HR Managers

Joined: 01 Feb 2008 Posts: 545

Good luck in whichever career choice you happen to make. Some of us who are a bit older than you have witnessed and even experienced the excitement of new careers. Speaking only for myself I don't mean to be bitter toward you at all. I hope that you realize that many of us have already had a career or two outside of Lowe's. Sometimes, people are not what they seem. Other times they are exactly what they appear. Don't judge the employees based upon something written in their files (this goes for whichever job you chose). Don't judge people based on manager's or fellow employees biases either. Make your own decisions on how a person is performing. If you have the opportunity to sit down and chat with someone with habitual call outs. I hope that you chose to find out where the problem lies instead of just writing them up for absenteeism. You can do that on a casual basis. You may find that the person could qualify for FMLA for example and they just aren't aware that their job could be protected.

Above all keep your hands and arms in the ride at all times and hang on tight.

Joined: 22 Dec 2007 Posts: 461

I didn't mean to sound rude if it came off that way. I just think you are probably worth more than what they are offering. It just sounds a bit odd for someone to jump to hr without working a bit. They'll probably have to put you though the HRMTP...otherwise if you were to try to transfer to another store there'd be no way for you to qualify. If you get in that's great but I'd instantly start looking for training. HD already dissolved their store level hr. lowes and hd copy each others actions. District hrm should be better for you in terms of pay and security.

I think it should also be noted that one should look at all the pay AND benefits in a job to understand the full package. A few years ago I had a coworker that left for a job but she had a odd face...where she just went to was higher pay....but no dental insurance. Doesn't sound that big of a deal but if you have ever had dental work done without insurance let me tell you these guys make mechanics look cheap!

For example guess who offers the most matching for 401K's? Microsoft? IBM? Google? Proctor and Gamble? Nope...McDonald's...you put in 5%...they put in another 11%.it's on page 38 in the latest issue of Businessweek. My brother works at a vending company (vending like coffee/soda/snacks etc) thats growing like crazy. Until a year or so ago he had 100% medical covered. I used to work at a place before that had onsite day care. It wasn't free but to people that used it they could see their kids at lunch and go straight home after work. In the 80's my father had a company car for work..didn't have to pay for gas or insurance..

Now I'm not advocating that some of these benefits are still around but it goes to show that not all places give the same benefits.

As for 10% what I ment by that is if moving up to something with more responsibilities (i.e. a promotion) I'd expect at least 10% more. For a regular raise I'd say 5% is nice.

Joined: 19 Oct 2003 Posts: 2801

You bring up a VERY good point MDOVELL, Several companies (corporate America) are no longer matching the 401K starting this year, It is getting to the point where there is no incentive to even work for corporate America. Shocked

Joined: 22 Dec 2007 Posts: 461

Some other places I've been at had some other incentives. One gave 40% of their product line...which seems great until nearly anyone that bought something gets 20% off.

Another used to cover everything of dental way back when. Until word spread and all of a sudden you'd get people showing up to get a ton of crowns, bridges and caps done and then quit.

"Wow, Get a college degree (and debt) to be offered a job for $47.000 a year and work 60 hours a week. Lets see, if they gave you 2 weeks off you would work 50 weeks at 60 hours a week. 3,000 hours a year . That's $15.67 an hour. BIG DEAL!"

From what I see hr can vary from the low 30's (level 1) to maybe 60K (level 5) In all honesty I'm not sure if it is 60 hours a week...I know that ops and sm switch from 40 to 60 all the time so I doubt that hr has to put in more hours than the sm or ops.

so if it's 50 hours a week on average and as high as 60K thats $23/hr. Then again if it was say 32K a year (lowest possible I think) then it would be far less at $12.30.

Don't assume that everyone in college or that will go to college is in debt. Anyone in the military qualifies for the Mongomery GI bill which pays for quite a bit. I personally know someone in the USAF that just became an officer because he finished his degree. He is also in the ROTC. In my state also the national guard would pay for all of your college/university. National guards vary though as california doesn't give a dime.

Personally I saved up money over the past 10 or so years. I banked it (I knew the market was in a bubble so I didn't bother with stocks or 401k). I did not have to take out loans for school.

Like it or not more and more jobs require degrees. Where I am about 43% of those working have a bachlors degree or higher. Yes that is a minority but it keeps growing. Once it gets above 50% employers are going to assume someone has a degree.

I know someone pulling about 50K as a mechanic. He's in a union...works his ass off. But he's at the max of what he can make. 5,10,15-30 years from now he'd still be making the same amount. He's going to school for management and already was offered a job at a non profit making 10K less. Why would he consider it? Because that's starting pay...and far far less physically demanding work.

If you think that working at a given company or organization somehow prepairs you for another that doesn't always happen. Companies want to see achievement and that doesn't happen much of the time with companies. With Lowes for example outside of a OSLG level 2 certification I don't think any are recongnized outside the company. Power equipment licenses aren't valid outside it, emtp, mtp might not be either.

The problem I see when some people look for jobs is they are looking for conflicting concepts. They obviously want a job that pays well and has good benifits. Some people feel as if it also has to be a visible job (something they can picture) AND employ a significant number of people. Otherwise you'd hear arguments of "How many people would they really need".

I'm sorry but many specialized jobs don't always employ a large number of people but they do pay higher wages.

Joined: 12 Dec 2008 Posts: 16

Hello Everyone,

Happy New Year! (I know its late) I have decided to accept the HRM offer from Lowe's. I am excited and anxious to work in the HR role and I promise I will do best to ensure the store I'm in has a healthy working environment.

I am a hardworker and I am up for any challenge thrown at me. I'm looking forward to meeting more lowe's employees and I thank all of you for making my HR Managers post the most active discussion on retail-worker for the month of December 08. I will save all of your replies and refer to it on a regular basis, as well as being a frequent visitor on this site. Thank you all for your ongoing support.

-Collegejobseeker Smile

Joined: 18 Jul 2008 Posts: 146 Location: Region 1

Sincere congratulations. This has been a very informative thread for sure. Good luck with the career move. Remember, it's whatever you want to make of it!

Joined: 07 Jul 2003 Posts: 110

Congrats. Great choice. Just like any other job, it will be what you make it. Make sure you do not become one of those HRMs that stay in their office their entire shift. You need to get out and get to know your people. Visit the different message boards often, you can get a real feel for what is going on in stores. Sure, there is a lot of whining and complaining, but between all that, you can get some valuable insight.

Again, congrats, and welcome to Lowes, I have been with the company for 15 years, and have been HR a couple of times.

Joined: 19 Oct 2003 Posts: 2801

And remember, Be kind, honest and show that you care about your fellow associates. Remember they have a life too.

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