Five companies from the Apparel Industry go head-to-head today, not on the quality of their garments or their place in the cultural pantheon, but instead in terms of Company Culture. Meet The Gap, Nike, Nordstrom, Ross Dress For Less and Victoria’s Secret. How do employees working for these clothiers feel about working for major apparel retailers? Does a popular shoemaker take better care of its workers than a perfume-scented underwear emporium? We’ll take a look at Comparably’s employee-submitted data to find out which company wears a happy workforce well and which is due for the cutout rack.
OVERALL CULTURE
In the first category, for overall Culture, the best score belongs to Victoria’s Secret (that’s the logo with the silhouette of the dog, by the way.) Nike and Nordstrom are just a few percentage points behind Victoria’s Secret, with 70 and 69 points each, respectively.
Gap: “Friendly but stressed. A lot is expected from employees, and wages are not great.”
Nike: “We get so many challenging projects and opportunities. I am fortunate to work on an amazing team doing amazing work.”
Nordstrom: “I am very comfortable with my work environment. I have been with the company 2 years. And I absolutely love it.”
Ross: “It’s a decent work environment, but it could use some improvement.”
Victoria’s Secret: “It’s a very positive work environment and coaching is done in a consistent and constructive manner.”
CEO
Nike’s chief executive Mark Parker takes the CEO round, which measures how employees rate their company’s CEO. Nordstrom’s Erik Nordstrom was voted into second place, sitting 3 percentage points behind Parker. In last place is Ross Stores’ CEO, Barbara Rentler.
Gap: “His best idea is to outsource to India when all other companies have already been there, done that and learned their lessons and are now insourcing again.”
Nike: “I’ve always appreciated the straight talk from Mark himself, very charismatic and inspiring leader that sets the tone for the entire organization.”
Nordstrom: “The CEO cares about customers and employees, but is not actively dealing with upper managers who are undermining diversity and inclusion efforts.”
Ross: “Leadership needs to work on their communication skills.”
Victoria’s Secret: “The leadership team advanced from within and has first hand experience doing the job.”
COMPENSATION
A mix of retail associates and home office employees voted Nike the little gold trophy for Compensation, beating second-place Nordstrom by six percentage points. The Gap, Victoria’s Secret, and Ross Stores all find themselves in the doldrums of the ‘C’ grade level, with the latter company taking the hit for last place position with just over half of the employees approving of their compensation.
Gap: “It is a great starting wage and they do have great discounts and options.”
Nike: “In terms of pay, Nike doesn’t value outside experience as much as Nike experience.”
Nordstrom: “I am not a commissioned employee. However, if I were I would want less commission and more regular pay, simply because of the return policy at Nordstrom.”
Ross: “The bonus structure is not fair. It’s based on too many variables that you can not control.”
Victoria’s Secret: “With a small team, job expectation often goes outside of job description. My longest shift was 17 hours in a row, and there is no overtime.”
PERKS & BENEFITS
None of the five clothiers shone too brightly in the Perks & Benefits category, but Nike and Victoria’s Secret managed to share top honors with a tie at 59%. Gap, Nordstrom, and Ross again are ‘C’-rated here, with Ross once again bringing up the absolute rear.
Gap: “Health, PTO, 401k 4% matching. The health insurance is sub-standard for the industry.”
Nike: “401k + 5% company match, company HSA contributions, 3-5 weeks paid leave each year starting in third year of service, several weeks paid paternity leave.”
Nordstrom: “Health insurance, 401k match up to 4%. Stock purchase opportunities and an employee discount.”
Ross: “The longer you work, the better your benefits package gets.”
Victoria’s Secret: “I love the free merchandise and huge discounts.”
DIVERSITY
Victoria’s Secret rates the only A+ score we’ll see today – as well as another win in the Diversity category. Nordstrom and Ross tied for second, each with 72% scores. Ross again brings up the rear.
Gap: “Gap tries to do well with diversity and there are an unusually high number of women in leadership and as individual contributors in tech.”
Nike: “Mostly good in terms of diversity. Age is king.”
Nordstrom: “There are three women in my department. Some departments are diverse and some not so much. Depends on the head department manager.”
Ross: “Diverse, but only in the lower decks.”
Victoria’s Secret: “We are an incredibly diverse company. We’re absolutely committed.”
OUTLOOK
Gap: “Gap is failing and they don’t know how to fix it. They treat the employees poorly.”
Nike: “Nike’s mission to inspire and innovate can be felt all the way to the depths of the supply chain and makes me want to rave to work almost every morning.”
Nordstrom: “The fashion departments are, of course, doing well and growing along with the ‘At Home’ department.”
Ross: “They need to work on how they treat their employees and how to talk to them. I would not recommend for anyone to work at Ross, at least in their warehouses!”
Victoria’s Secret: “I love being able to help someone feel comfortable in their own skin by helping them find the right garment.”
It’s a tie for Outlook, between the only two companies to win anything today: Nike and Victoria’s Secret win this culture showdown in a tie, having won four categories each and tying in two. Nike won for CEO, Compensation, Perks & Benefits and Outlook. Victoria’s Secret whisked away the trophies for Overall Culture and Diversity and tied with Nike for Perks & Benefits and Outlook. The Gap, Nordstrom, and Ross were not able to eke out wins in any of the categories, and in fact Ross came in last place in five of the six categories (The Gap scored even lower for Diversity.)
We’ll compare the Cultures of five companies from a different industry tomorrow and every weekday here at Comparably!
