Five Guys reviews

Work/life balance is mediocre at best Horrible benefits (i.e. none) for anyone under AM/GM Tight labor = bad shifts Misplaced focus from upper management As another reviewer said, the company has lost focus on what made them great. Before, it was all a focus on the employee. The secret shopper program pays out on a 100% but the problem is, it's too subjective based on the customer that is shopping us and Five Guys wants ZERO complaints about it (yet they are quick to throw their veterans and management under the bus when things start to break down). This is coming from someone who averages several points above company average, so I am not mentioning it as someone who is "suffering" based on the company's averages. It is now all about the money and less about the people (customer included). The company has put up several price hikes and employees suffer for it. The labor doesn't improve, in fact, cuts are brought in more often than not. Employee morale is at an all time low, but the company seems very focused on being a "top employer" yet, they drive out the experienced employees in two ways... holding unrealistic expectations... and bringing in new hires at a high rate and not allowing raises for middle to upper management. The pay gap shrinks and new employees benefit from it. Cleanliness is also a con as it is a pro. Nobody likes a dirty business. But.. when you build your restaurant out of bad materials, it becomes harder to clean and maintain. Not to mention, you have area directors who keep chips on their shoulders and are willing to fire an entire store or shut them down because the GM stood up for his store. Also, when running a short shift because of labor targets, it is not possible to keep a clean store to the standard you wish to hold. Give us the labor we need, and we can deliver a clean store.

- Completely disorganized on-boarding. - ZERO benefits until certified to be General Manager, which can take weeks; months in my case, due to utter lack of caring from my on boarding manager. - Absolute lack of enforcement of policies. - No upholding of the "company pillars" from anyone at all. - No confidence in management by employees. - Cliche culture My story is not unique, nor special. In fact, it's quite common: I was hired to take over a store and I had to leave after about 6 months. The work culture is completely toxic, and the utter lack of action from upper management is among the worst that I have seen. It took a few weeks for the employees to warm up to me, but I later learned why they were so nasty with me at first. Turns out, management let's them, or even encourages policy violations so that they can circumvent unemployment claims, and easier termination. Except, despite knowing that managers themselves also violate policies, when it comes to enforcement, there is none. Not only does this violate some personal core ethics, I'm sure a business ethics board would want to know more information about the going-on's with this privately held company. When I was on boarded, I was told that I was going to be taking over operations of a new store; they reconsidered that to a sub-par manager. I was told I was going to be fast-tracked to certification; not only were feet dragged, it was purposely being delayed by my on-boarding manager. I was told that I was going to be able to hire my own crew; I was over-ridden a dozen times with sub-par hires that only lasted a weekend. Mr. Murrell, please pay close attention to this: my "training," certification, and departure due to negligence and horrific bullying (not against me; from management to "replaceable" employees) cost your company more money than promoting someone within. There's a lot of talent in this company and it's being mistreated on a daily basis for nepotism, or other favors. Never before have I experienced the level of hypocrisy, jealously, ignorance, and pettiness in any company. I'm glad I was always welcome back to my previous post, but now, if I'm ever made aware that if any of my employees ever interview with this company, I'll be sharing my experiences in full detail with them and ask them to reconsider before they're offered a "higher" position within this company. They're hemorrhaging great managers to "my way" management, great talent to family favors, and complete lack of empathy towards employees and even customers at times. This company has amazing potential from its employees, but it's locked up by social dynamics, upper management politics, and horrific quality control ethics. If you're interviewing with the company, get what they tell you in writing, and be sure to negotiate benefits from the start. I never got any.