed to and sells shrimp and fish to people that’s over 50 degrees (the max is 40 degrees) and is probably loaded with bacteria now because someone was too lazy to put a little ice on top of the product. They don’t properly sanitize items that come in contact with food. They don’t follow the rules in the handbook and pay employees who cut meat the proper amount of money. They put out meat that expired with a new date on it and say that it’s fresh. How horrible is that?? Would you want to buy any of that meat?? I sure wouldn’t, that’s why the only time I buy meat there is when I prepare it myself so I know that’s it’s good. It’s very disheartening to see these things. All I’ve heard from everyone is that Costco is such a great place to work. And it really is!! Don’t get me wrong, they pay well, the insurance is amazing, and their 401k is top notch. But when you have managers that don’t know how to run their departments and aren’t educated enough to develop new ideas and strategies to improve their department, then why are they working there?? How are they still employed?? It’s got to the point now where I’m in such a horrible mood when I go to work and I don’t want to be there at all. Getting all my hours cut so I work at the minimum amount doesn’t help either. You can’t pay your bills with 24 hours a week when you used to work 35 hours. Our department has gone through so many people because they can’t stand working there, and I don’t blame them for leaving. The bad part is that our warehouse manager knows about everything that’s going on and still does nothing. You’d think that they would want to help the company that has supported and payed them for so many years, help them remain strong and keep sales up. It’s too bad to see this store fail in so many ways when Costco has a great reputation all over the world. I just can’t believe the difference I’ve experienced between the two stores.
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Linda //
2011.06.21 at 2:51 pm
I agree with Jesse & Johny.
I,too, work at a warehouse where dept. managers have falsified Executive memberships as new, when they were upgrades. They put up postings so a paticular employee will get the job. They do not adhere to the Union contract. Managers frequently do hourly work. Even the Main warehouse manager! I have heard managers outright lie to an employee & then laugh behind their back. Lower management teams lie to the Warehouse manager, I’ve heard them do it.
When Jim Sinegal comes in the store, of course, they keep him away from employees that would tell him anything against management. There are no “surprise” visits. So, by the time he comes in, everything looks okay. I know that when he retires all benefits will be reduced, we will pay more for what we do get & contracts are going to be harder to negotiate.
I really wish he could do “Under cover Boss”, by taking East Coast employees & swapping them with West Coast employees. Then find out about the REAL Costco Managers. Now THAT would be an eye opener!
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chicov1 //
2011.06.21 at 6:59 pm
Jesse & Jonny I feel your pain. I have seen alot of what was written and have had know joy at times. Even worst one of the twenty that won power ball was a manager who was not a person I would invite to my home. That being said I work in the east coast my best advise is use your Union or employee agreement. If your rep does not want to stand up to management change them. Your building should have a coumputer to check your pay check. In the intranet there is spot for whisle blower. ,On the wall in your break room should be the regional ,phone # use it. ,There is also open door policey. ,All you need to do is go up the latter. Any warehouse manger not adhering to this policey puts there job on the line. Gety ,a member,r two to write a letter witnessing any of the above I could tell you things will change. I love this company and know that sooner or later the bad apples gets weeded out. It take time and i should know.
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jamie //
2011.07.14 at 11:45 pm
well its hard, ive been at a few warehouses and decided it wasnt for me, the amount of unprofessionalism and misdirection from senior management would make stockholders think twice. I heard so many positive things about the company, but later found out these were untrue and employees were forced to spread positive things or be terminated. The insurance is crap its cheap, but its aetna. You will I repeat you will pay a lot for hospital bills, and their 401k is only matched 50 cents on the dollar up to like 2500, so no i cannot say theyr benefits are GREAT. Pay rate is $11 bucks an hour, after 8 years youll make around $19 an hour, 40k a year doesnt sound too good. You might think to yourself well I can move up grow in the company, well maybe if you sleep with your manager. The majority of the managers are married and sooooo perverted, the company needs to send decoys into every store and terminate these managers that only promote employees that they have slept with, and I know what your thinking call HR or Corporate, well thats kind of hard when most of them are very, very close with store managers and retaliation is imminent. So in closing costco you receive two toes down!!
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Ten Years In...give or take a few months //
2011.08.11 at 2:51 am
Many of those statements about warehouse level management being horrendous are 100% true. Ruthless, unprofessional, perverted, overall douchebag types – check. I’ll keep it short and sweet; many in management are quite despicable characters and some are often good people who can, under pressure and/or in the correct setting, amaze you at how low they will stoop. On the other hand, many of the employees are hard working people genuinely willing to fulfill their responsibilities, as are some of the managers, but I have witnessed things get very ugly and out of hand. In fact, five days a week, depending on who is “running the show”.
