The hardware store industry, like many other retail concerns, is facing serious winds of change. How much longer will this brick-and-mortar monoliths exist before they lose all their commercial ground to online shopping? After all, for many, a hammer is a hammer is a hammer (even if its a ball-peen hammer). Today we look behind the scenes of five companies – Ace Hardware, The Home Depot, Lowe’s, Menards, and Sears Hardware – to see how b their support is from within, from the employees who spend substantial chunks of their lives mixing paint, directing customers to the sandpaper, and learning as much gardening as necessary to fill in when the garden specialists are out. How do they feel about working for big box hardware stores? Are they looking for work elsewhere, seeing doom in the cards for these retailers? Or are they true blue company men and women who get a satisfaction from guiding a seeker to just the right kind of nail, the kind of hands-on help online shopping lacks? Let’s find out..
OVERALL CULTURE
The Home Depot walks off with the first of our little gold trophies, in the category of Overall Culture, which paints a picture of how employees feel about their company’s current culture. Menards takes a fairly distant second place, and Ace and Lowe’s have only average-level scores to display. Sears, which is a larger entity with much more than just hardware for sale, is clearly struggling with the new normal of American shopping culture.
Ace Hardware:“Ace still cares about the human aspect of its workforce. We;re not just a personnel number in a system. The company invests in its employees and pushes them to reach higher levels of performance.”
The Home Depot: “Great company to work at, The Home Depot is Home away from Home,u feel comfortable, I’m always happy and ready to put my apron on to help the customers and my fellow coworkers.”
Lowe’s: “Actually set a vision that people can execute against. Define people’s roles and actually let people make decisions so you eliminate the useless meetings people sit in all day.”
Menards:“Even though departments are separate, we form alliances that help each other all the time.”
Sears: “The one thing I have to say is we still care. As an employee with Sears for many years I am just hoping it will be great again.”
CEO & LEADERSHIP
Another category and another win for The Home Depot, this time in observation of their CEO, Craig Menear. None of our four other CEO’s put up much resistance, with Ace’s Venhuizen (the runner-up), Lowe’s Ellison, Menards John Menard, and Sears’ Eddie Lampert all notably unpopular with employees.
Ace Hardware: “The leadership team really has a heart.”
The Home Depot: “He’s someone who wants to make the Home Depot the best hardware store in the world.”
Lowe’s: “Don’t know, since he’s so new!”
Menards: “Needs to get better at communication, leadership, follow through and accountability.”
Sears: “I have not heard any good word about Eddie Lampert from associates.”
COMPENSATION
Looks like The Home Depot knows their employees. Another win in the Compensation category, which tracks employees’ sentiment regarding their salaries. A spread of utterly average scores were clocked for three other companies (Ace, Lowe’s, and Menards) and a big red F is handed down for Sears.
Ace Hardware: “They should be giving people in the field the same salary & benefits as those in the home office.”
The Home Depot: “The best part about my compensation package is that I am getting the money I deserve for the work I put in.”
Lowe’s: “I get paid a fair wage. Nothing fancy but a straight forward, blue collar wage for the job and tasks performed.”
Menards: “I think it is hard on people who work there because you have to pass an exam to get a raise- which means lots of studying on your own time at home. If you don’t pass the test you have to wait months before you can try again. So people give up because it is too difficult to get a raise.”
Sears: “I have not had a raise in years! I get good scores on my reviews, but what’s the point if I can’t get a raise?”
PERKS & BENEFITS
None of our five hardware chains has anything to write home about when it comes how their employees feel about the Perks & Benefits each store offers. Apparently, the hardware industry is not where you want to work if you like company outings. The Home Depot takes the trophy again, but with a very low score that only trumped Ace Hardware by a sliver of a percentage. Menards, Lowe’s, and (once again) Sears are non-starters here.
Ace Hardware: “401K, adoption assistance as well as vacation time (21 days).”
The Home Depot: “Basic health. A program for reduced meals, certain computers, reduced pricing on cars. I would rather have a discount on the goods the HD sells there.”
Lowe’s: “Good vacation and sick time. You can buy disability but the health insurance is virtually useless with long waits, poor service and huge deductibles.”
Menards: “Compensation for injury is the only thing I’ve had to deal with and I feel I was and am being treated fairly.”
Sears: “401(k), dental eye and health insurance, paid sick leave, vacation, flex days. Note that this applies to full time employees.”
DIVERSITY
When it comes to Diversity, Menards is our winner, despite b showings from Ace Hardware and The Home Deport. Lowe’s seems to be paddling water with any diversity initiatives, and it looks as if Sears stopped caring about modern workplace policies ten years ago.
Ace Hardware: “As a woman,I’m horrendously under payed, and payed dollars less than my male counterparts.”
The Home Depot: “A lot of diversity!”
Lowe’s: “Fairly good diversity within some departments.”
Menards: “Diversevariety of team members and everyone shares support for each other.”
Sears: “Our store is almost totally white.”
OUTLOOK
Ace Hardware: “I’m happy about working here because I believe in the quality of our products.”
The Home Depot: “Home Depot has a very very good future ahead of them.”
Lowe’s: “Think they’ll be closing unless they replace all their ancient software with something like Salesforce for sales people. They keep trying to patch software from 1996.”
Menards: “I’ve learned a lot from my co workers and my boss. No pressure or lurking over your back, just a nice relaxed place to work, and exciting too.”
Sears: “Too late for saving it. Wrong management at a lot of levels. Corporate run by people who have never worked in a store, unrealistic goals.”
With a final win for Outlook, The Home Depot is our clear winner, and the only company of the five that seems concerned about checking the boxes of what most expect from a modern, enlightened workplace. Ace, Lowe’s and Menards have major room for improvement, and as far as Sears – who were once part of the bedrock of American commerce, but are now down to only 400 locations – we wish them the best and hope they can figure out a way to stay above water as the consumer culture continues to change.