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different_take //
2011.09.03 at 2:20 pm
yeah, I have to speak up about something that, thankfully, a few others are not in denial about enough to acknowledge. And I’m really curious who Jesse is, because I was an original employee of the Middleton, WI Costco when it first opened (actually I still am, but it’s complicated) and I don’t remember anyone by that name…but I do remember quite a few of the managers and other employees that were transfers got out of there before too long!! It was sad. See, Jesse described Middleton as being upbeat, etc. But I can say that I have seen quite the opposite! Everybody tells me how our Costco is NOT like others (i.e. not how it’s supposed to be run), that it is horrible and management plays favorites, and also allow poor conduct to go undisciplined. I for one, can’t stand the incompetency I see at the managerial level here; there is so much crap that goes on and never gets dealt with (at least not properly)!! Also there are other employees that seriously should have been fired months, maybe years ago but keep causing the same problems over and over because management won’t take care of it, for whatever reason–probably because they don’t want to go through the work of hiring replacements for those people. And as a consumer, I have to say…yes there are good deals, but a lot of the stuff is not priced all that great, considering you pay to shop here. Certain things are a great deal, but others are just average if not plain useless. I don’t know if I’d have a membership, if I wasn’t working here. Oh and one extra thing, I’m not sure if it’s the location or what, but the members who shop here are some of the rudest, meanest, most horrible people I have ever served!! And I’ve worked in other retail settings. I am amazed sometimes at how I get treated like dirt. It’s hard to maintain a positive attitude sometimes when others are so condescending (one time a guy literally whistled at me to get my attention/help with something, like I was a dog). I could say more but I think you get the picture.
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different_take //
2011.09.03 at 2:23 pm
just to add, on a positive note–I do very much appreciate seeing members who are enthusiastic and have a kind attitude toward Costco! It helps to see that…and to be sure, for a company as a whole, Costco’s policies show that they care about and respect their employees (great pay, benefits etc)….just that at the warehouse level there is room for improvement and people don’t always practice what they preach.
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Jesse //
2011.09.04 at 1:40 pm
Well that’s unfortunate to hear, different_take. I know when I first started at the Middleton location, I thought it was very good. Maybe since it was brand new everything seemed to be all smiles and rainbows, but now that it has been open for a while things have started to go down. I’m not sure, but as far as my experience there, it was always fairly good. If it is how you say it is now, then that’s really too bad. I can completely relate to what you’re saying about the rude members, even being whistled at for attention. That drives me CRAZY when people do that, and it happens several times a week at my current store, and I don’t even bother helping them because to me it’s so inappropriate to do that, they don’t deserve my attention. I know we’re supposed to give the best customer service around, but frankly I have to draw the line somewhere. I know that corporate has tried to improve our member service by implementing new procedures, but so far Costco still ranks incredibly low for customer service. I think that when Jim Sinegal finally retires from being CEO and someone new comes in, there will be even more changes. Will they work? Who knows, I hope so though. Something huge needs to happen to kick these employees in the butt, especially management. I mean, we just got audited, and all the procedures and policies I had mentioned in my previous post that we’re 100% violating went completely unnoticed. I even used our “Whistle Blower” program to complain about some of the issues to an outside party that’s supposed to help employee’s when their management neglects laws and policies, and the response I got was “Talk to you warehouse manager about it.” Wow, that’s a great idea considering he knows about the problems himself and hasn’t done anything either. It’s just so frustrating, I’d love for Costco to be the best company it could be and I want it to be exactly how all the positive comments describe it, I really do. But the reality is that it needs a MAJOR overhaul on management and procedures immediately or it will be run into the ground.
And by the way, I’m sure you didn’t know who I was, I didn’t talk to many people besides those in the meat and deli department and I was only working there for a year before I moved out to California. But if you still work there, go ahead and ask Brandon, John, or Tim in the meat department about me, JC in the deli, or Shameah in membership. All really good people, and I’m glad I met them while I was still there
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Robin from Orlando //
2011.09.06 at 2:49 am
Interesting comments on customer service. I found a study done only a few months ago that listed Costco as #3 and only a hair below an excellent rating.
http://experiencematters.wordpress.com/tag/costco/
As a customer, I want to give a shout out to my local South Orlando Costco. I don’t know anything about the management, but I have found the employees in the store to be helpful and friendly.